Yoga Girl

Opportunities are all around us—we just have to believe in them to see
them.
A year or so later, I was starting to feel done with Costa Rica. I’d been
there for almost three years, I’d learned a lot and made friends so close
they had turned into family, but I felt deep inside that there was more left
to explore in the world. I was living with my best friend in a small house
with our dogs, I was still meditating daily, and I spent a lot of time in a
commune in the mountains above our town. Here I learned about
permaculture farming, and my yoga practice became stronger than it ever
had been before. I met a shaman who told me my life’s purpose; I traveled
south for an ayahuasca ceremony that turned into one of the most intense
spiritual experiences I had ever had. I meditated in caves, ate only raw
food, and swam in waterfalls. Life was a whirlwind and it was beautiful.
But after three years in the country I had the same feeling I’d had a year
earlier: I was ready for the next big experience. I left the company I was
working for, on good terms, and used the money I had made to travel.
After a little time on my own in California and eventually in Portland,
Oregon, I went to Sweden to spend Christmas with my family. I still had
my house and my things (and my dog of course!) in Costa Rica, and my
intention was to go back there right after Christmas to figure out what I
wanted to do for the next year. In Sweden my dad said to me: “I want to
take your little sister on a vacation in March. Why don’t you come with
us?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I had already been in Sweden for a full month
and was itching to get back to Dominical.
“I would love to spend some time with you. How about we all go some
place close to Costa Rica so your flight back won’t be so expensive?”
“Sure!” I said. “That could work. So where do you want to go?”
“ere is a new direct flight from Stockholm to Aruba. How does that
sound? Come have two weeks of vacation with us, and then go to Costa
Rica from there.”
“Aruba?” I said. “Where is that?”