It’s not just a saying. It’s an experience. A way of life. It’s the embodiment of dreams, and peace, and hopes. It’s an anchor into the present, the here, the now. It’s something that’s hard to grasp unless you’ve lived it. But if you’ve spent any amount of time in Costa Rica, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s PURA VIDA.

Prior to my weeklong adventure in Costa Rica, I had decided that I wasn’t going to plan much of the actual trip. Sure, I’d have an idea of what I wanted to do…ish, where I wanted to go… ish, and how I was going to get there… ish. But my hope was to leave every day up in the air until I actually decided what I wanted to do that day. This was going to give me some freedom to simply change plans and not be held back by anything at all.

This type of travel is definitely not how I’m wired. I’m very much a planner when it comes to big things like that because I figure that if I’m going to travel that far, then I wanted to make sure I hit all the big ticket items, and in order to do that I have to keep to a schedule. 

I’m not sure when I’ll get to posting this blog, but as I sit here writing at 10:30pm with a decaf coffee in my hand, it’s been 3 days since I left this impossibly beautiful country. And looking back, I could not have written a better trip. The purposeful lack of planning left me with opportunities and freedom that I would not have otherwise had, and this gave me the chance to meet people I would not have met, and do things I would not have done. 

I think in the US we are run so strictly by a schedule that we oftentimes never really experience freedom. We are always going, going, going… It’s simply how our country seems to operate. So experiencing this euphoric freedom of not having a timetable or schedule left me with some serious withdrawals (how millennial of me, right?).

After renting a car in San Jose (contrary to 99% of blogs out there, driving is not that bad in San Jose) and driving north through Alajuela Province, I was able to hike through several rainforests and see some breathtaking waterfalls. Hiking through the rainforest is something that I think everybody should add to their Bucket List. It’s like going back 200 million years into Jurassic Park. Sure, you know that there won’t be a giant T-Rex around the corner covered by fog… but about 14% of you thinks there still just might be, and that’s where the adrenaline hides.

Costa Rica is full of these hikes, both off the beaten path like Catarata Tesoro Escondidoor ones that are more populated like Rio Celeste. Whatever path you choose, I promise, you won’t be disappointed. 

After a few days spent around La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano (didn’t see any part of the volcano in my three days here because of heavy fog, guess that means I have to go back right? Good. Glad that’s decided.), a girl I met at my hostel (Selina La Fortuna) said she was going to Santa Teresa on the southwestern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. I had originally figured I’d head to Tamarindo but after hearing about Santa Teresa, I headed there instead! 

Guys. If you go to Costa Rica, you have to go to Santa Teresa. I booked a night at Selina Santa Teresa North and got in super late. So I headed to the bar for a drink and to meet some other travelers from all over the world. I ended up meeting a girl from Argentina who was also traveling solo. We ended up spending the whole day together the following day and it was a day that simply can’t be put into words… but I’ll try. 

Shortly after breakfast we happened to run into each other and she asked if I had plans today. “Nope, I have nothing planned, I can do anything I want!,” – I think that was my rough response. She said she was going to check out some surf lessons and I said I’d go ahead and join her. Fortunately for me, she was a native Spanish speaker and found out that the best time for beginner surfers is at 3pm in the afternoon (little did we know this would set us up for one of the best nights of our lives). 

It was only about 8am, so we had some time to kill. She asked if I wanted to head to the beach and take a walk and I said yes. She asked, “Are you sure?”… To which I replied, “Yep, I have nothing planned, I can do anything I want!,” – are you seeing a theme here?

We ended up walking on the beach for probably an hour and a half just talking about life, digging our feet into the sand every few steps to find sand that didn’t set our feet on fire, pointing out all the little crabs, and soaking in as much sunlight as we could bear. 

Eventually we headed under some coconut filled palm trees to catch some shade and ended up just talking and enjoying each other’s company and the sound of the waves for 2-3 hours. Honestly, I don’t know how long it was. And that’s the beautiful thing. It didn’t matter. 

At some point in the afternoon we grabbed a quick bite to eat together and headed for our surf lesson… which promptly started 75 minutes late. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, picture the scene with Kunu (Paul Rudd) giving Jason Segel a surf lesson. That’s pretty much what our surf lesson was like. Finally, around 5pm we finally got our boards waxed and in the water at Playa Hermosa. 

It was so. much. fun. Not only were we able to pop up and ride some waves, but we did so for nearly an hour and a half! About an hour into our time in the water, the sun began to set and as it did it unleashed its full splendor on the Costa Rican pacific coast. The richest orange, yellows, and pinks that you can imagine began to burst over the heavenly expanse, and all we could do was soak it in. We had no cameras, no phones, no way of capturing the moment. And for that I am thankful. Because any moment that I would have spent taking a picture of it, would have taken away from actually living it.

After taking a minute to pause and simply admire our Creator’s artwork, I looked at the Costa Rican surf guide that was with us and said, “Look at this! You get to live here every day!” His response is something that even the greatest writers could not have topped... 

“Gracia a Dios. Now you know Pura Vida.”