Belize

During Thanksgiving break freshman year, I took a solo trip to Belize with very little planning. I arrived in Belize City, which, in hindsight, wasn’t where most tourists spend much time. The hotel I’d booked was crawling with cockroaches, but that actually turned out to be a good thing for me. Experiences like that became part of my own exposure therapy for OCD, forcing me to become more comfortable in situations I never would have chosen.

The mainland turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the country. I spent a day cave tubing through underground rivers and visiting the ancient Mayan ruins of Altun Ha before deciding to head to the laid-back island of Caye Caulker for a day trip. There, I met a fun group of people on a scuba diving trip who convinced me to stay the night, so I found a bed in a hostel and changed my plans on the spot. Belize reminded me that some of the best travel experiences happen when you stop trying to control every detail and simply go with the flow.