Everybody has a life motto, whatever inspire you to grow, to be passionate about the things you do and love, that put extra batteries on your back to help people, to live life in a good way without hurting people; in that sense, mine is “pura vida”, and that is what Local Guides program means to me.
So “pura vida” means pure life, that is the straight translation, but it goes beyond that. Costa Ricans (also known as “ticos”) use these two words a lot during the day and it means many things: you can use to refer you are fine, relaxed, enjoying your life, breathing without being hurry, you can use to say hi or good bye, you can say a person is pura vida to reflect how cool that individual is, and finally to refer to a place.
I still remember the first time I heard about this program, that really touched something inside me as I always wanted to avoid people the bitter feeling of feeling lost, not getting the best experiences; I wanted people to live things I had the opportunity to witness and easy things for people whether they are going to a meeting in a place they don’t know or just relaxing in unknown but marvelous place.
That is what Local Guides program means to me, collaboration, making things easy for people, a place where you are free, where you do something you love, something that really ignite a passion to continuously help people find the best places to know, to visit and to experience, to help grow a community around the globe sending the best of you, because, at the end we are just trying to achieve that: to live a pure life.
Being a local guide gives me the opportunity to show to the world all the wonders Costa Rica has to offer: beautiful beaches (check out beautiful beaches to visit in Costa Rica ), the imposing volcanoes, our traditions with coffee farms, the museums in our capital San Jose, the culture of our people and many more, we may be a little country, but we are rich in nature and human warmth.
But it does not end there, being a local guide allowed me to also help people when I am traveling to a new fascinate place, so whether I am on Dover Castle contemplating the cliffs or in Florence standing on the Ponte Vecchio, there is always a good chance to help other travel lovers like me to get the most of each place by contributing with descriptions, routes and photos.
As I continue knowing corners in my country and all over the world I will remain grateful for the Local Guides program, which allow me to bring my philosophy to people around the globe, people that, like me, want to enjoy life at its fullest and, at the same time, help others to achieve the same, because you don’t know when your contributions will impact anyone else’s life for good, and that is really “pura vida”.