Neither of us came to Costa Rica looking for love.
Nina left Bermuda. Shawn left Miami. Two strangers, two completely separate journeys, both landing in the same small country for reasons that had nothing to do with each other. And that’s exactly why this is our favorite story to tell — because the last thing either of us was trying to do was fall in love.
Here’s how it actually happened.
Nina’s story: leaving Bermuda for a fresh start
Nina is from Bermuda — a 21-square-mile island in the middle of the Atlantic where she’d lived nearly her whole life. She’d built a career there, raised her two kids there, and always known one thing: she wasn’t going to retire there. It was too small, too expensive, and she’d outgrown it.
But leaving wasn’t only about logistics. She’d come through a genuinely hard season — a stretch of depression, personal and business losses that broke her down and left her craving a real reset. And starting over is almost impossible on an island where everyone knows you.
So she packed her whole life into four suitcases, two carry-ons, and a knapsack, and left. She’d always assumed she’d end up in Florida, where she went to college. Instead, after visiting Costa Rica twice the year before — once to help her dad relocate, once for a healing journey — she fell for the country completely and moved on April 22, 2021.
Costa Rica welcomed her, and she spent that first stretch mostly alone — and she needed it. A lot of time at the waterfalls, reading, figuring out how to build a new life and how to make money in it. She learned Spanish, built a foundation of friends and community, and slowly became the woman she is now. All of that happened before Shawn ever showed up.
Shawn’s story: the cruise that changed everything
Shawn’s path here was heavier. He’d been married for long stretches — from age 20 onward, through a 13-year marriage and an 18-year one — and realized he’d never once been on his own. So for the first time in his life, he took a solo cruise, just to think and see a bit of the world.
He got the news on that cruise that his son had passed away.
It landed like a ton of bricks, and it forced everything into focus. He came home, buried his son, and made the hard decision to end his marriage — not out of anger, but because he didn’t feel like he knew himself, and he needed to find out who he was.
Costa Rica wasn’t some lifelong dream. He first heard about it at an event, from a guy from Australia who mentioned moving his family here. Shawn barely knew where it was — he thought it was an island in the Caribbean. He did a little research, packed three bags, and made Costa Rica the first stop on a plan to travel the world. He found his peace here. And, as it turned out, he found a lot more than that.
How we actually met (the real version)
Here’s where the two roads cross — and yes, Nina sips her tea through this part because she’s curious how much Shawn will exaggerate. (For the record, he didn’t.)
A mutual friend connected us. He’s one of Shawn’s closest friends and an acquaintance of Nina’s, and he told each of us about the other — telling Nina to look out for his boy who didn’t know a soul in Costa Rica, and telling Shawn about this amazing woman who could show him around. What he didn’t do was hand over a phone number, which left Shawn assuming the two of them were together.
When Shawn finally found Nina on Instagram, the first photo he saw was her standing with a grown man and a young woman. He assumed that was her partner and her daughter, decided nothing romantic was on the table, and figured she’d just be showing him around. (That “partner” turned out to be her son.)
The four-hour lunch
Nina picked Shawn up on November 4th — three days after he landed, right after her kids left from a visit. When he opened the door, his exact internal reaction was nope, nope, nope — she was stunning, and he was certain she was either taken or off-limits because of his friend.
Then they went to lunch. And ended up sitting there talking for nearly four hours.
There was a farmers market stop first — a small sign, since they were both feria people — and then a conversation that just flowed with zero discomfort and zero performance. Two people being honest, which caught them both off guard. Shawn noticed the little things too: when Nina walked on the outside of him on the sidewalk, he instinctively moved her to the inside, the gentlemanly habit he still keeps to this day. That’s the detail that got Nina’s attention on day one — the gentlemanliness and the honesty, no peacocking, no walls. That first conversation stretched all the way into the evening; they talked something like eight or nine hours straight.
The waterfall
Their next adventure was a waterfall — and this is the moment Shawn calls spiritual.
He’d spent his twenties dreaming about waterfalls, night after night. Standing in this cold water on a sunny day, it suddenly started pouring rain, and he broke down crying. It was an intense emotional release — and, to him, a sign from the universe that this was his place. Nina was already deeply connected to those same waterfalls from her first years here, so sharing that with him on his first time was a connection for her too. Her friends were there the whole time, quietly trying to nudge the two of them together.
One open invitation, then 14 countries
Here’s how fast it moved once the friendship took hold. Nina had a European trip already booked for January — a friend’s 40th birthday. She offered an open invitation: I’m going to be gone a month, unless you want to come. Shawn said yes.
Next thing they knew, they were over-packing for seven countries across Europe — Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Italy, Switzerland (and one more they still can’t fully remember). Then Nina’s May birthday came around and they did it again: a month across Asia — Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bali, Vietnam, plus Taiwan and the Philippines.
Fourteen countries in the first six months.
And travel, as we always say, is the fastest way to actually learn someone. If you really want to know a person, travel with them — it’ll make you or break you. Shawn learned that Nina is a natural nurturer and a lifelong planner, always a step ahead. Nina learned that Shawn is a born protector — the kind who needs to know the environment, know the exits, know he can keep her safe in a new place.
Knowing “you’re the one” — and doing it different
Nina says she probably knew Shawn was the one by that first Christmas. Shawn says, honestly, it was a matter of weeks. But knowing and rushing are two different things.
Nina had already done her own healing; Shawn was still on a solo journey, still rebuilding after a divorce and the loss of his son. So she made a deliberate choice: no title, no pressure, no ultimatum. Let it breathe. Let it build. Let it evolve into whatever it was going to be — at his pace, not hers. She’d learned from experience that rushing leads to doing the wrong thing quickly. This time, she had a road map, and it was built on love and patience.
That patience is the whole foundation of “built on friendship, fueled by love.” They became genuine friends first. And because they built it on so many real moments, there’s no single dramatic “we’re official now” date — just a slow deepening, connection by connection, until it was undeniable.
Our traditions
The intentionality didn’t stop once they knew. It became the way they live.
They celebrate both birthdays every month, not just once a year. Shawn opens a gift box Nina made him — eleven little surprises that carry him from one birthday to the next. Nina gets an automated monthly text on the 9th (her birthday’s May 9th) prompting her to pick a number, which unlocks whatever Shawn’s set up — often a trip, an outing, or something like the custom photo album of their relationship they’re building together.
And then there’s date night: every Friday, non-negotiable. They alternate who plans and pays, so it’s always a surprise, and it keeps romance and intentionality alive in a life where they already live, work, and learn Spanish side by side. As Nina puts it — she gets to put on heels and feel like a kid in a candy store.
Why we made this our story to tell
We didn’t come here for each other. We came here to heal, to reset, to find ourselves — and in doing that, we found each other. That’s the part we love most.
Coming up on three years together and a year and a half into this content journey, we’ve realized creating together is its own kind of bond. Working in front of the camera and behind it, telling our story, laughing through it — the creative process genuinely unifies you. If you’re a couple, we’d tell you to try building something together. There’s a shift that happens when you decide to make something as a team.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is: two people who moved to Costa Rica alone, built a real friendship, and fueled it with love.
Your turn: What’s the moment you knew? Tell us in the comments — we read every one.