- Program
- Pura Vida Service, Costa Rica
- Traveled
- July 2025
- Hometown
- Calabasas, California
In this first-person account, Maxie Rex of Calabasas, California, looks back on Rustic Pathways’ Pura Vida Service program in Costa Rica in July 2025, a first teen tour, with photos from the trip.
Maxie describes making friends to travel with on future tours and encourages anyone nervous about traveling without knowing anyone to step out of their comfort zone.
Maxie’s First Teen Tour, to Costa Rica
Hi, I’m Maxie, and I’m from California. I did the Costa Rica Pura Vida service trip with Rustic Pathways.
This was my first time doing a teen tour, and I absolutely loved it! I made friends that I’ll stay connected with even after the trip—people I can travel with on future tours.
What Maxie Took Home: Stepping Out of a Comfort Zone
If anyone is nervous about traveling without knowing anyone beforehand, I encourage you to go for it and step out of your comfort zone. This trip created so many unforgettable memories for me and the amazing people I met along the way. I would love to come back and do another teen tour with Rustic Pathways!
Maxie describes friends to stay connected with and a wish to come back. The memories concern the July 2025 session, and Maxie first shared them on the Rustic Pathways Instagram account on July 28, 2025.
The program still runs as Costa Rica: Pura Vida Service. It runs 8 days for students ages 14–18 from a base house in La Fortuna and includes about 16 hours of community service near Arenal Volcano, improving a local school and maintaining park trails, with ziplining and whitewater rafting. See the program page for the current itinerary, dates and activities.
