Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for the first time. The love of travel in my bones, as soon as I was asked about the opportunity to come to photograph the wedding of a longtime friend—I jumped into researching Costa Rica on the internet and learning all I could about the country and region, even before boarding the plane from Chicago to Atlanta, Atlanta to San José. I’m the first person to admit that I usually do immediately fall in love with every place I travel, just because I embrace things that are different to my usual every day things I become accustomed to (and bored with.) A trait that my husband may find kind of annoying, but also a trait I am thankful he embraces and comes along with me; waiting and wanting to discover the same new places with me.

This trip was no different, I immediately fell in love with the pura vida life as we flew over the green terrain descending in to San José. While I was coming here to work and photograph the wedding of my friend, my husband and I decided to make it a second honeymoon of sorts as well. We did go on a honeymoon when we were first married nineteen years ago, driving to and taking a ferry to the island of Nova Scotia in Canada. Nova Scotia was still north, though, and all of our vacations following our honeymoon have been travels around the U.S. The thought of traveling to Central America and a region completely new to us was very exciting and filled with wonder and possibility, on very short notice.

That wonder was probably evident the minute we stepped off the plane. Our eyes were wide as we took in the sounds of the airport and looked out the windows to see the mountainous terrain surrounding San José. I remember being particularly excited to hear a Tico playing and singing the music of Costa Rica in the corridor as we looked for our friends to land from their plane and board our van to take us to the beach. My husband was already scouring the airport for a nice cigar, of which I quipped, “Why don’t you wait? I bet we will find better ones in the towns we will be visiting.” (We did!)

Our first hours spent in Costa Rica were spent in the airport and then boarding the van for the four of us (myself, my husband, and the couple to be married soon) to travel to Quepos and the Costa Verde hotel in Manuel Antonio. I’m the type who takes in things visually, and I just rode in the van and I took in everything as we traveled on the bumpy highways and byways to Quepos. There were plenty of things along the way that we don’t see often in the States. At a quick gas station stop, there was a truck filled in the back with red pointed fruit that I certainly had never seen before. I saw a horse walking down a gulch near the rode in a pretty populated neighborhood, by himself. Nope, I’ve never seen that before either! A stop at the Crocodile Bridge near Jacó made me realize I certainly did not care to see crocodiles standing on a two lane bridge as much as my traveling friends, and that I was content to stay back and take pictures of the things around the bridge and not be ON the bridge. (And to wonder what that delicious looking empanada thing was in a restaurant near the Bridge was filled with, and wishing that I knew the language of the Ticos more to ask what was inside it before spending a few colonés on it! I still regret the decision not to get that, months later, as I’m fairly sure it must have been as delicious as it looked!)

Of course I took in all the new curiosities of this new-to-me country with my camera (ok, two cameras) from the first moment (even on the plane, as you can see in the photo, above) and began to document my trip not only in my mind but with photographs. It is the only way I can sit here now and write this piece and have it still be as fresh in my mind as it was last August. As I sort through the thousands of photographs I took, one picture leads to another memory, and to the next. It was also how I could bring my friends and family along with me, who may never get the opportunity to travel to places where I get to go. At the end of every day of our travels, I would upload photos that I had taken of the day to Facebook, and had many friends and family comment that it was as if they had felt they were right there with me. I fell in love with the experience of bringing a little bit of Costa Rica back to those who may never see its lush green mountains and beautiful beaches; hoping to make them fall in love with it just as I did in my few short days of taking it all in.

Memory is very important, the memory of each photo taken, flowing at the same speed as the event. During the work, you have to be sure that you haven’t left any holes, that you’ve captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.  —Henri Cartier Bresson

What can you photograph this week that documents a story you want to tell? Traveling isn’t the only reason to bring along a camera and tell a story. Take pictures at a family get together, paying close attention to the details. For instance, take a photograph of your Easter meal that your mom or grandma lovingly prepared with her own hands, for those are the memories that you’ll want to remember forever.

Marissa is a traveling, U.S. based photographer and graphic designer. This last year of a discovery journey she has been on has led her to question what home truly means, and if “home” can be made and found anywhere. If you are inspired by the photographs she has shared in this post, you can purchase prints or canvases here through her online gallery. Email her at [email protected] or comment here with your own stories of travel and discovery, she would love to hear about them!