The adventures you should embark on

Both my fellow students and I have truly experienced the adrenaline rush of traveling. When you find yourself in a country as warm as Costa Rica, you start longing to experience more.

We have therefore taken every opportunity to experience even more adventures than our already exciting everyday life has to offer.

Dream Destination – Santa Teresa

The first stop on the journey was the lively coastal town of Santa Teresa, located in the southwest of Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula.

After a 10-hour bus and ferry journey, we had arrived in paradise.

We stayed at “Lost Boyz,” a hostel that offered an oasis of jungle surroundings, friendly pets, and evening activities with other backpackers.

This place was the very definition of living the dream. The coastal town has a vibrant surf culture, so afternoons were spent riding the waves under the scorching sun.

Before evening fell, we headed down to the beach to watch the rainbow-colored sunset. There were also plenty of opportunities to rent an ATV or quad bike! As a result, the roads were dotted with cheerful travelers, each in their own little vehicle.

For those who especially enjoy festive evenings, there are also several lively nightlife spots to visit here. This trip was perfect for a relaxing, sunny, and memorable getaway. Six out of six!

The Fever Dream - Nicaragua

Our second journey continued to the largest country in Central America, Nicaragua. We stayed at “Big Foot Hostel,” a small and charming place in the heart of the city of León.

On the last evening, the hostel offered a pub crawl, which we gladly joined.

The goal of this trip was to make our fever dream a reality: sledding down an active volcano. We booked the activity through the company “Volcano Day.”

The company promised adrenaline, views, and laughter—and they absolutely delivered! The day started with a one-hour hike up the volcano. We were then kitted out in yellow coveralls, bandanas, and ski goggles.

We brought back memories of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when we all sat in a row on the ash-covered slope and shouted “row” to the clang of a metal bottle. We hurtled downhill at 80 km/h as euphoria struck us like lightning.

After we were finished, the bus we had taken there was transformed into a party bus. Colorful LED lights, loud music, and dancing inside the bus became the entertainment for the journey home.

We also stopped at a bonfire party along the way, where we enjoyed toasted marshmallows, a delicious meal, and even more dancing.

The trip was truly a vivid fever dream that I wouldn't have missed for the world. The journey to Nicaragua took 22 hours, which is worth keeping in mind if you're only going for a weekend.

The superpower of flying – skydiving

When I was little and people asked me what superpower I would want, my answer was always the ability to fly.

Now, at the age of 19, I can finally say that my wish came true. The third, shorter trip that several of us went on was a ten-minute drive to a place called “Skydive Costa Rica Quepos.”

Here, the top item on my "bucket list" came true: skydiving! We were excited, but felt we were in safe hands as we sat in the plane 8,000 meters above the ground.

Excitement and nerves churned in our stomachs as we stepped out the door. Within just a few seconds, we were plummeting from the sky at 200 km/h. Words cannot describe the feeling of flying, but it was a bit like watching Superman save the town of Smallville.

The experience was absolutely worth the fear beforehand, and it’s a story I’ll be telling for many years to come.

It should be noted that these various experiences have cost quite a bit of money. So it’s a good idea to build up an emergency fund before you leave if you want to try similar activities!

In conclusion, I would strongly encourage future students to try to experience as much as possible.

We now have only five weeks left of the program, but the memory bank from my semester studying Global Environmental Studies in Costa Rica is already full of incredible adventures.