After living in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, for 3 and a half months navigating the corona pandemic and global shutdown I have watched my savings disperse as I have lounged by pools and indulged on vegan desserts. 

I’ve had a taste of the good life and it sure has been fun.  I feel very privileged to have been able to enjoy the last couple of months as much as I have considering the current predicament of planet earth.

However, it is time to come home.

But not without one last great adventure!

Definition of the word Odyssey

1. A long and exciting journey during which many things happen
2. A person’s progress from one stage of life or set of beliefs to another

Origin of the word

The word Odyssey derives from the epic 8th century BC poem, The Odyssey, written by the Greek poet Homer.  The epic tells of the 10 year wanderings of Odysseus on his way home from the Trojan War.  It describes his adventures along way as he encounters many strange beings and lands before finally returning to his family in Ithaca.

I’m walking 1000km across Central America to Panama City!

I have filmed a video going into detail about my reasons for leaving Santa Teresa and why I have decided to undertake such a big challenge:

Whilst studying Classical Civilization at college I fell in love with Greek Mythology and the tales of its heroes.  I spent hours analysing and admiring poems like The Iliad, Aeneid and Odyssey.  So it is beautifully fitting to now be living a version of my own.

Much like ‘The Odyssey’, my trek will be an important intellectual and physical journey, one which will be filled with interesting experiences, exciting adventures and countless challenges. I hope my Odyssey through Central America is a voyage of self-discovery, like my predecessor’s journey, marked by changes of heart and opinion, one which is in many ways a spiritual awakening, mirroring Homer’s poem.

“The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.”
(Jon Krakauer Into the Wild)

My trek begins on Monday 22nd June from Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.  Both this page and my Instagram will be used to document my Odyssey. I hope to use them as daily online journals where I post my favourite photos taken each day, a little bit about how far I travelled, what I saw and how I’m feeling.

Obviously this is completely dependent on internet availability, however I aim to be as consistent as possible with my posts.

I’m currently sat in the restaurant of Vista Serena that overlooks the Manuel Antonio National Park. Camille and I have rewarded ourselves with a rest day in this little hippie mountain village after the crazy week that we have had.  It has been beyond amazing and far surpassed anything that I had anticipated.

We left Santa Teresa at 9.30am and headed to Mal Pais. Dora, a woman I found on Facebook, gifted us a free two person tent and we were on our way to Panama.

After three hours of hills and the most beautiful jungle views, we hitched a ride from Felipe, a young Tico who took us to Montezuma, where we ate watermelon on the beach and rested before continuing on.

After walking for an hour we jumped in with two truckers who took us first to Cobano, where we got some snacks and then dropped us just before the village of Pochote.

We walked through the town hoping to find somewhere safe to pitch the tent. Eventually we spoke to a woman who told us to find Trino and that he might be able to help us out. We followed the directions given and found Larry, from New Orleans, who said we could pitch in his garden. However, we decided to keep searching for Trino and take Larry up on his offer if unsuccessful.  We found Trinos’s grandson just before dark, who took us to his grandfathers campground, where we finally found the sweetest 91 year old. Trino said rather than sleeping in our tent we could sleep in one of the cabins. After watching the last of the sunset on the beach we retired to our room, and enjoyed a dinner of fruit and nuts, had showers and slept in double beds.

The first day of our ‘Odyssey’ had gone so incredibly well, and provided all of the proof that I needed to remain confident in the success of our trek.

After enjoying a coffee and a chat with Trino we were back on the road. We walked to the village of Paquera and after a short break continued 4km to the ferry dock. We arrived at 11am, with plenty of time to get the 2pm ferry to Puntarenas. However, we were told by a gentleman named Willmel that it wasn’t running until 4pm.

Exhausted we sat down and spoke with him for while, he gave us both Ceviches and Goyava from his cart and declined any offer of money. He introduced us to Wainer, who stayed with us all afternoon to make sure we were okay. He brought us Coconuts and Mangoes and again refused our money.

Our afternoon was spent sat in the shade talking for hours about the trip and plans to reach Panama. We asked about Puntarenas and where would be the best place to pitch our tent, to which the Tico’s and Guayca (a woman who had joined the converstion) said that it was far too dangerous to attempt camping. Guayca said she had a friend living in a nearby town that might be able to put us up. She made a call and explained that once we had taken the ferry to Puntarenas we would need to take a bus to Tarcaoles.  Her friend Hendry would meet us at the bus station in Tarcaoles and take us back to his house, where we could stay for the night. We gratefully accepted this amazing offer before saying goodbye to these wonderful people and boarding the ferry.

We arrived in Punta Arenas mid tropical storm and walked around trying to locate the bus station. After half an hour of walking in the pouring rain and speaking to various different people we found out that the last bus had departed an hour ago. We decided to try hitchhiking but almost immediately it got dark and felt rather dangerous.

We spoke to a police man (Brian) and inquired if there was anywhere safe we could pitch our tent and explained we didn’t have any money for a hotel. A nearby group of about 10 fisherman who were taking shelter from the rain tried to offer directions to a hotel, but we again explained that we simply needed somewhere safe for our tent. The men began to talk amongst themselves and Camille and I started to get a little concerned as we spoke about the rain and our accommodation options. The fisherman explained that they had all put in some money and raised enough to pay for a room. We tried to gratefully decline this incredible offer however they convinced us to take the money and get ourselves inside! Brian walked with us to the hotel to prevent any troubles and explained our situation to a nearby hotel manager named Juan. After hearing our story Juan insisted that we have the room for free and use the money collected by the fisherman to get ourselves a hot meal next door.

Today I feel that I have experienced kindness in the truest of forms and honestly cannot believe the amount of generosity shown by complete strangers. I am again going to bed with absolute faith in humanity and excited for a long day of physical and mental exercise tomorrow!

We left thanked Juan again and left the hotel around 8.30am. Our plan for the day was to walk 10km through Puntarenas to the main road, from there we could hitchhike to Orotina and then from Orotina to Jaco. We started walking out of the eerie city centre and onto the busy main road out of town.

By 9am the sun was particularly strong and sky completely cloudless. We walked past a house selling fruit and coconut water, from which Cami bought some water and asked if there was any possibility of getting some coffee.

A mother (Emilia) who was cooking breakfast for her children, brought out two chairs for us to sit in the shade. After a couple of minutes she appeared with coffee and sandwiches which we gratefully accepted. Emilia refused to accept any money so I gave her a necklace I acquired in the Caribbean as a small gesture of my appreciation.

We continued walking down the highway for another half hour before arriving at a small roadside cafe. A woman (Gabriella) in the shop said there was wifi so we sat outside trying to connect so we could call our parents.

We got chatting to Gabriella and her husband, Andres, and started talking about our trip and the plan to walk and hitchhike to Jaco today. The couple explained that the villages between us and Jaco were particularly poor because of the spike in unemployment due to the Pandemic and consequently it would be too dangerous for us to be waking through as white foreigners with backpacks, we were too much of a target.

They asked whether we wanted to stay in their guesthouse for the night free of charge, however it was only 11am so we thanked them but explained we needed to continue on. They told us that there was a bus at midday that we could get straight to Jaco which seemed like a much better option at this point. They brought us coffee and bananas and spoke about their daughter who loves travelling and is always off on an intrepid adventure like ourselves.

At midday Gabriella took us to the bus stop and insisted that she pay for our tickets. She told us that her daughter always speaks of the generosity of strangers shown to her whilst she is backpacking and wanted to carry this on. It was an incredibly humbling experience and reminded us both of the importance of passing on the kindness we receive on this trip.

We boarder the bus and relaxed for an hour and a half to Jaco. Once we arrived in Jaco we went straight to the beach front and ate mangoes we’d saved from the day before. After our salty air fix we went to a Soda (local restaurant) and ordered coffees so we could use the internet and plan out our afternoon. We decided to carry onto the next town; Playa Hermosa which was 10km away.

We walked for two hours through a tropical storm and arrived in Playa Hermoso just before dark.

First we asked at Rony’s place if he had somewhere we could pitch our tent, to which he kindly accepted although the spot he apologised might ‘flood in the storm’.

We decided to try else where but thanked Rony and said we would return if unsuccessful.

Next we tried Bowie’s Point. We explained our story and that we needed a place to stay, we asked whether they had somewhere under shelter we could pitch our tent so that it was protected by the thunderstorm.

An employee took us to an abandoned guesthouse. There was no electricity however we were given a torch by an old Tico, who apparently lived in the basement. There was a bedroom upstairs with a mattress inside that he said we could pitch upon. Now, I love rustic living and am not choosy when it comes to accepting offers of generosity however this haunted house did not sit well with my intuition.

We returned to Rony’s place where we knew we could at least have internet to make the soggy night a little more bearable. However, on our return Rony said we could sleep in one of the hotel rooms free of charge.

I couldn’t have been happier in that moment to have a HOT shower and hang up the entire contents of my backpack that was soaked through. I washed my underwear in the sink and ate a banana before passing out. It was bliss.

Today started at 6.30am and consisted of a full day of hiking after saying our thanks and goodbyes to Rony.

The route was part marsh, part highway, part beach. We crossed a waist high river and avoided another one due to a potential croc spotting! We chat to locals, crawled under barbed wire fences and climbed others, to create shortcuts through gated communities. We finally arrived in the village of Esterillo Este around 5.30pm. We had walked a total of 21km! Our best yet.

We walked through the village to find accommodation and found ourselves at the Alma Resort reception desk.

After asking to speak to the manager, I explained my ‘Odyssey’. And asked whether we could stay for the night, free of charge.

And miraculously she said yes!!

An employee walked us to our suite and showed us around the facilities. After the day of hiking, jumping straight into the pool was absolutely perfect. We ordered room service and I devoured perhaps the best (vegan) burrito I have ever had!

Lying in my king size bed tonight I’m understanding how important it is to simply ask in life, for the worst that could happen is being told no.

We will never know an answer for sure if we don’t take the chance, and is missing out really worth risking?

No! So don’t be shy, take a chance on everything, be honest and real and most importantly manifest the shit out of everything. If a 5 star spa isn’t out of reach for two smelly trekkers then nothing is too good for anyone!

Our day started very to different to every other  on this trip. After a well deserved lie in, we spent our morning in the pool and finally left Alma at 11.30am.

We ended up taking the wrong turn almost immediately and had to detour through the hills. It was the toughest hike so far and our phones showed we climbed a total of 44 stories!

After walking for over three hours on empty stomachs we were completely exhausted! So when we saw an open top van approach, we flagged it down and enjoyed the last few kilometres to the next town, sat appreciating the wind and views.

We got dropped off to find that the only shop in the village was closed.  This meant we had another hour and a half of walking before reaching another.

It was 4.30pm before we finally got some food and sat down with a coffee in a Soda to figure out our next movements.

On the map it looked like there was a small peninsula about an hours walk away that had a couple of hotels we hoped we could ask for a room or somewhere for our tent.

We set off towards Pueblo Nuevo, however within 10 minutes a truck driver stopped us and explained that we really shouldn’t be walking alone, through this part of town, at this hour. On his recommendation we jumped in with him and he kindly drove us to the peninsula, which in hindsight would have taken us at least two and a half hours!

We got out at the first hotel and found the manager. Who to Cami’s delight was French. They spoke for a few minutes before she rather rudely turned us away. It was a pretty disheartening moment, but we were not prepared to spend $100 just to pitch our tent on the hotel grounds!!

We tried the next hotel, however the woman at reception said that it was illegal to let us camp. She directed us to a yellow house, who she explained regularly let campers us their garden. On arrival at the yellow house an elderly Tico couple looked less than impressed to see us and again turned us away.

At this point it was past 6pm, and despite the beautiful looking sky we were getting nervous. There was one last hotel to try on the peninsula before we were out of options and would have to resort to the beach.

We started walking when a black car pulled up and a friendly American woman (Lori) asked if she could give us a lift. In desperation we explained we needed to find somewhere to put the tent before dark. Lori told us to get in, she was going with her husband (Simon) and a couple of friends for dinner at the local Soda. They insisted we start with some food and then they wanted to hear our story.

We sat for hours chatting about life, politics and our trip. After the rather stressful second half of the day, it turned out to be such an enjoyable evening. Reminding me again to simply trust in the universe when in doubt!

The  manager of the Soda (Eve) kindly offered us a safe spot in the back of the restaurant for us to pitch our tent. She said we could use the showers and have breakfast on her in the morning. We ate and drank some more and exchanged numbers with our new friends incase of any issues, before saying our goodbyes.

We set the tent up and started getting ready for the first night in our little shell. However, on seeing the size of our tent and limited proper equipment, Eve stopped us and told us that one of her employees; Francine, lived close and said we could sleep in her house rather than on the restaurant floor. Our backs were once again saved by kindness!

An early morning start due to chickens quickly turned into a pit stop off at yesterday’s Soda due to the heavy rain.

Eve made us breakfast and kept our coffees topped up as we spoke about the current situation in Central America regarding the pandemic.

It turns out that during our first 5 days of trekking things had changed dramatically, all of which we were unaware. Our first real issue came to surface- we would not be able to cross the Panama border! Panama has the most cases in CA and due to the number being on the rise haven’t opened their borders like expected. Originally we started planning making up the remaining hours of the trek along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and then flying home from San Jose. However, Eve called a friend, who had managed to get a reparation flight home to Paris on the 11th July, to come to the restaurant and explain our options. His impression from countless embassy calls was that San Jose would be closing its airport in due course to prevent the spread.

We thanked Eve and her friend for the food and updates and got back on the road to clear our heads before making a decision on what to do moving forward.

We left the Peninsula, walked quickly through yesterday’s ‘dodgy’ neighbourhood Pueblo Nuevo, continued on to Palo Seco and finally arrived in Las Vueltas around 3pm.

Needing to give our feet a break we hitchhiked to the turning for Quepos with Javier and Marco. We stopped to buy some fruit from the supermarket and a coffee before walking through the city centre.

We decided to stay the night in Manuel Antonio and climbed the jungle road to reach the small hippie town in the clouds.

On arrival the sun was setting and intuition called us to get a first glimpse of the national park from Vista Serena. We stood in the restaurant at the balcony watching the last light of day when we met Daniel.

Honestly the most amazing soul! He heard our story and immediately offered us his help. He took us to a small apartment which is usually rented on Airbnb and told us we could stay the night. We relaxed and took showers before heading back to the restaurant to thank Daniel.

Daniel then offered to have the chef make us dinner which was the most incredible meal of grilled vegetables with homemade pesto.

We spent hours talking with Daniel and heard all about the generosity he shows foreigners in need, how the Pandemic has affected his business and how he thinks that it is important to be patient when you want to find love. As we thanked him for his overwhelming kindness and headed to bed he insisted that if we needed a day to figure things out or to simply rest our feet we were more than welcome to stay a second night, which we gratefully accepted!

I went to bed with a full belly, a heavy heart and a decision made.

Update posted Tuesday 25th August-

I have been back in the UK for almost a month now, and have procrastinated finishing off updating this post long enough! Below you will find the rest of my trekking journal with photos.

As always please show some love and leave your feedback in the comments!

We made it through our first week!

A rest day felt well deserved so we took the day off in Manuel Antonio, a hippie little village in the mountains.

I spent the day editing photos, updating my blog and planning out our route for the next couple of days. Our day ended with a Pina Colada, whilst watching the most spectacular sunset.

None of this would have been possible without your generosity Danny, so THANK YOU again for everything you’ve done for us.

On reflection, this week has been perhaps the most humbling of my life. I have been tested physically and mentally everyday but the outcome has been beyond amazing and far surpassed anything that I had anticipated.

Because of this, Camille and I have decided not to take the reparation flight back to Europe but continue on this journey of courage and kindness to Panama! (Most likely just the border)

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my online journal and continue to follow my Odyssey through Central America.

Bring on week two.

This week we set ourselves the challenge of walking a minimum of 25km each day

We left Manuel Antonio at 9am and stuck to a rather strict routine of walking 5km and then having a break, that allowed us to walk 27km to Matapalo! The route was mostly flat and through forests.

On arrival it started pouring with rain, we tried to find somewhere open to look for accomodation but the little beach town was deserted. We eventually found Roberto and Yami, two biologists who owned an animal sanctuary.  They took pity on us in our soaked states and said we could stay in one of the dorm rooms, that usually homed their volunteers. We showered and heading downstairs to enjoy vegan bollagnaise and chat about potential sloth sightings in the morning.

I passed out around 7pm and slept like a baby for 12 hours!

We woke up early to get walking before it got too hot. However, when we headed downstairs to say our goodbyes, Roberto told us one of his volunteers Enrique was making pancakes.

We helped him make pancakes using homeade coconut milk and enjoyed a delicious breakfast with the group.

Walking today was particularly tough due to my incredibly sore feet and the cloudless sky! But we managed to make it to Dominical by 4pm. We searched for somewhere to stay and after being turned away by a few hostels, Rosa who owned a Soda and a couple of guest rooms at the end of town put us up for the night.

We were invited by a Canadian named Claude to have dinner with him at his hostel next door and spent the evening making sushi! It was such a lovely evening of socialising with other backpackers and hearing about their experiences being ‘stuck’ in Dominical and other regions of Costa Rica during the Pandemic.

Tonight really reminded me of one of my favourite parts about travelling; meeting new people and hearing about their global stories.

We started our day with the most amazing breakfast, that Rosa insisted she cook us, on our departure. Meanwhile, we chat with her about her families migration to Costa Rica from the Dominican Republic and working in the tourism industry, it was a heart warming morning to a rather unexpected day!

We walked for hours up into the hills, and on finding the ‘Jolly Rodger’, happily went in for wifi and a coffee.

Of which it had neither. However, we got chatting with the bartender Jodie, who on hearing our story, poured us Gin and Tonics on the house.

Our planned afternoon of hiking the hills to Uvita went a little stray as we ended up getting far too caught up with our conversations, whilst sipping on Bailey’s and Pina Coladas.

By sunset we were rather tipsy and walking safely was less than likely so we decided to stay put and entertain the bar a little more.

We were introduced to JD, who on getting to know us, offered his spare room for the night. Which, at this point was an absolute blessing that we gladly accepted!

Jodie sorted out our drunken states with fries and a burger, a true legend, and we drove back with JD to his apartment, where we slept in an ocean view room! It was spectacular to wake up to although on arrival my only concern was my pillow.

The generosity we are shown on this trip from complete strangers continues to surprise me everyday. Through this we are able to keep enjoying new experiences, meeting new people and having extraordinary opportunities. I really feel that I am living my greatest adventure.

After a heavy night of drinking we woke up feeling pretty rough so JD kindly let us chill out in exchange for making breakfast. We spent the morning nursing our hangovers with good coffee and pancakes. It was completely blissful to relax in his sea view apartment!

JD convinced us to take the rest of the day off so he could show us the area. We hiked to a nearby waterfall and explored the small village of Dominicalito.

After our excursion we were tempted by the promise of food and went back to stay another night at JD’s! We ended up indulging on brownies and watching planet earth, it was a hilariously unexpected turn of events. But as always we were open to any experience offered.

We cooked breakfast for JD and said goodbye to our new friend! See you in Europe.

After 15km of mainly highway it started pouring with rain so we decided to take shelter and wait it out.

Should have known better really. The rain simply got heavier and by 4.30pm we decided we needed to make a move so we weren’t caught in the tropical storm whilst it was getting dark.

To our amazement just as we got up to leave a gentleman from the states offered us a lift and took us to the only known hotel that was open in the town.

We went into tropical beach apartments and spoke with Mauricios, and then the manager who generously accepted our plea for somewhere inside and put us up in the store cupboard.

The hotel was run by a family from Poland, who invited us to join their pizza party, which we thoroughly enjoyed as we dried from the day of rain .

Our day started by waking up to the smell of Mauricios making Galo Pinto in the kitchen. We enjoyed our breakfast in bed and got ready for a long day of walking.

Today we walked 25km through rivers, forest, a lot of up hill and witnessed the most incredible coastal views!

As we entered the town of Tortuga we found a little slice of Europe in Costa Rica! A small square that featured a Belgian Beer Bar, a French cafe and an independent shop selling imported favourites, including macrons and tiramisu only found in Italy.

In usual Camille and Millie style we drooled over the case of cakes but refrained from spending money and went next door to ask for some hot water. To save money on the trek I travel with a small bottle of instant coffee and my bamboo mug so that when in need of a coffee I can just ask for water.

We were allowed to sit in the ‘French’ garden whilst enjoying our coffees,  it was a lovely nostalgic end to our day. That got even better, when our waiter came over with two boxes of cakes he had bought from the Italian store for us to indulge on! What a wonderful human being!!

We left the square and walked through town looking for tonight’s accommodation. We found Igor, who owned a few small cabins in the centre of Tortuga. His business was closed due to the Pandemic however he let us stay with no charge after speaking with us and hearing about our trek to Panama.

We sat with Igor whilst watching a French rock station on the TV and eating a dinner of carrots and pickles. It was a full moon so we had a little ritual of manifesting what we wanted for the next month and slept wonderfully in our little room.

As normal we said our goodbyes to Igor and got moving.

Today was very much a can’t be arsed day. Almost immediately I was bored of walking, my feet hurt and I just wanted a comfy bed and Netflix.

My morning was turned around by Jesus. We passed an older man stood by the road selling plantain and he invited us to walk with him back to his house for a drink. In need of some positivity, we followed Jesus back to his small farm. After showing us around he gave us coconut water and coffee and even demonstrated how he picks papaya. We sat eating fruit and talking about his life for hours, we found out about how he used to be a taxi driver in San Jose but lost everything when his wife left him and now lives with his mum, selling fruit, vegetables and homemade bags. It was such a humbling story, I really feel like the universe put us on each other’s paths.

On saying goodbye to Jesus and his mum they gave us each a small crochet bag and flowers to remember them, and as a thanks for staying and chatting, which was honestly such a pleasure!

We arrived late to Ojo de Agua and went into the only hotel in the town. I spoke with the receptionist, who didn’t speak any English but got me on the phone with his colleague that did. I explained our situation to Alex and he apologised that he didn’t have the authority to help but that he would call his manager to ask. He called back and said that his manager had said no, but we exchanged WhatsApp details and he insisted that he would find a solution.

After an hour of waiting in the reception, Alex called to say that if we waited until the rest of the staff had gone home, he could move some of the pool lounges to the reception area where we could sleep.

We waited until almost midnight and then Alex arrived. The lounges were too heavy to move so he took a spare mattress from a room on the ground floor and set us up on the reception floor. We were so incredibly grateful for his help and how much effort he had made to make sure we were not in our tent!

We showered in the pool and went to sleep in possibly the strangest situation yet!

Despite not sleeping till past 1am, we had to be up at 4.45am! Alex arrived shortly after to move the mattress out of the reception, so his boss who was arriving early wouldn’t know he let us stay.

We packed up and had a quick coffee whilst enjoying the sunrise.

Due to our early start we had walked almost 15km by 9am! We walked through the town and stopped to ask for some hot water with a group of Ticos chilling outside their shop, and ended up sitting and enjoying breakfast with them.

After walking a further 11km I decided that we deserved to hitchhike the final 5km to San Francisco and got a lift in the back of a truck that I’m pretty sure usually carried animals.

On immediate arrival in San Fran we realised that there wasn’t any hotels or accommodation options. Looking on our map we realised the closest was either 33km down the road or back 16km in the town we had breakfast in. We decided to head back and fortunately found a lift to the city centre.

We arrived exhausted after our extremely long day but unfortunately got turned away straight away from our first hotel. Next we tried ‘La Tica’ where the staff were amazing and kindly agreed to let us stay the night! We enjoyed not only a bed but a coffee machine, Wifi, A/C, showers and a double bed each! I honestly couldn’t have wished for more! And slept the best I have done so far on this trip!

Disclaimer this post includes a pretty disgusting photo and far too much negativity. However, I’m trying to be as honest and real as I can with these daily updates. I want you to see and read about our trek exactly how we are experiencing it!

This morning we let ourselves enjoy a well need lie in. The trek is really starting to affect my body, my feet by now are almost one complete blister and every muscle hurts from walking all day every day and endless rough nights sleep.

After our relaxed morning we hitchhiked with a trucker back to San Francisco (the spot where we had to turn around yesterday) to keep moving forward. We stopped in a small village for a coffee and got some hot water for our Nescafé from a bakery.

As we were sat on a bench drinking our coffee we witnessed the most horrific incident. A dog ran in front of a lorry and was hit. We immediately ran over to see the dog struggling for life, none of the locals or people who came to see what happened would do anything, no one knew a number for a vet or wanted to help. We carried the dog under shelter as it was pouring with rain and sat with her as she passed away. It was truly devastating to watch her take her last breath of life. I carried her to some nearby bushes and covered her with a top. We left the town and carried on with the days walk feeling very sad and sombre. Not only at the concept of how fragile life is, but at the complete disregard of the importance of an animals life from the on lookers.

After walking and hitchhiking some more in the back of a van, we arrived in Rio Claro. We were turned away from 4 hotels in a row and feeling helpless decided to start asking female employees in the towns limited shops if anyone had a spare bed for us. The city felt very unwelcoming and we started to feel rather unsafe as it started to rain.

However, like always the kindness of humanity prevailed! The receptionist in Hotel Impala saw  us walk past a second time and decided to change his mind and let us stay.

The day had been challenging from start to finish but I was feeling very grateful to be safe and in a bed!

Days are getting slightly monotonous and I have to be honest I’m struggling quite a bit physically and mentally.

We walked over 25km today to arrive in Cuidad Nelly just as it was getting dark.

All day I had forced optimism despite tiring. However, this was quickly diminished as we were rejected from hotel after hotel. We started to realise how much harder it had become to rely so heavily on the generosity of strangers as we got closer to the Panama border.

Everyone seemed more hostile and unwilling to help. Very unlike the start of the trip, where it felt almost too easy!

With every disappointment we trudged on. And after two hours of walking around the city asking everyone and anyone for a room we decided to try one last option and headed out of town.

We walked 2km to Hotel Impala 2 and spoke to the receptionist Diego. Before even explaining our predicament he informed us that the hotel was completely full. Both Camille and I started to despair. It wasn’t safe enough to camp outside and we had tried every single option. We walked outside and sat down to figure out our plan.

After a couple of minutes Diego came outside with the keys to a room of a customer who had not yet shown. He explained that our safety was his biggest priority and that we should go and get some proper sleep. We both cried and thanked him for he had honestly saved us!

I was hesitant to include the second to last photo as I’m aware it is horribly grim. Blisters, cuts, rashes, overall just terribly worn out! My feet were not a pretty sight that night, but I believe it is important to showcase this ‘Odyssey’ exactly how it really is.

Smile and the world will smile back! And land you with a new pair of socks.

After what can only be described as two of the hardest days of my life, Camille and I decided that we needed to turn the week around by having a great day. After all this trek really had been about leaning humility and to trust life. It was time to put what we had experienced into practise.

Our morning was spent drinking coffee and planning out our route for the next two days.

Due to our great pace the past few days we had one last big push and then would be arriving at the border tomorrow!

Today was a beautiful example of how influential your mindset can be! Deciding to be cheerful and content made for a thoroughly enjoyable day of walking.

Although life is never easy! Once we arrived in Santa Marta, our final stop for the day, we found out that the only guesthouse was closed. A family who were socialising outside (rare at the moment in this region) told us that the closest accommodation options would be in Paso Canoas, the border!

Refusing to let anything dampen our spirits today we simply sat with a coffee and decided that we could make it despite the impending darkness and storm.

We stood hitchhiking in the rain for over an hour as every vehicle sped past and drenched us. Eventually the universe rewarded our determination and a bus pulled up. For some unknown reason the driver didn’t charge and drove straight to the border city.

We arrived in Paso Canoas and needed somewhere safe as soon as possible. Presuming it would be a struggle like the last few nights to find somewhere, we were rather apprehensive as we approached the first hotel. However, to our surprise, just as we started to explain our unusual request for a free room, Angie stopped us and sent us straight inside and to a room! She brought toilet paper, soap and the wifi password a few minutes later! A an absolute miracle that restored my undeniable faith in humanity and completion of this trek!

Trust in the universe and it will reward you.

Ya girls made it to the border!!!!!

But first…. we woke up to a loud knock at the door. Someone had called immigration on us and we opened the door to the police demanding to see our passports. They soon realised that we were not infact illegal immigrants hiding in a hotel and left after taking our details. Of course we had to have to some drama in our day lol!

But yes we made it to the border! After almost three weeks of intense trekking, we made it!!

As I already explained the border did not open as planned so we’ve decided to try and make up some of the remaining Km, that we would have covered once we’d crossed the border, trekking to a couple of Costa Rica’s national parks. But first, a well deserved hot shower and comfy bed for the night!

I recon a glass of wine is on the cards too.

We decided to make our way back to Dominicalito and spend the night with our friend JD who we met last week. That way we could ensure an easy nights rest and then potentially get to the Osa Pennsiula and Corcovado  National Park tomorrow.

We had some trouble hitchhiking out of Paso Canoas and store for longer than anticipated in the pouring rain. However, a car eventually stopped that was driving half way so we jumped in.

After getting dropped off half way we needed to look for another ride. Camille had the great idea of asking cars as they stopped at the service station and within 15 mins we were back in another warm car this time all the way to our destination! Domincalito and a good nights sleep.

Were largely spent resting my wrecked feet and taking advantage of the washing machine and warm water in JD’s ocean view apartment! It was a well deserved break from past few incredibly exhausting days, trekking in wet weather!

We spent our time hiking around the region of Dominicalito and heading into the small village Dominical to catch up with a few friends we had met when passing through last.  They were keen to hear about our journey to the border and delighted by the sheer amount of success we were fortunate enough to enjoy.

Overall it was a truly special few days spent in a particularly unique part of Costa Rica. Thank you JD for making it all possible by letting us call your beautiful corner of the world, home.

With my ‘Odyssey’ coming to an end, it was time for Camille and I to go our separate ways after 4 intense weeks and I left JD’s for Santa Teresa!

The first car I hailed, pulled over. Weimar spoke English and was going to Punta arenas! I honestly couldn’t believe my luck. It was a beautiful nostalgic drive as we passed all the little towns and cities I’d stopped in over the last few weeks and remembered all of the kind souls who had helped me throughout the trek.

I was dropped off at the main road at 1 o’clock and had an hour to make my way through the city to the ferry dock. It took two different buses but I made it with minutes to spare.

However, the day had been too easy! I was told that there were no ferries running until 7am the next day!

I ended up hotel hunting and after three attempts, Las Brisas put me up for the night. And what luxury for my last night! It was the most perfect finale to one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!

I’m going to bed tonight knowing tomorrow I will be back in Santa Teresa, my ‘Odyssey’ complete but like a whole new person in just 4 weeks.

And just like that my ‘odyssey’ through Central America is complete!

Today I arrived back in Santa Teresa, concluding this intrepid adventure

I woke up at 6am to get the first ferry to Paquera. Everything went incredibly smoothly for once and I was back in my favourite little coastal village by 11am.

Writing this, words are almost failing me. How can I summarise this experience? How can I really put into words what this trek has meant for me?

I set off on June 22nd to trek the pacific coast of Costa Rica to the Panama border. With the intention to then cross the border to Panama City.

However as always, life was predictably completely unpredictable. Nothing really went as expected and in the most parts quite the opposite to how we envisioned our journey as we sat one night planning back in Santa Teresa.

This was hugely down to how incredibly kind and overwhelmingly generous the majority of people were that we met along the way. We had locals collect funds for a hotel room, we had a caring mother pay for our bus fare, we made so many new friends, had countless home cooked meals and even more cups of instant coffee!

A little summary that indicates just how fortunate we have been in Costa Rica!

Nights stayed in our tent 0

Money spent on accommodation 0

Money spent on transport: 810 colones ferry x 2, total of 1000 colones on buses

Money spent on food: difficult to work out but around 7,000 colones

So I spent approximately £13.15 in 15 days.

With that in mind I don’t think I will ever be able to fully show or explain the impact that this adventure has had on me!

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along on this Odyssey, I’ve never been so honest and raw on Instagram (or my blog) so thank you for all your kind words and appreciation!

I have a ton of video footage that will at some point be made into daily vlogs so stay tuned.

Read why I believe I am the unluckiest backpacker alive here 

Have any questions about my Odyssey? Let me know in the comments!