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A rickety boat, six people on board, tropical rain which wets my hands – the only part of my body which is left uncovered from the huge green poncho I am wearing – camouflaging with everything that surrounds me. All around green, a thousand shades of it, so intense that one doesn’t know where to fix the gaze. It all looks like a movie setting. My journey into Costa Rican rainforest starts here, at pulperia Maritza, a mini-market in the middle of Talamanca area, southeast Costa Rica. While interning with an ecotourism NGO based in the Caribbean village of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca I am also doing an investigation in the Indigenous territory for my final Master’s Degree dissertation. My research would be on the impacts of tourism on a small eco-tourism project run by Bribri indigenous women in the Yorkìn community. Costa Rica warmly welcomed me with its green arms since the exact moment I saw its lands underneath me from the plane. It has been feeding my soul with outstanding experiences such as a sound healing session in the middle of the jungle while constant rain was falling. I have been woken up by monkeys at sunrise every day while sleeping with cute geckos going around my bedroom. I surfed the Atlantic ocean and dived deep into my deepest fears and emotions. I have been hiking mountains until reaching stunning panoramic views. My heart bumped to the rhythm of salsa and calypso all night long. And then another day was starting, another awakening with monkeys, a plate of rice and beans with patacones for lunch, and a “pura vida” screamed while smiling at local friends. My yoga and meditation routine in front of speechless sunsets, giving thanks to Iriria, the Bribri indigenous name for mother earth. Back into my jungle house, I found myself eating celestial fruits such as mangostanes, mamones chinos and papaya. Don’t go for nancìs, though, they taste like feet, as I had the honor to personally taste thanks to my verdulero Kevin. And then, another day exploring the rainforest and the indigenous territory. Sounds of the rain falling on the river. Sounds of the boat engine which sometimes struggles to go on; there is a botero on the prow side pushing on the bottom of the river with a stick. An intense smell of the rainforest, water, and life. On the background the sound of a bird which I would never recognize without the help of the botero. The boat trip lasts an hour. At any river curve, at any shade of green, at any new plant, I get deeper into this world which is so far away from mine but at the same time so intimately close. I wish this boat trip never ended. Because, at the end of the day, the voyage is what is in between, more than the arrival itself. I feel my eyes colouring up of nature’s colours, catching all the shades of what surrounds me. My breath is getting aligned with the placid course of the river so that, once we land, I feel as if I already entered another dimension. I wish everyone could go on a rollercoaster of emotions while rafting on Rio Pacuare, or sliding down one’s own fears while canopying in the rainforest or losing one’s words and breathe after making a leap into the void from a platform in the jungle. I wish everyone could swing and chill on a reggae soundtrack on the beach, living life to the fullest. I did it throughout three months, but one could do the same in three weeks or even three days. Or, better said, all lifelong. It is just about attitude. I am the only person who can choose whether to be happy or not and which lenses I want to look at my life through. It’s all about living each second of our lives, being present and grateful for the precious gifts life and mother earth give us every day.