It’s 5:30 am as the sun rises over the Caribbean coast (as it does at this time pretty much all year round, being so close to the equator). A soft golden light shines over the tranquil sea, creeping up the tree trunks in search of their tops, and slides its way up the sides of the mountains that march all the way across Costa Rica to the Pacific coast.
A tiny fruit stall stands on the side of the road. Its owner, Juan, removes the plastic cover protecting his wares from the overnight rain and assembles today’s load of fresh fruits, ready to be displayed. As he prepares, a local passerby (yours truly) riding their bike in chilled flip-flop style tosses a greeting towards the fruit man: Pura vida! He smiles and waves back over an equally joyful pura vida!
It’s now an hour later and everything’s ready for the fruit-selling to begin. His neighbouring stall owners begin to show up to get ready for another long work day.
- ‘¡Buenos días! ¿Pura vida?’
- ‘¡Pura vida, mae! Aquí poniéndole un día más.’
Everyone’s smiling, and everything’s up and running. All products are in place: ice creams, empanadas, fresh fruits, candies for the little ones, Coca-Cola in little plastic bags with a straw, coconuts ready to be hacked open and skewered with a straw to quench a tourist’s thirst. The sun keeps rising, the morning is already feeling brimming with potential, and everyone’s ready to seize the day.
On first reflection, Costa Rica’s most famous phrase is a weird one. Pura vida! (“poo-rah vee-dah”) translates simply as ‘pura life’ – but its vast constellation of chilled-out social meanings, working both as verbs and adjectives, go far beyond its literal one. It could mean both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ or ‘I’m well’ or ‘how great is that?’ You could use it as a cheerful ‘oh well!’ at the whimsical twists of life, or as a rueful acknowledgement of harder times. Always delivered in a cheerful tone, the Pura Vida has become a kind of shared optimism and gratitude at the relatively calm lifestyle most people in the country seem to enjoy, a quiet determination to make the best of everything that’s become deep-baked into the national way of life.
It’s therefore remarkable that the phrase was only recently imported. Its origins seem to be a Mexican movie called Pura Vida, which premiered in 1955, where one of the main characters, seemingly plagued by misfortune and his own recklessness, is in the process of becoming a social outcast – but does so with a smile, incanting pura vida! to remind himself and others that no matter what’s going on in the world, it’s always worth spending a few moments to appreciate the good things you have. (The film also used the term to refer to or meaningful moments, further reinforcing how fluid its meanings could be.).
Over the years (and hastened by the phrase being used by a Mexican character from the hit film Easy Rider), the phrase crossed borders and percolated down through Central America. For some reason, in Costa Rica, it stuck for good, quickly becoming adopted by its citizens in the 1970s.
In a world of overhyped marketing, it’s easy to see this cynically. Many of us foreigners believe this phrase to be mostly a convenient souvenir, a tool that sells an image and little else. But in reality, most Costa Ricans are genuinely, even extraordinarily proud of the Pura Vida. They learn it from an early age so it acts as a kind of moral compass for their optimism, and they know it’s not just a phrase to be emptily recited according to tradition. Somehow, it’s become far more. According to my Costa Rican partner, it’s “a feeling, a heartwarming reminder of home that you carry with you everywhere you go. It can signify many things, and you use it every day (with feeling!) whether with family, friends, strangers or coworkers. Everyone knows that exclaiming Pura Vida is a reminder that deep down, everything is well.”
All this means it’s highly contagious if you spend any time in Costa Rica. If you’re joining Wheel an Anchor for our January adventure, be prepared to use and receive the phrase liberally, and maybe to find it creeping into your vocabulary when you return home.
In the words of Víctor Sánchez, president of the Costa Rican Association of Language: “Foreigners notice it, and then repeat it back, strengthening the way we perceive ourselves.” It’s a fascinating, and highly beneficial, feedback loop of self-confidence adopted and absorbed into Costa Rican Spanish.
What’s the impact of this culture of cheery optimism? It’s hard to give a single phrase the credit, as Costa Rica has so much going for it in terms of its economy, its remarkable strides towards totally renewable energy production and so much else, including these delicious sugary creations. But it’s also a fact, and something of a medical marvel, that Costa Ricans have exceptionally high life expectancy. (My Costa Rican partner’s grandmother passed away a couple of years ago at the grand old age of 106.)
Since there appear to be strong links between optimism and longevity, has the adoption of pura vida become a kind of cultural anti-ageing booster? As the scientists would say, more work needs to be done – but it’s an exciting thought.
(Ask a Costa Rican, of course, and they’d agree in a heartbeat.)
But to get a little sentimental for a second: the pura vida life is a reminder of the goodness to be found in people when they’re given the chance. It’s a lovely antidote to cynical thinking, to automatic distrust of strangers, to the assumption that everyone is out for what will only benefit them – and, as a result of all of those things, that the world is a depressing mess. Every Costa Rican happily says otherwise, a hundred times a day. Sure, life isn’t all sunshine and rainbow – but there’s always a way to manage to stay afloat, to find the positive in every situation, and even to have a good laugh about things when they go wrong. It’s a conscious decision to assume there’s always a silver lining and a way to muddle through, and that’s the most infectious thing of all.
Of all the places in the world that can lift your spirits and make life seem not just bearable but sometimes even gratifying, Costa Rica does its best.
It’s now 5:45 pm and the sun is about to set. Juan’s made a healthy profit for the day’s work, and now he’s ready to pack up his fruit and call it quits. Alongside him, the other sellers do the same, and they share some banter. It’s been a good day – but hey, aren’t they all?
-’¡Pura vida, Juan!”
-’Gracias mae, ¡pura vida!”
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Join Wheel & Anchor in January 2025 for a trip beyond the usual beach holiday, to explore the volcanos, rainforests and native tribes of this established Central American country. Cherished for its Pura Vida, Costa Rica is a country which deserves much more attention than it typically gets. We’ll enjoy 2 unique eco-lodges balanced between the coast and the spectacular landscapes of the interior. Our trip will culminate in a classic seaside resort. Book your place here.