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Bridge Year Costa Rica – Spring 2026
Mind and Body
By Lena H.
I love to be outside. One of the many reasons I am very grateful for being in Costa Rica. Beautiful views, lush nature, and good weather are all things Costa Rica has to offer and are all things I actively seek in my free time. No weekend is complete without some expedition outside.
One particular weekend, around New Years, I had planned an almost perfect two days. First, some of my friends and I hiked up Los Gigantes, a trail in Chimirol that had some of the largest trees I’ve ever seen (as per the name). With many twists and turns up the mountain, an unexpected canine companion Alain promptly named Cafecito, and lots of pictures, we made it to the top for a warm lunch and some agua dulce.
The second day was a beach trip. Again, a small group of my friends and I met early in the morning (too early for a Sunday) and took the bus to Dominical, the beach closest to Perez Zeledon. With the sun hot in the sky, we made our way through the beach and found a secluded, shady spot. The rest of the morning was spent lounging, dipping our toes in the sea, and chatting.
As you can see, I was not messing around that weekend. It was full on in the best way.
The next day, I told my host mom before I left for work that I would probably take a chill day; maybe go to the gym, maybe not, see how I was feeling.
These plans went out the window when my supervisor at work asked if I wanted to go on a hike with him and his family. I obviously could not say no. Which is how I found myself with my t-shirt completely soaked with sweat at the top of a mountain with an astonishing view. The trail was named La Cruz for the gigantic cross looking down on the valley below.
I went to bed that night with thoughts of blue sky, lapping waves, green trees, and birds chirping. Unfortunately, I was awoken with the urge to vomit.
The next couple days saw me in bed unable to move, paralyzed by constant thirst but plagued by an inability to drink more than two sips without throwing up. I have not been that sick in many years and felt betrayed by my body.
Chalking my illness up to a stomach bug or food poisoning, I recovered and moved on.
Until I had to leave work early for the same sick feeling in my stomach and light headedness two months later.
I wracked my brain for a reason for how I got the same illness when I didn’t eat the same foods, and no one else was sick around me.
A quick conversation with my onsite staff gave me an explanation that fit. Dehydration. Heat exhaustion. Apparently, your body can respond in all types of ways to being dehydrated, and mine decided nausea was the way to go.
To think of it, I had gone to the beach three days before, hiked the next day, and went to the gym yesterday.
I pushed myself for three days in a row really hard, not drinking enough water, let alone supplementing with electrolytes.
Again, lying in my bed taking small sips instead of the big gulps I really wanted, I frowned. How dare my body do this to me!
I put so much effort into planning and living my life! I want to experience as much as I can here, and I want to push myself. Why does it have to immobilize me for doing that?
The only response I got from my body was another wave of nausea.
The next day, my host mom told me I should stay home, a comment that normally would have annoyed me because I only liked advice from my real mother, but that day I agreed.
I pushed myself too far, and my host mum knew this.
In my pursuit of the outdoors, physical challenges, and new experiences, I had forgotten that my body couldn’t do all three, all at once, all the time. I am only human. One that also definitely didn’t grow up in the tropical sun. I think it didn’t register to me that because the work I was doing wasn’t studying, my body still had limits and I could still burn out. Even if these were free time activities for me, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t still over do it.
I am grateful to be able to have learned a lesson like this at a time where the stakes aren’t so high. Rest will follow me to my life after Bridge Year, I will make sure of it.
