Costa Rica Souvenirs: Tips to Keep Paradise Alive After Your Trip

Costa Rica is a place that lingers deep within your soul long after you leave. We all remember the first time we stepped off the plane onto Costa Rican soil, feeling that unexplainable energy that filled our spirits. From the lush green mountains, and hauntingly beautiful cloud forests to the soothing sounds of the palms along the beaches, it all just makes your soul feel alive here. Leaving can fill you with an emptiness and a longing for a place that feels like home, dreaming of how soon you can return. 

But let’s be realistic, not everyone can just drop everything and find their way back to paradise.  So, here are a few ways to keep the memories of Tiquicia alive in your casa after your time in Costa Rica.

Bring Costa Rican Flavors into Your Kitchen

Gallo Pinto isn’t just a dish at the local sodas in Costa Rica. Rice and beans are universal, and you can easily make them at home. If you absolutely can’t have it without the oro of Costa Rica (or so a recent billboard for Salsa Lizano calls it), then you can order yourself a few bottles off Amazon if you can’t find it around. 

When I’m out of Salsa Lizano, I turn to a tip my neighbor once shared and that is sprinkling a bit of consomé de pollo powder into the dish. It’s her go-to seasoning for her gallo pinto, one of the staples in her kitchen from the soda she used to run.  Picadillo is a relatively easy recipe with chopped-up vegetables like potatoes and green beans or whatever you have on hand with some ground meat and season it as you like. There are so many different variations that you can try and serve it up with some tortillas. 

The creamy, pinkish Russian Salad (Ensalada Rusa) is often served in a casado. It’s a straightforward dish made with main ingredients like beets, hard-boiled eggs, and potatoes. For a tropical twist, you can add mango or pineapple to your homemade salsa with red onion, cilantro, and tomatoes. It’s quick to prepare and a delicious topping on so many dishes or enjoy just with some tortilla chips.

I recently learned how to make empanadas and was surprised to find I had everything I needed right at home. It wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. I also tried making a sweet plantain lasagna the other day, and let me tell you, it was absolutely delicious and not too complicated to prepare.

Take a look back at your photos or think back to some of your favorite meals to see which ones you can try on your own at home. 

Relax Like a Tico and Get a Hammock

A hammock can be life-changing, seriously. I can’t live without one now. In one of my homes, I even set up a second one indoors. When I wasn’t lounging in it, I’d just hook one end back onto the wall in my kitchen, that way it was ready for whenever I needed a quick escape. 

There’s something about being cradled up like a burrito that just feels so good. Whether it’s the weightlessness, or simply giving your body a break, it instantly calms you as you rock your worries away. It just chills you right out. From an afternoon siesta, listening to the rain, bundled up in the cold, or sprawled out sweating, laying in a hammock just makes everything feel better. 

Create a Costa Rican Coffee Ritual 

A chorreador is one of the best things to bring back from your Costa Rica vacation or even order online if you need to. Keeping it on your kitchen counter is a comforting reminder of your memories in Costa Rica while bringing a piece of Costa Rican culture into your home.

There is nothing like the taste of coffee made in the traditional Costa Rican coffee maker. If you see some extra reusable cloth filters on your trip, I recommend picking them up so you have a few spares. They quickly turn into what looks like a dirty sock, but the simplicity of that dirty sock creates an extraordinary cup of coffee. 

The method of pouring boiling water through the cloth filter and letting it drip through is a warming way to blend Costa Rica tradition into your daily coffee ritual.

Here are some more fun ways to bring Costa Rica vibes into your home:

• Listen to Spanish music online or find a Spanish radio station to play in your home.
• Watch a series online or a movie in Spanish and turn on the English subtitles.
• Find a few of your favorite scenic photos from your Costa Rica trip and have them printed off or made into a canvas as art pieces for your wall.
• Create your own coffee table book filled with your memories of Costa Rica.
• Add more greenery into your home bringing nature inside.
• Decorate your home with the souvenirs you picked up on your travels throughout Costa Rica, tropical prints and colors that remind you of the country, and create a space that feels like your own oasis in your home.
• Stock up on fruits when in season and store them in the freezer to have on hand for fruit smoothies. I have also found exotic fruits like guanábana (soursop) at the Asian market so shop around and see what you can find.
• Join Costa Rica travel groups and stay connected, sharing your experiences and knowledge. 
• Download a language app and start having fun learning Spanish. Practice with your pets, friends, partner, or just with yourself at home. 

Costa Rica doesn’t have to be just a place you look forward to vacationing to or a distant memory. Make it more than a destination by getting creative and weaving the things you love most about Costa Rica into your everyday life and casa. Watch how much happier you’ll feel, surrounded by the spirit of Costa Rica right where you are.