Personal Narrative: My Trip To Costa Rica

Traveling, observing nature and exploring. These are passions of mine that help define who I am. A love for the outdoors has been a personal trait my whole life, growing larger with every adventure I encounter, especially with my friends and family. A family vacation to Yellowstone National Park and a school trip to Costa Rica are specific events that expanded my love for traveling and the outdoors.
During the summer before third grade, my parents took my sister and me on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. As our plane waited to land, it circled Jackson Hole, Wyoming, showing me my first glimpse of the Grand Tetons, a spectacular sight that I remember very clearly. This view, and the thrill of flying for the first time, sparked a strong

feeling of adventure in me. The next two weeks of exploring the United States' first National Park showed me fascinating hot springs, soaring geysers, and beautifully colored, although quite pungent, sulfuric pools.

These forms of nature were intriguing and completely foreign to me. Animals that I had never seen before, such as enormous bison and elk, and mountains much larger than the ones found in Maine, made me realize that there are places different from my hometown, or even my home state, and this realization caused the growth of a great interest in discovering and exploring new places that I'd never been.
My sophomore year, I went on a trip to Costa Rica with my Spanish class, and I was amazed by how the foreign landscape and culture contrasted to home. Multiple times in my life I have driven over the border into Canada, but many elements of the culture, and all the environmental conditions were similar to those of Maine. Seeing the completely different environment of Costa Rica was an incredible experience because I was exposed to a biome unlike the one I live in. Observing animals I'd never seen was an incredible experience. Ear piercing howler monkeys screeched from the tall canopy, sloths' slept hanging upside down from branches, and exotic toucans with multicolored beaks perched on treetops. The diverse ecosystem of the damp rain forest amazed me; these foreign plants and

animals showed me a whole world of new places to explore. I was able to adventure with my friends up volcanoes, through rain forests, into the surprisingly calm Pacific Ocean, and to many other interesting and beautiful places. This trip expanded my love for exploring the outdoors. The other part of this trip that changed my view of traveling was the culture. Before this trip, everywhere I travelled had relatively the same culture with the exception of accents or other small differences. However, when visiting San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, I found that the culture was one I had never experienced. Seeing San Jose in person, and interacting with the local people was an eye opening experience. Interacting with the people at restaurants showed me how friendly Costa Ricans are. One sweltering afternoon, while struggling to find an open store from which to purchase water, a helpful local explained to me in broken English the significance of the national holiday which caused most businesses to be closed. After this he directed me to a place he knew would be open. Before this trip I was obviously aware of the different cultures in other parts of the world, but having never experienced it in person, I didn't realize exactly how incredible and different other cultures are. This amazing experience had a profound impact on my interest in traveling.
These extraordinary experiences have had an impact on my identity because they opened my eyes to the world, and have caused my passion for traveling and exploring the outdoors to undergo significant growth. My interest in observing nature expanded after experiencing the natural wonders of Yellowstone National Park and Costa Rica.