A few years back, I decided to do a tour around Costa Rica being young and single, I decided that a tour would be my best option. Little did I know when I booked my Costa Rican adventure with Caravan Tours that I would be stuck on a bus with the majority of people over 50. For the twenty year old who wanted to be independent and free, this seemed like a vacation from hell. I was quickly proven wrong when I realized that my fellow travelers had a lot to teach me and above all inspired me to dream and believe.

The best love story I have ever heard was told me to me while I was having dinner at Evergreen Lodge in Tortuguero. Looking at the couple, you would see two ordinary people who are normal, both sporty and avid travelers. You would not suspect what followed next.
Tortuguero National Park

Laura had a boyfriend and a life in Australia where she was an art teacher and lived comfortably with her boyfriend at that time. Dennis was working in Germany and had a girlfriend for whom he was trying to find a ring. However, all of that changed in a heartbeat when both decided to take a vacation to ski in Innsbruck, Austria.  Both American, both living abroad and happy with their careers and relationships had their whole life changed in a heartbeat when Dennis fell.

Anyone who has ever skied in Alps, Rockies or other big mountains know that unless you are there on the weekend you could wait for hours to see another person. In Dennis’s case, it was Laura who happened to ski after him. After a short drive to the hospital, they found out that both were American and had a lot in common. While she nursed him back to health, they fell in love. Weeks later they both packed up their life abroad and moved back home to start a life together. Now sitting in the lodge Dennis jokes that “I had to break my arm to get her attention!”.
Over twenty years later, Dennis loves going to museums and goes to all art gallery openings in their current residence in Santa Fe. Before meeting Laura, thirty minutes at the Louvre was torture and swimming or skiing was all that life was about. Laura now swims at least three times a week at the local pool,  making fitness her priority and putting art on the back burner.
It has been years since, and while I might have forgotten the name of that tree that makes you slim or the difference between monkeys or any of the other facts that were provided on the tour I never forgot that story. The story was not turned into a Hollywood blockbuster but for the lonely hearted adventurers there is hope that in your next adventure your soul mate will be waiting for you without borders.