Aissata Diallo is a 28-year-old model, content creator, TV personality, and entrepreneur. Originally from Guinea, she came to the United States at the age of 12 and has been based in NYC ever since.

Aissata first began her love affair with traveling while studying abroad in Italy.

“I fell in love with learning about different cultures, different food, different music, and different ways of life. That’s what always intrigued me. I fell in love with Firenze, Italia, with its culture, architecture, and renaissance art at every turn.”

Upon returning to the States after her time in Italy, Aissata made it her goal to travel as much and as often as she could. During each school break, she studied abroad in a different country, which resulted in her unexpectedly graduating from college a year early due to having earned so many credits through all her study abroad trips.

As a native of West Africa, Aissata most enjoys traveling to places that incite fond memories of her early years back in her home country, Guinea.

“Although I’m a U.S. citizen, I’m an immigrant first. So I especially love to travel to places that remind me of home. More often than not this is in the Caribbean, tropical countries, or developing countries.”

This August, Aissata visited Costa Rica with her family. With the world having somewhat reopened and travel slowly resuming after the pandemic put it on pause for most of 2020, she sought the ideal location for the perfect family trip.

“I believe it was T-Pain’s lyrics that initially piqued my interest in Costa Rica. ‘I put you in the beach house, right on the edge of Costa Rica.’ LOL. I read somewhere that Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries in the world, and we all needed to be around that after this pandemic. I also wanted a sort of escape while still being able to explore and participate in activities. Costa Rica gave the perfect balance of that.”

Aissata and her family visited San Jose and Playa Potrero in the Guanacaste province. Together they bonded over fun and exciting activities, including ATV riding, ziplining, horseback riding, a catamaran cruise, and jet skiing.

“My favorite activity, I must say, was the Vandara Paradise Combo Tour, which we booked through Krain Costa Rica. This was an all-day tour which consisted of horseback riding to the top of Vandara Park surrounded by the tropical dry forest, then canopy ziplining back down to the ground. It was an eight-course zipline, and it started raining while we were midair, which was exhilarating. Also keep in mind that I am scared of heights, but I thoroughly enjoyed the adrenaline rush. The views from up top the volcano and forest were to die for, but God had the wheel.”

Once they’d made it back to the ground, Aissata and her family went on a waterslide before stopping for a delicious coffee tasting. Then they had a mud bath, after which they ended up having a friendly water fight while washing themselves in the river. Their adventure ended in the hot springs, where they were able to relax and rejuvenate their bodies.

“We did not want to leave! In fact, we were the last group to do so. We had our late lunch and headed home. It was a 10 out of 10 experience that I would highly recommend. It provided the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation.”

Aissata found the food in Costa Rica to be extremely fresh and authentic. On their last night there, she and her family were initially unable to find any open restaurants due to the curfew. Nevertheless, they persisted and continued walking around in search of food. Finally, they stumbled upon an absolute gem.

“It was a local Asian-Costa Rican spot. It reminded me of the Chinese stores you’d find in the ‘hood. That Asian-Costa Rican fusion turned out to be one of the best meals we had the entire trip.”

Overall, Aissata found Costa Rica to be an amazing and mesmerizing country; one where she was able to experience both the relaxation and adventure she craved. She found herself able to enjoy different things depending on which part of the country she was in. In San Jose, she got a taste of the vibrant city life. In Guanacaste, Aissata enjoyed beautiful beaches and trekking through jungles with her family.

“The entire trip, I kept saying how much it reminded me of Guinea. It felt as if we were back home in the country/village. It rained every day and it felt peaceful. Costa Rica taught me to appreciate the pura vida. Simply put, I learned to live a pure and simple life. That’s the way of life of Costa Ricans, and I can see how that way of life allows the country to be one of the happiest in the world.”