The Solo Trip I Booked to Feel Like Me Again (Costa Rica)

If you’ve ever searched solo travel Costa Rica or healing trips for women, you’ll see hundreds of curated photos but very few honest stories.
This is mine — the unfiltered version.

Because I didn’t book Costa Rica to “find myself” in that cliché Instagram way.
I booked it because I couldn’t recognise myself anymore and I needed to feel like me again.

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Why I Chose Costa Rica for My First True Solo Adventure

Costa Rica wasn’t a long-term dream.
It wasn’t on my list.
I’d barely thought about it before.

But a week before my birthday last February, something inside me whispered that I needed to go somewhere — completely alone — and Costa Rica was the only destination that made my chest feel lighter when I looked at it online.

I’d just left my teaching job, and although it was a relief, I was still carrying years of burnout. I’d taken my girls to Southeast Asia for six weeks the previous summer, which was life-changing… but it wasn’t rest. It wasn’t self-connection. It wasn’t quiet.

I’m a mum of two, and I’ve been a mum since I was twenty.
I’ve always been the responsible one, the role model, the steady foundation.
And somewhere in that identity, I’d lost sight of who Emma actually was.

I didn’t want a big spiritual awakening.
I just wanted to breathe and feel like myself again.

So I searched for a Costa Rica group tour, something safe, structured, and solo-friendly.
And then I found it.

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The G Adventures Trip That Aligned Perfectly

This is the exact tour I booked:
👉 Costa Rica: Ocean Waves & Sunsets
What sold me:

• It lined up perfectly with February half term
• It left three days after my birthday
• It was eight nights (completely doable as a mum)
• It was an 18–39 group, meaning more solos than couples
• My dad and brother had both travelled with G Adventures and loved them

I can’t explain it… but something about it just felt right.

I stared at the page for maybe 20 seconds.
My brain said:
“You shouldn’t… you can’t… this is too last-minute.”
My gut said:
“Go.”

So I booked it.
No overthinking.
No guilt.
Just pure instinct — the kind I had ignored for years.

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The Real Reason I Needed This Trip

In the months leading up to that moment, I’d felt stuck in every direction:

• Stuck between who I was and who I wanted to become
• Stuck in patterns from relationships that had traumatised me
• Stuck between being a mum and remembering I’m still a person too
• Stuck between relief from leaving teaching and the fear of the unknown
• Stuck in survival mode

Travel has always been my reset button, but this time felt different.
This time, I didn’t want to be mum Emma.
Or teacher Emma.
Or content creator Emma.

I wanted to meet the version of myself I’d been too busy to hear.

That’s why solo travel in Costa Rica became the pull I didn’t know I needed.

It wasn’t about beaches or waterfalls.
It was about space.

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Solo Travel Isn’t About Being Brave — It’s About Being Honest

People love to say that solo travel is for the fearless…
but that’s never been the truth for me.

For many women, solo travel begins the moment they realise they’ve made themselves small for too long.
For mums, it often starts with wanting to reconnect with the version of themselves that existed before responsibility took over.
For others, it’s the quiet desire to step away from noise, expectations and routines so they can finally hear their own thoughts again.

Solo travel becomes a lifeline when you feel stretched thin, overwhelmed, burnt out, or simply unsure of who you’re becoming.

That’s exactly where I found myself.

Booking Costa Rica wasn’t some bold, dramatic act of bravery.
It was a response to a truth I could no longer ignore:
I needed space.
I needed quiet.
I needed me.

It wasn’t courage that pushed me to click “book.”
It was necessity — the kind that arrives when staying the same feels harder than taking a leap.

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What I Wanted From Costa Rica (And What I Was Afraid Of)

I wanted:

• Clarity
• Connection with myself
• A break from being everything to everyone
• A moment where nobody needed me
• A reset that wasn’t dependent on anyone else

But I was afraid too.

I worried I’d feel lonely.
I worried I wouldn’t fit in.
I worried that being “Emma” again would feel unfamiliar.

Still… something told me that healing doesn’t happen in comfort.
It happens when you give yourself permission to step away.

That’s what solo female travel gave me.

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The Moment I Pressed “Book” Changed Something in Me

I didn’t know it then, but that decision was the moment I started healing.

Not on the beaches.
Not in the jungle.
Not with the group.

But in that split-second of self-trust.

That’s the moment this whole series begins.

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If you want to see my recommended excursions for Costa Rica then you can check out the blog post here 👈🏻