Why I Didn’t Go To Costa Rica For A Holiday
Lessons from Costa Rica were not what I expected.
Like many business owners, I boarded the plane believing I was simply taking some time away. After years spent building businesses, championing B Corp values, speaking about conscious leadership and constantly focusing on the next challenge, I knew I needed a break from the noise. What I did not realise was that stepping away would provide something much more valuable than rest.
It would provide perspective.
There is something strangely powerful about leaving behind your normal routines and seeing life through a completely different lens. Somewhere between the volcanoes, cloud forests, coffee plantations and countless encounters with sloths hanging nonchalantly from the trees, I found myself reflecting less on what I had achieved and more on what really matters.
Perhaps that sounds rather philosophical for someone supposedly on holiday.
Yet I suspect many business leaders know exactly what I mean.
When your days revolve around deadlines, strategy, growth and endless to-do lists, it becomes remarkably easy to confuse activity with progress. We become so busy moving forward that we rarely stop long enough to ask whether we are heading in the direction we actually want.
Costa Rica challenged me in ways I never anticipated.
Not through grand speeches or revolutionary ideas. In fact, quite the opposite. The lessons appeared quietly, almost unnoticed at first, woven into everyday life and hidden within conversations with local people. What struck me most was not what Costa Rica was trying to teach visitors. It was the fact that nobody seemed to be trying at all.
Life simply felt different.
And perhaps that was the lesson.
Pura Vida Is More Than A Phrase
Before visiting Costa Rica, I had heard the phrase “Pura Vida” countless times. Like many tourists, I assumed it was little more than a catchy slogan designed to appear on T-shirts and souvenirs.
I could not have been more wrong.
The longer I spent there, the more I realised that Pura Vida represents something far deeper. It reflects an outlook on life rooted in gratitude, simplicity and connection. People seemed less concerned with appearing successful and far more interested in actually enjoying life.
There was a calmness that felt unfamiliar.
Not laziness. Not a lack of ambition. Simply a different definition of success.
Back home in the UK, particularly among entrepreneurs, exhaustion often becomes a strange badge of honour. We celebrate busyness. Diaries become competitions. Empty spaces in the calendar somehow make us feel guilty, as though being constantly available proves our worth.
Looking at it from the outside, it suddenly felt rather absurd.
Why have we become so good at building successful businesses whilst simultaneously becoming experts at neglecting ourselves?
Costa Rica reminded me that wellbeing and success should not be competing priorities. In fact, I increasingly believe they depend upon one another.
After all, what exactly are we working so hard to achieve if we are too exhausted to enjoy it?
That does not mean abandoning ambition. Far from it. It simply means recognising that success without health, joy and connection is a rather hollow prize. That is something I want to bring back more intentionally into both my life and my business.
Sustainability Felt Like Common Sense
One of the most striking things about Costa Rica was that sustainability did not feel worthy, complicated or performative.
It simply felt normal.
Nobody seemed desperate to advertise how environmentally conscious they were. There were no grand claims or endless virtue signalling. Instead, sustainability appeared to have become part of the country’s identity. From eco-tourism and conservation to renewable energy and community-led initiatives, protecting the natural world felt less like a campaign and more like common sense.
That fascinated me.
In Britain, conversations around sustainability can sometimes become strangely joyless. We frame them around sacrifice, guilt and what people need to stop doing. Businesses often view sustainability as an obligation or another box to tick rather than an opportunity to create something better.
Costa Rica offered a completely different perspective.
Nature was not viewed as an inconvenience standing in the way of economic growth. It was seen as one of the country’s greatest assets. The environment and prosperity were not enemies. They strengthened one another.
That reinforced something I have believed for many years.
Doing the right thing and building a successful business are not opposing forces. In fact, when approached thoughtfully, they become incredibly powerful partners.
Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming sustainability needs to feel difficult in order to be meaningful. Costa Rica showed me that it can feel positive, optimistic and deeply connected to quality of life.
We Are Living In The Experience Economy
Costa Rica understands something many businesses are only just beginning to appreciate.
People are no longer simply buying products.
- They are buying memories.
- They are buying feelings.
- They are buying stories they will tell years later.
Nobody travels halfway around the world because they need another cup of coffee or another walk. They travel because they want to experience something authentic. They want to feel wonder. They want connection. They want moments that stay with them long after the photographs have been filed away.
That realisation followed me throughout the trip.
Whether I was walking through the rainforest, crossing hanging bridges above the cloud forest or soaking in volcanic hot springs, what made those moments special was not luxury. It was emotion. It was the sense of being fully present.
Increasingly, I believe that applies to every industry.
People remember how businesses make them feel. They remember kindness. They remember warmth. They remember experiences that leave them feeling happier, calmer or more inspired than when they arrived.
Perhaps that explains why genuine hospitality matters so much.
Not because people need another transaction.
Because they need connection.
Simplicity Has Become Underrated
One of my favourite experiences involved visiting a female-led coffee cooperative called Mi Cafecito.
There was nothing flashy about it.
No giant visitor centre. No over-produced experience. No sense that somebody had tried to manufacture authenticity for tourists.
And that was precisely what made it memorable.
Everything felt grounded. Purposeful. Human.
It made me realise how easily we overcomplicate things in business. We convince ourselves that growth must mean more systems, more layers, more noise and more complexity. Yet some of the most meaningful experiences often emerge from simplicity.
Perhaps we spend too much time chasing bigger when we should be focusing on better.
There is enormous power in clarity. There is beauty in businesses that know exactly who they are and what they stand for.
Authenticity, after all, is becoming increasingly rare.
And rarity has value.
Nature Changes The Way We Think
There is something deeply humbling about standing beneath a volcano or walking through a rainforest alive with sounds you cannot quite identify.
Nature has a remarkable ability to put things into perspective.
Watching sloths hanging lazily in the trees, listening to the jungle after dark and crossing suspended bridges high above the cloud forest created moments of stillness that felt increasingly precious.
More importantly, they created space to think.
Some of my clearest ideas emerged when I was nowhere near a laptop. They appeared while walking, observing and simply allowing my mind to slow down.
That struck me as rather ironic.
Modern life convinces us that productivity comes from doing more. Yet many of our best ideas arrive when we stop trying so hard.
Perhaps that is why so many people return from walks with clarity they could not find sitting at their desks.
It also reinforced something I have become increasingly passionate about.
People need spaces to pause.
They need environments that encourage reflection rather than constant stimulation. They need opportunities to reconnect with themselves, with each other and with the natural world.
In a society obsessed with speed, perhaps slowing down has become a quiet act of rebellion.
The Biggest Lesson Of All
If there is one thing Costa Rica taught me above everything else, it is that sustainability and wellbeing do not need to feel miserable.
They do not need to be wrapped in guilt, fear and endless sacrifice.
- They can feel joyful.
- They can feel hopeful.
- They can feel colourful, creative and deeply human.
Perhaps that is where we sometimes go wrong in the UK. We become so focused on what people should stop doing that we forget to paint a picture of what becomes possible.
Costa Rica offered a different vision.
- One where sustainability is not about deprivation but about abundance.
- A richer quality of life.
- Stronger communities.
- Closer connections to nature.
- Healthier ways of living and working.
- A future that feels hopeful rather than frightening.
And honestly, I found that incredibly refreshing.
What I Am Bringing Home
I returned home with far more than photographs and memories.
I came back with clarity. Not the dramatic kind that changes everything overnight. Life rarely works like that. Instead, it was the quieter sort of clarity that gradually reshapes decisions and priorities over time.
- I want more intentional pauses.
- I want more connection with nature.
- I want to continue building businesses that place people and purpose alongside profit.
- I want to protect wellbeing with the same determination that we often reserve for targets and deadlines.
Most importantly, I want to continue proving that there is another way to do business.
Not perfectly.
Not instantly.
But consciously.
Because if Costa Rica taught me anything, it is this.
The future does not belong to the businesses that simply move the fastest.
It belongs to the organisations and leaders who remember how to stay human while they grow.
And perhaps that is what Pura Vida really means after all.
