Costa Rica Recap

 Since launching Adventures as a part of this brand, I have experienced some really life changing moments with the IVY Community. I’ve always been astounded at the quality of people that show up on our adventures and how open to new experiences they are. It takes an especially unique human to show up on one of our M.A.D. adventures and essentially pay money to work hard and serve others. But that is what 10 people from Minnesota, Colorado, Texas and Florida did and the impact they made in one short week will be realized for years to come. 

In the back half of June, we hosted a M.A.D. Trip to Costa Rica to serve a local organization called Saving Hearts Together. They have a vision to build a safe community for girls escaping sex trafficking, and are well on their way to building a thriving and beautiful space for girls to find refuge, rehabilitation and safety. A lot of people say they want to go on humanitarian trips and serve others…But often times they don’t realize that sometimes serving others looks like digging a 1,000ft trench in the hot Costa Rican sun, or hand mixing and pouring cement for a car port, or tiling a bathroom in a dorm with no power tools. This team, however, did all of those things with a smile on their faces and without a single complaint. 

I think something that’s easy to forget while doing physical labor, like those listed above, is that you are doing so much more than digging, or pouring cement or tiling a bathroom. We are creating opportunity for others, we are serving in a very practical way, and ultimately we are saving lives. That’s something I will never let slip far from my mind is that we have the opportunity to save lives and that is something I’m not willing to miss out on. 

Costa Rica was a dream for me and a reminder that there are GOOD and genuine people all over the world willing to step up and make the world a better place. These are the best kinds of people to meet. Because they are not the kind of people who are only going to dig trenches in the sun or hand mix cement, they are also the ones who adventure hard, love well and never back down from a challenge. Over the course of 9 days we rope swung into an oasis, hiked behind a waterfall, found ourselves on a catamaran in Lake Arenal, got caught in way too many rain storms, soaked in natural hot springs, SAW A SLOTH, laughed till we cried and made memories that I won’t forget for the rest of my life. So many moments that I live for and rather than coming back home exhausted and beaten up, I came back energized and full of life because of these people and the mission they are on to make the world a better place. 

I genuinely value any person who has engaged with our brand in anyway, but anyone who has ever joined a M.A.D. Adventure, you have a special place in my heart. Thank you:

Sarah Weigel

Lucy Rios

Erika Wald 

Shauna Joann

Paul Jacobsen

Ariel Jacobsen

Ameliyah Jensen

Joshua Sanchez

Emma Keniston

Mercedes Forslund

Ian Carrol

Scott Line

Enjoy some of my favorite photos from the trip below!

- Steve Weigel