Pura Vida
We had a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica! It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time and now that I have a friend living there it seemed like the perfect time to finally book this trip!
The journey there is quite an adventure. We drove to Halifax as those flight options were better and significantly cheaper than flying out of Charlottetown. We had a 2 hour layover in Toronto on the way there and 8 hours in Montreal on the way back.
It’s funny how it doesn’t seem like it’ll be that bad when you’re excited and booking but when the time comes to experience a long layover like that the attitude is a bit different! Luckily, we made the most of it and were able to nap, read and do some people watching to kill the time.
We flew into San Jose airport in Costa Rica fairly late and stayed at a nearby Airbnb. Our friends live approximately 4 hours away from there so in the morning we took the bus to the closest town and they picked us up from there. It can be quite the experience trying to organize these things when we aren’t fluent in Spanish but we managed to make it work (thank you to Antonio at the bus station cafe for helping us!).
It took almost a day and a half to get from our house to theirs but it was worth the journey!
This vacation was very different from our typical sunny destinations.
We usually find ourselves at a Hard Rock all inclusive. We both really enjoyed changing it up for this trip. It was a nice balance of living like locals and getting out for some touristy things too!
We had many great adventures! Climbing mountains to see waterfalls, a boat tour to see whales and dolphins, ziplining around the jungle and paragliding off a cliff! We also went on lots of walks to see the beautiful wildlife and vegetation. I have a whole IG post just to show all the flowers we saw! It’s such a beautiful country!
What I think I loved the most was that we were able to really slow down and enjoy our time.
Even with a fairly scheduled week it didn’t feel like we were ever rushing or stressed about getting somewhere on time. We enjoyed the journeys to get places just as much as the time spent at our destinations (even on the busy winding roads we traveled!).
We were learning to embrace the Pura Vida life.
Pura Vida relates to wellbeing, positivity and gratitude. And I am confident in telling you that it’s not just a cute tagline that helps sell items to tourists.
Having the opportunity to connect with locals in their grocery stores or corner shops, the guides from the tours we did or the people we’d come across while out for a walk or at zumba, I was able to see that they really do embrace this lifestyle.
Neighbors wave at one another going by
Friends gather and hang outside the corner stores
The huge turnout for Zumba at the sports complex
Community festivals that draw in so many people and also stop traffic with their parades…ok so this one might have caused us a little stress because we found out about it on our way to the bus stop. Luckily Jonathan knew a back road to get us there on time! #localsknow
We had great guides on each of the tours we did too. I really enjoyed the team at our zip-lining excursion. Though there’s not a lot of time to chat when you’re being led through 11 zip-lines and 6 hanging bridges I really enjoyed the crew that led us through. They were laid back, happy and also focused on our safety - there were some very high platforms on this tour! They definitely helped enhance the vibe of the day.
And while I do fully immerse myself in the experience as the guest, I can’t help but see these experiences through the eyes of an operator. I love to come away from an experience and imagine and appreciate (or come up with ideas for) the behind the scenes of an operation. I also try to find something that stands out to help me come up with ways to make Joey’s do the same for our guests.
The way that we experienced Costa Rica is how I imagine a lot of people vacation in PEI. They come for the beautiful scenery, they have different experiences and they are also interacting with a lot of locals as they are out doing things. I like to think that PEI exudes a similar vibe of gratitude and strong community.
I hope that people leave their PEI vacation feeling a shift in perspective and feeling a greater sense of gratitude and ease. That’s how I felt leaving Costa Rica and I’m already trying to figure out when I can go back and how I can stay longer!
There is a lot more that I want to do there and, I’m not going to lie, I definitely want to redo a few things, especially the Nauyaca Waterfalls!
I know that I do a great job of embracing winter and still enjoying the outdoors even when it’s -25 (or more!) but I also really love being warm. So if I can spend more time in the hot climates during my off season then I’m even more grateful for this life that I’m building. (Though last year I went to Calgary for my January travels and that was a whopping -40!)
I think this trip to Costa Rica has reminded me about appreciating the little things.
And while I think I do this pretty good already I’m always looking to surround myself with people or places that really reinforce this. In a world that is constantly telling us to do more, be better, lose weight, make more money, etc., I am going against the grain and finding way to slow down to lean into gratitude and appreciation for this life I have. Yes, I want to grow and evolve but I want to do that on my terms and my timeline.
And that’s definitely going to include a lot more travel adventures!
In the meantime, I’m going to do my best to keep living the Pura Vida life whether I’m in Costa Rica or not. But seriously, when can I go back?
Until next time,
Julie Ann
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