Canada

Every year we go to the tennis tournament, Rogers Cup, in Toronto, Canada. This year my parents and I were planning to watch the men’s competition for the entire week. We flew into Ohio and then drove to Toronto (longest drive of our life) haha. None of us are big on driving, so those 6 hours were torture for all of us, especially my dad since he was the one stuck driving.

The best day out of the trip happened on the first day. My dad had planned for Richard Branson to come to the tournament, play some tennis, and do a coin flip. I had never met him before so I was super excited. We picked him up from the airport and went straight to the Aviva center, where the tournament was being held. I was low key nervous because Branson is legendary and I was standing right next to him. Not only was it Richard Branson but also Tim, the Queen of England’s doctor!!!! They were both so nice and down to earth. 

While being at the tennis tournament, I was going crazy because so many great people surrounded me. The tennis players wanted to meet Richard, and I wanted to meet the tennis players. It was really cool to be walking around the tournament knowing I was with the elite of the elite haha, but I kept my cool. I did manage to squeeze in a hand shake with Novak Djokovic

Other highlights:

-       - Watched the tennis matches from the players lounge

-      -  Cheerleading for Richard Branson as he hit with Milos (Canadian player)

-      -  Richard trying to find me a husband

-      -  Meeting the Bryan brothers (#1 doubles players in the World)

10,000 people

They say third time is the charm, well it definitely was. Don’t get me wrong, my first two times in Colombia were amazing, but this experience was so different, and one of the greatest thrills I’ve ever had in my life. My dad had the opportunity to talk to 10,000 individuals in Medellin, Colombia at a convention. I couldn’t be any more proud of him when he broke the news to us; my mum and I insisted that we accompany him on the trip to share the experience with him.  We were to fly out to Medellin and stay for 4 days, and attend the event. My dad, Anil Gupta, had a 90-minute slot in which he talked about happiness, giving, growth, and gratitude.

The group of individuals he talked to were full of energy, and were ready for anything. They filled an entire bull arena. They had blow horns, lou
d voices, high energy, and their country flags. It was one of the coolest thing knowing that everybody was there for the same reason, to make a difference and to step out of their comfort zone. All of the people were super grateful of life, and were ready to go to the next level.

            To be honest, I was a little nervous at first just because 10,000 people is a lot, even though I wasn’t speaking, but naturally it got the best of me. The real nerves kicked in when my dad requested that at the end of his talk, that my mum and I would come up and say a few words. At first, I was super cool about it because I thought he was joking… he wasn’t.  I’ve talked in front of about 300 people, but adding another 9,700 was a whole other story. But nevertheless, I was ready to assist my dad.

            My dad had an announcer go on the stage and introduce him, while I went around waving a flag. I just remember praying to myself that I wouldn’t trip and fall. I MADE IT. No bumps, bruises, or mishaps. I went off stage and exchanged places with my dad. The crowd went crazy; he had a standing ovation. I felt amazing knowing that so many people respected and loved my dad, but I can’t even begin to imagine how he must have felt.

            By the time it was my turn to talk, surprisingly, my nerves kind of went away. I don’t know what happened because usually I’m a little stage freight, but I walked confidently on stage ready to give some advice to everyone. It was short, sweet and to the point. It felt amazing, I got to experience a small snippet of what my dad was feeling.

One of the coolest parts was that the coordinators of the event treated all of us like loyalty; we had a makeup crew, a personal RV, bodyguards, and VIP treatment. It felt so cool, and the people were so nice and humble.

The adventure continues

Water tubing

My greatest fear thus far is the water, well more like the ocean. The river never really scared me even though there could be alligators. I was totally confident of tubing down the river and waterfalls. The only scary part was getting stuck, or when the current kind of took you along regardless of where you actually wanted to go.

I remember there were some areas that had large waterfalls; our tour guide insisted we go one at a time and once we went through, hold onto the rope on the other side so we could all stick together. Of course, my tube got stuck going down so I needed assistance, almost flipped, and rushed down the waterfall, missed the rope and was holding onto a rock on the side of the bank. JUST MY LUCK! But, I wasn’t the only one, the guy right after me ended up missing the rope as well and I managed to grab onto his tube so he can at least stay with me; the two stragglers.

The parts where the current wasn’t strong, was extremely peaceful. I kind of laid down to the best of my ability, and just gazed up at the sky, the trees and the overall nature. I could smell the fresh air, hear the birds chirping, and feel the wind. That right there was paradise. I didn’t think of anything else; I was completely present to that moment. We drifted like that quite a bit, until of course another waterfall came.

Mud bath

When I went to Colombia a few months back, I went to an inactive volcano where I was able to have a mud bath!! Here in Costa Rica, the volcano was far from us but they brought the mud to us!!! We had two options, hot or cold. Even though it was extremely hot out, the idea something hot just seemed quite soothing. The tour guide handed us paintbrushes that we could dip into the mud and lather our bodies with. We laid down on the to let it dry and jumped into the water to get it all off. It took a few jumps and scrubbing to get the mud off. Oh, and not to mention that the mud SMELT disgusting… and I mean disgusting. I remember smelling like sulfur for days [only downside].

The jump from the top of the rocks to the bottom into the lake wasn’t that far but it still worried me as the current was strong and there were large rocks that I obviously didn’t want to come into contact with. I jumped regardless, hoping for the best. I just figured that so many people have done it before and the tour guide wouldn’t have said to jump if he didn’t think it was safe. I survived, obviously.
IT WAS SUPER REFRESHING. The water was crystal clear, you could see the little fishes swimming around, and the water was nice and cold. The only thing that freaked me out (there’s got to be something right?) were the plants because as I got closer to the side to get out, they would brush up on my leg and freak me out. I thought it was something in the water ready to take me away. (a little dramatic :P)

Hot Springs

 Ending the day in the relaxing hot springs. The area had various springs on levels all differing in water temperature. As you traveled up to the top, the water temperature of the springs also increased. I wanted the hottest one possible so I went all the way to the top. It was big enough for about 20 people to sit comfortably, but there were only two of us. We swam around and had the entire thing to ourselves. It was the perfect way to end such a crazy, fun filled, adventurous day.

Canyon Adventure Tour (Guanacaste)

Canyon Adventure Tour

Its one thing to read something online and think you would do it, than actually doing it. Stephanie and I wanted to do some adventurous activities, stuff that we wouldn’t normally do, so we signed up for this canyon adventure tour. The reviews were great, the activities seemed adventurous, and it was an entire day event. We were set, and super ready.

But NOOOOO. It was so tough!!! Our tour included ziplining, rappelling, horseback riding, river tubing, and rock climbing. Doesn’t sound scary right? But that’s until you’re life is being kept together by a rope, a hook, and a tour guide. You start to question a thing or two lol.

ZIPLINING

So the first time I went to Costa Rica, I chickened out when it came to zipping across a body of water holding onto a rope, but this time, I knew it was something I had to do. I was extremely scared at first, especially since our “brake” was to just pull down on the rope with our hand and eventually it would slow down. Wasn’t the most reassuring thing. We ended up going across eight different ziplines, all very different, some longer than others, some higher and more scarier. It was such an adrenalin rush, I honestly felt like I was flying.  I felt like I was a pro by the end and could totally do the tour myself.

The only downside to this was going about 25 mph across and getting slapped in the face by flies and mosquitos. I most definitely swallowed a few flies here and there, but hey I got my protein right?

RAPPELLING/ROCKCLIMBING

I’m not scared of heights, but I am at the same time. I’ve done enough stuff to ensure that heights don’t bother me, but when I look down, that’s just another story. The aim of this activity was to rappel down the rocks, and then climb back up on the other side. I’ve rock climbed maybe once or twice in my life, but indoors, and with a soft mat underneath me to catch me if anything. With this one, I just heard the water splashing against huge rocks as the current rapidly drifting.
The photographer and the guys were laughing at me because I was really excited at first and super pumped until it was my turn to go down, and then I basically had a panic attack. When they started to lower me down, I questioned my entire life and just started praying haha. I make it sound worse than it really was; it was scary, don’t get me wrong, but it was such a thrill. Going up though was way more tough. I have a lot of lower body strength, but for climbing, it requires a lot of upper body, which I wasn’t entirely prepared for. About half way up, my arms were getting tired, my shoelaces came undone, my foot slipped off the rock, and I was ready to call it a day.

The instructor was motivating me, well more like yelling for me to grab the next rock, and slowly but surely I made it. Before I went up, I was watching what the other people were doing so I could follow their route up or come up with a different way that would be easier. Once I got on, its like everything went out the window. When you’re so close to the wall, you can’t even tell where you are or what rock you are actually grabbing onto, it all looks the same.

I just remember reaching the top and shaking for about 10 minutes. My shoulders were already hurting and I was just happy I made it.

HORSEBACK RIDING

I feel like I’m scared through all of these activities and something always goes wrong haha. But anyways, we got to the part where they assigned the horses to each of us. I really wanted this beautiful white horse, but we didn’t really have a say as to which one we could have, but the horse ended up choosing me. It gradually started walking towards me so then I was able to ride him, which was really cool. It was a little smaller than the other horses, which I was fine with.

Before all these adventures, I had put on some sunscreen. My mum had given me this sunscreen that she got from the islands, but had aloevera and banana oil in it. I guess horses like bananas or something because a few of them kept licking me. I was soo scared one of them was gonna bite me so obviously I freaked out, but that didn’t stop them. Stephanie’s horse just kept coming up to me and licking me down my leg. Super weird. But also, my horse liked competition or something so it would race the other horses and always wanted to be at the front regardless of if I pulled back on the reigns. By the end of it, I was certain that I had a bruised rib from all the trotting and my thighs were super sore.