Volunteering as a Couple in Costa Rica: Stronger Together

Jamie and I had been together for four years and were stuck in a rut. Same routines, same restaurants, same arguments about whose turn it was to do the dishes. When a friend suggested we volunteer abroad together instead of taking another beach holiday, we thought she was crazy. Then we thought — why not?

We signed up for a six-week marine conservation program on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, focused on protecting nesting sea turtles. Neither of us had any conservation experience. Jamie is a graphic designer, and I work in software sales. But the program welcomed all skill levels, and we arrived ready to learn.

Our days started at 4 AM with beach patrols, walking miles of coastline looking for turtle tracks and nesting mothers. When we found a nest, we'd carefully relocate the eggs to a protected hatchery to keep them safe from poachers and predators. The first time we watched an olive ridley turtle lay her eggs by moonlight, Jamie grabbed my hand and neither of us spoke for twenty minutes.

"I think we forgot how to be amazed by things together," Jamie told me that night. It was true. Somewhere between work deadlines and grocery runs, we'd lost our sense of shared wonder. Costa Rica gave it back to us.

Working as a team in challenging conditions revealed strengths we didn't know each other had. Jamie's artistic eye made her brilliant at camouflaging nest sites. My organizational skills helped the team coordinate night patrol schedules. We argued less than we did at home — probably because we were too exhausted and too fulfilled to bicker about small things.

The hatchling releases were pure magic. Watching hundreds of tiny turtles scramble toward the ocean for the first time, knowing we'd helped protect them, was the most profound experience we've shared. We cheered, we cried, and we decided on that beach that this was the kind of life we wanted to build together.

We returned home different people — and a stronger couple. We've since reduced our expenses, simplified our lifestyle, and committed to one volunteer trip per year. We're headed to Greece next summer for a refugee support program. The dishes still cause arguments, but now we can laugh about it.