00:00I'm Lissy Fink and this is Five Days on an Adventure!
00:07Hey guys!
00:09I'm really sticky.
00:10Guess where I am?
00:11That's a pool.
00:13And that's a hammock.
00:14Any guesses?
00:15I am in Costa Rica.
00:20That's right! Costa Rica!
00:22Pause for sweat beads.
00:24I've been in a bit of a creative funk in New York
00:27and the cold weather was not helping me at all.
00:30I've been sitting inside all day.
00:31I've had a serious lack of color.
00:32I needed to get out and shake things up.
00:34So what did I do?
00:36I planned an adventure.
00:38I signed up for Katanga Fitness Retreats
00:40and I flew myself down to Costa Rica this morning.
00:48And here I am.
00:49Who wants to join me?
00:50Let me backtrack for a minute and just say that
00:52if you too need inspiration, you by no means
00:55need to fly across the world.
00:56You can have an adventure wherever, whenever.
00:59I chose to take it to the extreme
01:00because I knew you'd be coming with me on this journey
01:02so I figured, Lucy, go big or go home.
01:06And I definitely don't want to go home.
01:08I just got here.
01:08I'm sweating on my upper lip.
01:10There are about 20 other women on this retreat
01:12so we landed at the airport, got into a big van together
01:15and drove to the retreat center
01:17but we stopped along the way at this incredible place
01:19called Crocodile Bridge.
01:21Whoa!
01:23The tour guides threw chicken in and they were all snapping at it
01:26and catching it in their mouths
01:27and I was totally like, I do not want to fall in that water
01:31but I do want to stand here and watch.
01:33There's a bug.
01:34Then finally we arrived at our retreat center
01:36and we all got fresh coconuts and did a nice cheers together.
01:41The moment we got to the beach, it was like a fairy tale.
01:44Horses galloped up to us.
01:46This is pretty much the life.
01:47And the man let me hop on.
01:49The horse's name was Sunshine.
01:50Do you guys hear me?
01:52This is not a drill.
01:55I have three goals for the week.
01:57One, make at least one life-long friend.
02:00Two, get back into my creative flow.
02:02And three, get far outside of my comfort zone.
02:05Time for an evening bonfire.
02:07I'll see you tomorrow.
02:08I'm so excited for this adventure.
02:14Hey guys!
02:15Happy Tuesday.
02:17Check out this yoga hut.
02:20Really sorry that it's kind of loud here
02:22but we're in the middle of the jungle.
02:23There are monkeys chirping in the trees
02:25and the ocean is right behind you.
02:30Beautiful.
02:31Last night's bonfire was such an experience.
02:34A match was thrown into it
02:35and the whole thing went up in flames.
02:39I took an amazing slow motion video of this moment.
02:42Check my Instagram.
02:43It was such a nice, happy environment
02:45with all the people on the retreat
02:46just getting to know each other
02:48and talking while the embers burned
02:49and flew all around us.
02:51And then I saw a shooting star
02:53for the second time in my life.
02:55Woo!
02:56Today's retreat schedule led us
02:57to two classic Costa Rican activities.
03:00Number one, ziplining.
03:04Trees and monkeys and insects.
03:07It's like a different planet up there.
03:09Got my harness.
03:10Got my hat.
03:10Got my straps.
03:11Who's excited?
03:12Woo!
03:13And our ziplining course had, I think,
03:16seven ziplines.
03:17The last one of which was almost a mile long.
03:20Oh my god!
03:22That was so beautiful!
03:24Oh, thank you.
03:27At first, I was really holding on for dear life.
03:30But as time went on, I was holding on to my rope,
03:32flipping upside down, legs in the air,
03:35totally just living it up.
03:37Woo!
03:38Woo!
03:38Woo!
03:39Activity number two, now this one was new for me,
03:42water repelling.
03:43This is basically like rock climbing, but in reverse
03:46and down a cascading waterfall.
03:49I bought some water shoes, threw on a bathing suit
03:51and literally went with the flow.
03:54Bye, see you down there.
03:57I definitely ticked that box today
04:00of getting far outside of my comfort zone
04:02because even though both of these activities
04:03were incredibly exciting,
04:07they're also physically uncomfortable.
04:10You need to get out of your head and into your body
04:12and just live in the moment.
04:14And on day two, I think it's about time that you meet my crew.
04:17Come on in.
04:18Yeah!
04:20Are you having the time of your life?
04:22It's time to go swimming.
04:23Okay.
04:24We're going swimming.
04:25Let's go.
04:25Bye.
04:29So this retreat has a ton of activities that are offered,
04:32but because it's primarily a fitness retreat,
04:34there are workouts offered every morning and evening.
04:37Today, I'm really focusing on the exercise aspect of my adventure.
04:41In New York, I find it so difficult to just go to the gym.
04:45I need a crew.
04:46I need a squat.
04:47So I started today off with a one-on-one,
04:50early morning, high-intensity workout session with Lane,
04:53the leader of this fitness retreat.
04:55Bring your hands to prayer.
04:57Good.
04:57Take a seat down.
04:59She had me doing squats and jumps,
05:01high knees and running.
05:03Just in one.
05:03Let's go.
05:04Good.
05:05Drop.
05:05Up.
05:07Up.
05:07I was so hot, so sweaty, but it was so much fun.
05:12Last one.
05:13Hold the low.
05:14Oh.
05:15Lift your heels.
05:17Tighten your belly.
05:18I'm dying.
05:20Even if I wasn't in Costa Rica right now,
05:22this could have been as easy as getting out
05:24and trying a new fitness studio around the corner.
05:27And tonight, it's all about restorative exercise.
05:29So Lane is going to be leading a yoga class with the entire group.
05:34Getting out, adventuring, and taking on a new challenge.
05:38Three things you gotta do.
05:43To me, adventure is a little bit less about the physical activity
05:46and the movements you're doing.
05:48And it's more about your mindset.
05:50Relaxing and enjoying the sights and seeing what's new out there.
05:53At last night's sunset yoga, it was so relaxing to just listen to the sounds of the waves
05:57and the wind swaying through the trees.
05:59I almost didn't want to close my eyes because the sights around me were so beautiful.
06:04I started off the day with a fresh coconut chopped right off the palm tree.
06:08The man macheted it open right before my eyes.
06:11I popped the straw in there and I took that thing with me everywhere.
06:19Cheers.
06:20Cheers.
06:20I even spent some time hanging out with the cutest little puppy that belongs to the owners
06:24of the property.
06:28After the past two days that I've had here, adventuring on zip lines and water repelling
06:33and doing incredibly hard workouts, all I needed today was this.
06:37Towards the end of the day, I picked up a camera and I brought it around with me
06:41and I took incredible photos of the plants, flowers, bugs.
06:46I am a very visual person.
06:47These photos were not for Instagram, not for the world to see.
06:51It was just me standing behind the lens, looking through, finding a beautiful moment in time
06:56and snapping the shutter.
06:58Okay, maybe one or two of them will get to Instagram.
07:00We'll see.
07:02So, at the end of Thursday, two of my three goals are down.
07:05I am now completely creatively refueled.
07:08One more day in paradise.
07:10My future's so bright I need shades.
07:14Happy Friday!
07:16It's the last day of my trip, so I'm gonna throw out a classic Fink family idiom.
07:20Vacation over, tan fading.
07:23But, on this Katanga fitness retreat, I had one more exciting activity for Friday.
07:27A Costa Rican plantain cooking class.
07:30It was a culinary adventure.
07:33We were shown two different types of plantains, sweet and not sweet.
07:36We cut them into little pieces, flattened them into a pancake shape with a plate,
07:40dropped them in the fryer, and then served them with a black bean puree.
07:45Mmm.
07:46We tried a whole variety of cooking methods.
07:48Some were boiled in water, others were fried in vegetable oil.
07:51All were delicious.
07:52My personal favorite were the sweet plantains, fried in vegetable oil.
07:56Mmm.
07:56So good.
07:57Three of three goals complete, I've officially made a new lifelong friend.
08:02This is Dora.
08:04Hi YouTube!
08:05We're BFFs, right?
08:06This is what true love feels like.
08:08I love you so much.
08:10Never leave me.
08:11I felt the need for some inspiration and I went out and I found it right here in Central America.
08:16I am completely reset, recharged, and ready to go back home.
08:20But let me tell you, you can find creativity anywhere.
08:23Go to a museum, pick up some colored pencils and a sketch pad.
08:26Hop on Pinterest!
08:28There are a million ways to spice up your life, add adventure, and find the creativity you've
08:32been lacking.
08:33Figure out what lights your fire and keep it burning.
08:36That was a little cliche, right?
08:40Whoa.
08:40Be adventurous, be happy, live your life, you do you.
08:43And as the Costa Ricans say, Pura Vida.
08:47See ya next time.
08:50Hey guys, thanks for watching my Costa Rican adventure.
08:53Click here to watch another video on Refinery29's channel and right here to subscribe to us on YouTube.
08:58Bye!
08:59See ya.
09:00Ciao.
09:00Adios!
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