MTG recently spent time abroad in Costa Rica, which was partially funded by the APSF Class of '62 Opportunities.  Please take some time to watch the video and read her reflection of the trip.

I didn’t want to leave Costa Rica. I didn’t want to leave the colors, tastes, birdsong, surf, and wildlife. I didn’t want to leave the feeling of slowing down. 

Not surprisingly, travel offers many benefits, including reduced stress. Many studies show travel can lower depression, increase levels of happiness, and help us relax. Travel can expand our mental horizons, as leaving home always requires us to question and test ourselves. When we leave behind our normal routines and safety nets—like our phones, our native language, and our sense of direction—to navigate new experiences, situations, and locations, we learn who we are capable of becoming, revealing our resilience and what we truly value in our lives. I like who I am when I travel. 

However, as travelers, we know we are only temporary visitors.

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Our plane landed in Denver to noise, a crowded airport, speeding cars, and fast food everywhere. We picked up the car and stopped for gas. Steph got a hot dog at the gas station. I got a giant bag of chips and a Coke. Yep. We were back in the States.

We drove to Alliance in the dark, then she continued to her home in Chadron, 60 miles north. I had missed my husband and my dog and cat. I hugged them. I was glad to be home, but also, I felt a bit lost. Empty somehow. I couldn’t put my finger on why. 

I know it is normal for some people to experience “post-vacation blues” when they return from a trip. Our brains get a dose of happy chemicals when we plan and experience new things. When the trip ends, the happy chemical levels drop. Stressful situations creep back: bills, early alarms, laundry, and our normal life can look dull and gray after sunny, tropical coastlines.

But I had found something in traveling to Costa Rica, something about myself, something I wanted to keep with me. A vision of who I wanted to be: stronger, more present, more alive.

How can I find Montezuma here, in my regular life?

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As I reflected on this question over the next few days, I went through our trip photos and was reminded of small lessons here and there, things that could keep me in “Montezuma time.”

1. Turn off the phone. 

2. Stop watching the news.

3. Eat more real, fresh food.

4. Slow down. Enjoy the moment.

5. Be kind. Take care of each other.

 

I sat in my backyard, reflecting on this list, when a sudden flash of movement caught the corner of my eye — a hummingbird! Flitting around my backyard zinnias! Such a rare treat! In 20 years, this is only the 2nd hummingbird I’ve seen in my garden. And yes, this actually happened.

It then occurred to me that hummingbirds may have visited before, but I didn’t notice. Maybe I was on my phone, or distracted by garden chores, or rushing past on my way to do who-knows-what. But today, for some reason, I am fully present to see and enjoy this tiny, temporary visitor. 

Perhaps a bit of Montezuma has come home with me after all.