Livin' la Pura Vida

Livin' la Pura Vida: A Worldwide Journey of Friendship

By Maddy Fritz, Theta Upsilon–Georgetown College, Content Manager/Quarterly Editor, Alpha Gamma Delta.

"Pura vida," which translates to "pure life" or "simple life," is a phrase I recently learned while traveling abroad. It is more than just a slogan; it's a way of life. Since joining Alpha Gamma Delta's staff, I've committed to living my best pure-and-simple life by cherishing friendships. I would go any distance for my friends to show how much I care, knowing they would do the same. Occasionally, I get a chance to go the distance, literally! My unique traveling sisterhood story starts in 2017 when I ventured outside the United States to reunite with college friends.

Maddy, Stephanie, Jess and Kelsey, Bondi Beach, Australia, 2017.

Australia, 2017: It had been about three years since graduating from college and living on my own. I lived hours away from most of my college ties. Still, I was planning a trip with two friends I often kept in touch with, Stephanie Barker, a close friend I went through sorority recruitment with, and Kelsey Burton, Theta Upsilon–Georgetown College, a sorority sister whom I initiated with. We squealed with excitement as we purchased our flights on the phone together; it was official, Stephanie and I were flying around the world to meet Kelsey in Australia. This would be my first trip out of the country, and little did I know, it was a trip that would spark a series of trips around the world.

Maddy and Kelsey, Blue Mountains, Australia, 2017.

After the jetlag of flying in 17 hours of darkness wore off, we spent time in Sydney, doing all the touristy things. We walked Darling Harbour, saw the Sydney Opera House and took a ferry to Manly Beach. On a whim, we booked a flight to the Great Barrier Reef. Our hostel was just outside Cairns, a charming, yacht-filled marina town. Excited to scuba dive in one of the wellknown seven natural wonders of the world, we took the free shuttle to town that night to attend a social event with a sister hostel. Over pizza and drinks, we met Jess Topping, a backpacking Brit traveling solo and, from here on out, also known as our new best friend. We danced to 90's music in an empty club and chased strange-looking leggy birds on our walk home. T he next day, we invited Jess to stay with us in Sydney for the remainder of her trip. Our time in Australia was short, but our friendship remained strong. Through social media and texting apps, we all stayed in contact.

Maddy, Stephanie, Jess and Kelsey, Blue Mountains, Australia 2017.

United States, 2019: Two years after our Australian excursion, we all agreed it was time to get the gang back together, and Jess made her first trip to the United States. With

Stephanie, Kelsey and I being from Kentucky, we showed Jess how to enjoy the bluegrass state properly. We attended a Derby party at Hotel Covington, and made some bets on thoroughbred horses during at the Kentucky Oakes in Louisville. Later that week, we spent some laid-back time in western Kentucky in my hometown of Henderson. Jess and I also made a quick trip to Florida with some hometown friends. We spent a few days at the beaches near Orlando and got exclusive tickets to Harry Potter World after hours at Universal Studios.

Jess and Maddy, Kentucky, United States, 2019.

Our British-American-Australian 2019 friendship tour came to an end. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that we discovered how badly we all would need to get together again for another trip. We never anticipated that countries would shut down their borders for what we all know now as COVID-19. T he global pandemic was a four-year traveling dry spell for our group. Australia had some of the world's strictest travel and quarantine laws, and Kelsey couldn't leave the country for years. Every one of us experienced shifts in our day-to-day jobs. My goal of purchasing a house grew competitive as the nation saw skyrocketing trends across the housing market. In four years, some of us experienced the heartache of failed relationships, and some shared the grief of losing loved ones. A lot happened during those years. Though the four of us lived in three different countries, we were still there for each other and eager to celebrate our friendship again with another trip. This time our traveling sisterhood packed our bags to a country that none of us had been to before, Costa Rica!

Jess, Kelsey, Stephanie and Maddy, Jaco Beach, Costa Rica, 2023.

Costa Rica, 2023: Jess, Stephanie, Kelsey and I arrived within 24 hours of each other in San José, Costa Rica. We had planned a 10-day road trip through some of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We fell in love with our San José hostel, appropriately called Lost in San José — it was a tiny paradise hidden away in the chaos of the city. We stayed here on our first and last nights and felt like family by the time we left.

Our travel itinerary started with a treacherous backroad trip (treacherous, meaning the emergency zip-strip ties I packed came in handy by the time we returned our rental car) to see the Catarata de Toro of the Blue Waterfalls. The pothole-ridden gravel road finally landed us at the Rustic Cabins of La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano. Our cabin host described the jungle ants as friendly, and they only occasionally visited to escape the rain. We had no choice but to presume that the bat that intruded on our sleeping quarters was also a frequent guest — very rustic cabins, indeed!

Maddy and Stephanie, Costa Rica, 2023.

In La Fortuna, we swam and swung with the locals at the El Salto Rope Swing on the Rio Fortuna. Thanks to the advice of a local tour guide we met, we found a popular hot spring, Tabacon Hot Springs. The springs resembled a fast-flowing creek, shallow and narrow enough to sit in almost without drifting away. The water temperature was perfect, naturally heated by the underground magma of the nearby Arenal Volcano. We concluded our time in La Fortuna at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges and Sloth’s Territory. We didn’t know how we could top these amazing experiences until we experienced the otherworldly phenomenon of bioluminescence.

Bahia Rica Fishing and Kayak Lodge in Paquera hosted our night kayak tour around the inlets of the gulf where the bioluminescent algae lived. Bioluminescence is a natural occurrence — just like fireflies. Any movement in the water stimulated the glowing of the algae. It was as if we were paddling through a galaxy of microscopic stars suspended below us. We splashed around like children, throwing sparkling water on each other with our oars, bumping kayaks left and right, completely in awe and unable to focus on navigating. Any photo or video paled in comparison to the magic in the water, so we have no other way to relive the experience except in our memories. Still, this guided tour ranks as one of my favorite experiences I have ever had.

Bahia Rica Fishing and Kayak Lodge's bioluminescence night tour in Paquera, Costa Rica, 2023.

The 4 a.m. ferry across the gulf was the wake-up call back to reality. We were excited about our final destination to the surf town of Jacó Beach. We made ourselves at home at the Encanto del Mar hostel. Around every corner were colorfully painted wildlife murals. The hostel itself was nestled a few miles down the hill from the graffiti ruins of El Miro. We walked to the beach, the corner store and nearby restaurants. We shared delicious food and drinks from the soda shops, befriended a local surf instructor and narrowly escaped a run-in with a large pufferfish at the coral covered sands of the Mirador de Playa Blanca. We didn’t want to leave this beautiful country, but our trip was nearing the end.

Maddy at El Miro graffiti ruins, Jaco Beach, Costa Rica, 2023.

While this was our third trip together, this was the first time I shed uncontrollable tears at the airport. Knowing what we share is truly special, I hugged my friends a little tighter before saying goodbye. Thinking back to all that had happened in each of our lives in four years, I felt sad for all the time we had missed, but there were also happy tears for how far we had all come. For 10 days, pura vida had been our hello and goodbye for everyone we met; it was how we expressed our pure joy for living our best lives. It's easy to live "la pura vida" while on vacation, but finding pura vida every day takes energy, acceptance, patience and gratitude.

The older I get, the more thankful I am to be able to cherish these memories. I am lucky to maintain so many valuable friendships. We will never be able to replicate the relationships that we hold the closest, the cherished few, whether it’s childhood friends, sorority sisters or the best friend you met on vacation.