I’ve written a few times about how I don’t look too hard for souvenirs when I travel, because the photographs I bring home on my camera card or in my phone are the best takeaways, in my opinion. The very best thing about traveling is the potential for experiencing people, places, and things that you can’t find in your own neighborhood.
One day while in Costa Rica last spring, we were on a bus and traveling up a mountain to look at a dormant volcano up close. The bus trip seemed to take forever and the weather was terrible. It was a rainy day and visibility grew worse as we reached higher altitudes, but it was our only chance to go there so we had to try. Reaching the top was a major bummer; we could hardly see two feet in front of us; being able to see into the mouth of a volcano was impossible that afternoon.
We were all disappointed as we boarded the bus again for the trip down, and settled in for the long ride. The weather had cleared at the bottom of the mountain and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the scenery as we made our way along the curvy roads.
At one point the bus slowed down to a creep and when we looked for the cause, we saw a big, beautiful cow and a few dogs of different varieties just walking down the road, free as could be (as they do in Costa Rica, I guess?). Simple as it was, I’m so glad that we asked the driver to pull over so some of us could take pictures because it remains one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen.
