By John Quam, Editor in Chief When I first moved to Costa Rica almost twelve years ago, I was stopped mid-sentence by something small but world-shifting. I’d casually said I was “American.” A Tico friend smiled and, with no hint of sarcasm, replied, “So am I.” It was...
Wellness: Superfoods – Guanabana
Costa Rica has a way of weaving guanábana into almost every part of daily life. You sip it as a cold fresco after a long surf session, lick it off a dripping ice cream cone at a beach fiesta, and see it piled high in market stalls beside plantains and papayas while...
From Flab to Fab: The Non-Surgical ContourSlim Treatment Everyone’s Talking About
From Flab to Fab: The Non-Surgical ContourSlim Treatment Everyone’s Talking About ContourSlim LipoZeroPro: Your Body and Face, Refined Without Surgery When you hear “body contouring”, you might picture surgery, weeks of recovery and a lot of nerves. ContourSlim...
From Brows to Body: Why Isa Skincare Is Costa Rica’s Go-To Clinic for Total Rejuvenation
Isa Skincare Costa Rica: A Personal, High-Tech Path to Timeless Skin Walking into Isa Skincare feels less like stepping into a clinic and more like being welcomed into a beauty atelier where every treatment is designed just for you. Soft lighting, calm voices and the...
Same Month, Different Planet: The Real Reason Costa Rica Skips “Winter”
Short answer: Northern countries label seasons by daylight and temperature, while Costa Rica names them by rainfall—hence December–April is “summer” here. What do “winter” and “summer” actually mean? Short answer: The meaning changes with the metric you use, light and...
The Original and Still the Best: La Fortuna to Monteverde, Around Lake Arenal
Costa Rica’s classic loop around Lake Arenal to Monteverde is the sort of road trip that stitches together the country’s greatest hits: adventure in all weather, rainforest wildlife at arm’s length, culture and small-town hospitality, family-friendly entertainment,...
Think it Over
Moving to Costa Rica is thrilling, bewildering and wonderfully human all at once. I learned early that the country rewards those who arrive curious and willing to adapt. The moment I caught myself repeating, “That’s not how we do it back home,” I realised I was...
Circles that Clarify: Friends, Small Mercies and the Courage to Be Grateful
The year taught me to count blessings the way a surfer counts sets—eyes on the horizon, patient, ready for whatever rolls in. I began in a hospital room listening to rain bead down the window like a slow marimba, measuring progress in hallway laps and spoonfuls of...
Howler Review: The Year I Learned to Live — A Memoir With a Mission
Purchase Book Here Some books ask to be admired. This one asks to be useful. The Year I Learned to Live is a clear-eyed, big-hearted memoir about illness, family, and the quiet recalibration of a life that once ran on deadlines and deliverables. The...
Costa Rica’s Bush Medicine: Backyard Cures You’ve Never Heard Of
Most travellers come for surf breaks, hanging bridges and rumbling volcanoes, then stay for gallery nights, marimba in the plaza and ceviche still singing with lime. Step behind a tin-roofed home, though, and you’ll find another strand of Costa Rican life: a backyard...
Screens, Service and Society: Rebalancing Technology in Costa Rica’s Life and Commerce
Costa Rica’s appeal is intensely human: dawn surf and strong coffee, markets where vendors know your name, marimba in the plaza, galleries after work, and meals that turn neighbours into friends. Across Latin America—and increasingly worldwide—smartphones and social...
Dragon Fruit (Pitaya) in Costa Rica: Taste, Trails & Trade
Costa Rica’s dragon fruit—known locally as pitaya—touches everything travellers and residents love about the country. You can chase adventures on backroads to sunlit trellis farms, feel the pulse of culture at feria markets, sip magenta mixers in beach-town...












