Pura Vida

Walking around Costa Rica you see “Pura Vida” everywhere—on T-shirts, in art, even on billboards. But it’s bigger than that; you can feel it in the warm smiles of the people you meet, hear it in the greetings you hear, and taste it in every plate of food you eat. While the phrase originated as the title of a popular 1950s movie in Mexico, Costa Ricans embraced it, popularized it, and made it their unofficial national motto. The exact translation is “pure life” or “simple life”, which seems trivial until you experience it. “Pura Vida means freedom, for me, it’s no one judging you— everybody’s equal,” Jason-Haus Louis told me during an interview.