ATV Off Roading at Vista Los Suenos Adventure Park

I thought I was a good ATVer. Until I had a small anxiety attack and thought I was going to flip the ATV over at a particular muddy route. Luckily, jumping on the back of a guide's ATV elevated my experience into the realm of magic.

Looking for something to do, the day after the wedding, I asked the concierge about available activities. As ATVing was high on my list of desire, it was only natural that I settle on that. Bookings and payment ensured.

Now, ATVing in Costa Rica is on a whole other level of exhilaration. We did a test run around the property to ensure that we could all keep up and understand the ins and outs of our ATV. And even on the path out in the rainforest, everything was fine and dandy – until I hit a particular slope and embankment. The incline and subsequent ditch made me uncomfortable and invoked a panic mode. Chris, one of the tour guides, helped me get out of the muddy bank. During the first time, I still felt confident in my abilities.

Until I literally happened again.

It was during the second time that I started doubting my ability with the ATV. What once was fun was now invoking a NO response. I don’t want to die like one of my cousins had. I felt myself become uncomfortable with wanting to drive my ATV again. I wanted to be safely in the back, minimize my experience, and not hold anyone up. But really, I didn’t want to power my own ATV anymore. The fear of flipping over increased. I was hitting my limit of being done. It’s funny how that happens when you least expect it.

Sensing this, Chris immediately offered for me to jump on the back of his ATV. This changed my anxiety about holding up everyone up due to my anxiety and panic. Instead of powering my own machine, I had the freedom to just being free and enjoy the sensation of letting someone else lead. It was a small change in perspective, but magnificent. I didn’t feel that I was giving up anything by not powering my own ATV. I’d done that. Instead, what I thought about as I secured myself on Chris’ ATV is that I could finally look around the Costa Rican countryside and simply enjoy the journey.

Quite the metaphor.

As he parked my former ATV off the side of the road so that someone else from the company could pick it up, I felt a sense of relief. And as he drove us away to follow the rest of the group, I felt myself relax. It actually felt nice to have someone else take over and trust their skills, for a change.

The group was great. We saw monkeys jumping from tree branches, drove through mud and splashed around. We drove to the local beach to relish the landscape. I felt spaciously content with the pretense of being in the rainforest. When we stopped at the beach, I was visually in awe. As the sun slowly lowered to meet the horizon, the waves crashed against the shore. I loved seeing Jenny and Brenda pose with their partners. But, I loved staring off into the sunset, focusing on capturing the landscape with my phone as best as I could.

To put it simply, my heart was filled with gratitude. So much that I told Chris how much I truly valued being driven by him and his skill on the ATV. As he drove us back to the headquarters, I remember the feeling of flying. It was like experiencing a hot lap with Brad Perez during a BMW one day track experience.

My arms were out. The wind flew my hair back as I relished being immediately in the moment. I was flying.

Closer to the end of the journey, when we were on our way back to headquarters, it started to rain. As the rain started falling, I felt the transition of the light raindrops turning into a steady downpour. After all, it was a rainforest. Natural and expected during the course of the day.

Chris turned his head to the side and said to me: “You’re going to get wet”

I responded, “That’s what life is about”

Instead of the dread and uncomfortable nature of getting wet that I’d felt the first day in Tulum, in Costa Rica I felt a sense of exhilaration. Yes, I quickly became soaked on the back of the ATV. But, it was so much fun. Strangely enough, I just felt secure.

I felt that my intuition led me to the moments I was experiencing. Of truly allowing a man to lead me – even though it was the simple act of being on the back of someone else’s ATV. With my high powered life, it was magic.