Metas y Sueños: Travel Goals and Dreams

Summer travel is just around the corner, and I have two trips coming up soon. I’ve never really had a travel bucket list, per se – nothing to the tune of “I will go bungee jumping over the Himalayas before I die.” However, I do see the importance of setting specific goals for myself while traveling. I like to plan ahead for trips a whole lot less than I did when I was in college and in my 20s. Now, sometimes I like to just show up. Nevertheless, both trips coming up lend themselves to stretching and challenging myself in new ways. So, I decided to set a couple of goals for this summer.

First, I have the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica with a group of my students and a fellow language teacher from my school. We’ll be hooking up with Costa Rica Explorations, a student travel company located in Costa Rica. We are prepping the kids for the trip already by practicing the Spanish skills they’ll need, researching where they’ll go, and talking about hopes, fears, and goals. So while all the students are making their goals, I’m sitting there thinking, “I need to get in on this, too!”

One goal I have for this trip is to see Costa Rica through my students’ eyes. For some of them, this is their first time outside the U.S. I’d like to appreciate all the little details along with them, and not take the experience for granted. My second goal for this trip is to do the zip line during our canopy tour. I hate heights, and I think it may just take a group of 12 and 13-year-olds to push me off that platform! No matter how it happens, it will happen. And I’ll tell you about it.

My second trip this summer will be to lovely Kaua’i. I love Hawai’i and this is my first time to Kaua’i. My goal is to take a surfing lesson and to push myself physically on the hikes we are taking. Yes, a frosty drink on the beach will be had as well! Happy travels,

Photos courtesy of jacotransfers.com and kauaiexplorer.com.