(CNN) --
James Sanford was sitting on a bench at the Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic, waiting for his suitcase to appear on the baggage carousel.
It was August 2013, and James, an Atlanta resident and then in his early 20s, was in the Dominican Republic with his best friend for Pride celebrations.
The two friends were waiting for their luggage, chatting about the weekend of partying and celebration that awaited them, when James looked up to see a stranger walking towards them.
"I was wearing like the shortest shorts," James tells CNN Travel, laughing.
"It called my attention".
"I turn to my best friend and say, 'Who's that guy in those shorts?'"
The guy in the shorts was Daron Fowler, a 32-year-old man who, coincidentally, was also from Atlanta.
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Also by chance, Daron was in town to attend the same Pride festival as James.
"He just happened to come over and sit next to us," James recalls.
"So I started a conversation. I don't usually start conversations, but something was like, 'Say hi.'"
When Daron sat down next to James, he wasn't looking to chat.
"I was just starting to get my bearings," Daron tells CNN Travel.
"I think at that point in my life, I was dealing with a lot of social anxiety. So going to that event was a big step."
"So I sat down and he started flirting with me. And I was like, 'Oh, he's cute, but I've got to get my social drum set up, so to speak."
Despite Daron's misgivings, the two introduced themselves and started chatting.
In a brief back and forth, they realized that they both lived in Atlanta, and that they were both in the Dominican Republic for Pride.
Then James's suitcase appeared and he got up to leave.
He said goodbye to Daron, wondering if they would see each other again.
But there were a lot more people at the event, and throughout the weekend James and Daron didn't directly cross paths.
"We didn't exchange information or anything. I just knew her name," says James.
The two saw each other from afar a couple of times.
And neither of them forgot about the other.
"I was reminded of him for the rest of the trip," says Daron.
A reunion in Atlanta
James and Daron met by chance at the airport in the Dominican Republic.
(Credit: Torii Le'Chelle)
A few weeks later, Daron was back in Atlanta hosting a friend from New Jersey for the weekend.
The two went out to a club and there, by chance, was James.
An even bigger coincidence was that Daron's friend from New Jersey already knew James.
"The mutual friend introduces us, not knowing that we had met in the Dominican Republic," says James.
"So I was like, 'Wow, hello, so we meet again.'"
James and Daron picked up where they left off at the airport.
And this time, they exchanged numbers.
"Then I watched it all weekend, because we were going to the same events that weekend," says Daron.
Over the next few months, James and Daron continued in each other's orbit, occasionally bumping into each other at events and parties.
"The last time we met, I took the plunge and said, 'Hey, how about we go on a real date?'"
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The following weekend, Daron picked James up and they hung out in East Atlanta Village.
"They have a very nice Thai restaurant, with low lighting and small tables. So it was very intimate," says James.
"We started talking and talking about things, finding out things we had in common. And the whole time we were talking I had a big smile on my face, I couldn't stop smiling."
His smile was mirrored on Daron's face.
"It was a very open and positive environment, and I said to myself, 'This is different, I like it,'" says Daron.
"I felt very safe with him pretty much from the moment we were alone talking and interacting."
They both say their connection was "unlike" anything they had experienced in the past.
"There was an unfamiliar sensation that I wasn't familiar with, but I was comfortable with," says James.
She remembers thinking, "I think I've met someone I want to spend the rest of my life with."
After that first date, James and Daron talked almost every day.
When Atlanta was hit with an unexpected snowstorm a few weeks later, James camped out at Daron's house.
"I spent the rest of the week at his house, I took my dog, I had a Boston terrier and he had two Pomeranians, very similar in age," he says.
"So that allowed us to create a greater connection because we had this time together where it was just us."
Strengthen ties on trips
Soon after, they took their first trip together.
"He loves to travel, and so do I. So our first trip we went on a cruise," says James.
This trip was a good test for their relationship, James suggests: not only were they traveling together for the first time, but they were on a crowded ship.
The holidays did nothing but unite them.
Soon after, Daron met, and won over, James's mother.
"And from there, we continued to celebrate each other, we started to fall in love with each other, to make a deeper connection, to take trips," says James.
The couple discussed marriage early in their relationship.
They both thought that at some point they would, but it was a few years later, in 2019, that Daron decided to ask James to marry him.
She arranged a birthday photo shoot with James and his dogs.
She then sent a secret message to all of her friends, asking them to swear to secrecy.
Her loved ones flew to Atlanta from all over the United States.
"We did a photo shoot in a park, not far from our house. Her birthday is in November, so it was beautiful: orange and yellow trees. There's a lake and we took pictures with the dogs," Daron recalls.
"And when we were there, his friends and mine came up, and so I proposed to him."
"It was beautiful," says James.
"I was very surprised."
James was delighted, but also amused: he had recently made the decision to propose to Daron, but he hadn't done it yet.
Daron and James, with their dogs, on their wedding day in 2021. (Credit: Torii Le'Chelle)
The couple got married on April 3, 2021. They chose the date because it seemed interesting —04, 03, 21— and later they thanked for having avoided scheduling a wedding for 2020 in the midst of a pandemic.
They love plants and greenery, and carried that theme over to the wedding decor and attire: James and Daron wore green suits and asked their guests to wear shades of brown.
"It was very, very pretty, and it went really well with the greenery of the plants and everything," says James.
Each table had a different photo of Daron and James in a different country they had visited together, reflecting their love of travel and nodding to their travel-themed get-together.
The two combined their last names, becoming Daron and James Sanford-Fowler.
10 years later
Daron and James love to travel together, here they are on vacation in the Azores.
(Credit: JamesXDaron)
It seems fitting, Daron adds, that they met at the airport.
Almost 10 years after that day, traveling is still one of his great connectors.
"We are addicted to the culture of travel, we love to immerse ourselves in other cultures," he says.
"By now we have touched every continent except Antarctica together."
They also have other interests in common: they are both music fans and share the same favorite artist, Beyoncé.
They love going to concerts, but also enjoying quiet moments at home.
"We're very couch-lockers, and there's probably no one who can watch TV on the couch better than us," says Daron.
"What makes our relationship so special is that there's a level of comfort between the two of us, that we can do absolutely nothing and say absolutely no words and enjoy time together."
It is in those quieter moments that they sometimes find themselves reflecting, in awe, on their meeting at the airport.
James jokes that he also remembers it every time Daron wears shorts.
"I didn't go to the Dominican Republic expecting to meet my future husband," says Daron.
"I think it's a little crazy that this happened to me on a very random trip: I happened to sit on a bench."
"The last thing on my mind was that the first guy I ran into right off the plane would be the person I'd be sitting next to 10 years from now," James agrees.
"Sometimes I remember and I have to pinch myself."
The couple hope that their next step will be to foster or adopt a child, thus starting a new chapter together.
James says that he is still "over the moon" from meeting Daron.
He is looking forward, he says, to the two of them continuing to grow together.
"Once you make the commitment that you're going to spend your life with this person, you have to make the commitment that you're going to grow and continue to learn from this person."
"I keep learning from the person next to me, and I enjoy learning from him. And I want to keep learning new things from him," he says.
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