Simply translated, Pura Vida means “pure life” or "simple life", but in Costa Rica, it is more than just a saying... It is a way of life.
Costa Ricans (or Ticos) use this term to say hello, to say goodbye, to say everything's great, to say everything's cool. Similar to how Jamaicans say Irie or No problem.
Pura Vida is the way Ticos live. Not surprisingly, Costa Rica has been named one of the happiest countries in the world, mostly because its inhabitants don’t stress about things the way many people in the rest of the world do.
Ticos have a very relaxed, simple way of looking at life. No worries, no fuss, no stress. To them, Pura Vida means being thankful for what they have and not dwelling on the negative.
Most recently, I was scheduled to be on a call with a friend who is a Tico living in Costa Rica. Our call was scheduled for 11am. The day before the call, my wife asked me to go to the airport to pick up her brother, so I emailed my friend and asked her if she could reschedule. She suggested 1pm that same day and I agreed thinking I would have enough time to get back from the airport.
On the morning of the call, I checked the flight status and the flight was delayed and was now coming in at 12:30 so given that we rescheduled the call, to 1pm, I would not have enough time to get back. So I promptly emailed my friend and asked her if she could move the call back to the original time of 11am.
About 30 minutes later, I checked the flight status and it was updated and the plane apparently was now coming in at 11:30 so rescheduling to 11am would no longer work and requested she just leave the rescheduled time of 1pm.
I told her in my email that was sorry for all the back and forth and all the emails, and in her response she said she understood, and ended her email with "Pura Vida!".
When we finally spoke I thanked her for reminding me to not stress about small things like that and just maintain an attitude of Pura Vida!
If any of you have driven in any of the urban areas of Costa Rica, you know that traffic is a nightmare. So one day, several colleagues and I were commuting from the hotel to the office. On this particular morning, it was the usual bumper to bumper traffic. As we approached the office after being in the van for about 25 minutes, right when we were about to make the turn on the street just 200 yards from the office a man on a motorcycle starts to have a conversation with another man on foot. They both stand in the intersection long enough to block all traffic and they just go about their morning talking as all the drivers seem to just wait. My colleague who was in the front seat of the van starts to get very animated waving her hands as to suggest they move out of the way and she starts to yell that accordingly. She pleads with them to simply step 5' off the road so we could all pass. Eventually after a few minutes the two men conclude their conversation and the traffic starts moving. At this time my colleague is livid and looks at the driver and says, "I don't know how you drive in this traffic all day?" The driver turned and looked at her and shrugged his shoulders and simply said "Pura Vida"
While many people use the saying ‘pura vida’, until you’ve been to Costa Rica, you will not truly know what pura vida feels like.
It’s an emotion and an attitude, that embodies joy and happiness, and it’s a way of life. Once you’ve visited, you will understand the true meaning of pura vida.
But until then, during the Holidays when so many things can get you stressed out, remember the things that really matter in life, and try to embrace the emotion and attitude of a more pure and simple life as embodied in the saying, Pura Vida!