“So, what brought you and Jonathan to Costa Rica?” I asked on the way to the restaurant. “Oh, that’s a long story, we’ll share over dinner.” I laughed, because even though I hadn’t heard it yet, how great is a story that ends with “… and then we moved to Costa Rica!”

I told them I quit my job at Mervyn’s, worked at a non-profit called Room to Read for several years… and then it was their turn to laugh. “We know all about Room to Read!” “How?” “Jonathan started a non-profit and we asked Tom to dinner one night to give us some pointers!” “I hired Tom!”

Over the most amazing fish tacos I’ve ever had, I asked, “So what non-profit did you start?” “Surf for Life.” “Did you just say Surf for Life?” “Yes,” they replied, puzzled. Now it was my turn to laugh. “At dinner last night the surf instructors gave us a booklet they had made and the title was Surf for Life. Someone in the group mentioned that’s the name of a non-profit and asked if we were going to be doing volunteer work. It’s somewhat ironic that the next day I’m having dinner with the founder.”

I’m looking forward to many more serendipitous moments this trip.