Today’s Travel Tuesday prompt is about your travel partner, and yesterday was E’s birthday, so it’s the perfect excuse for me to get all sappy on you.
Happy birthday (yesterday) to my favorite guy!
E and I met when we were just 19. Our relationship was on and off for a long time–a certain one of us was very dedicated to school, and another one was very dedicated to travel (I’ll leave it up to you to decide who was who) and that wasn’t conducive to a long-term relationship, necessarily. Eventually, we were able to travel and traveling together became our new life mission.
Together, we’ve eaten poutine in Canada and seen whales in the San Juan Islands, we’ve gone scuba diving in Mexico, we’ve road-tripped to the Grand Canyon, we’ve visited Christmas markets in Germany and spent New Year’s Eve in Paris. We’ve been swimming in the Blue Lagoon, we’ve watched an air show in Budapest, we’ve gotten engaged amongst the canals of Venice and sipped health water in Karlovy Vary. We’ve gone rafting in Český Krumlov, spent the night in a botel (not recommended), slept under the stars in Rocky Mountain National Park and drank Guinness in Ireland. We’ve explored castles in Germany, gone roller skating in Belgium and skiing in the Rockies. We’ve explored eighteen countries in Europe, tasted wine in Napa, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in a convertible, and fallen in love with Prague. We’ve moved away from our homeland, sold everything we owned, and spent about a year abroad. All lifelong dreams for me, dreams that I never planned on sharing with someone.
I don’t really remember a time where I wasn’t dreaming of traveling–although my passion really began on my first overseas journey–but in those dreams, I didn’t really think I would find someone who would want to travel with me, for the long-term. My cousin and I planned to see some of the world together–and we spent two months in Southeast Asia together, so she also wins my favorite travel partner award–and I’ve always talked about traveling with my siblings or friends or other family members. Yet when it came down to it, I knew I wanted traveling more than anything else, and I figured that would have to happen for me alone.
Traveling solo has been getting a lot of press lately–and for good reason!–but for me, finding someone who shares my love of travel is the icing on the cake.
E and I balance each other out, we fight over small things and laugh about them later, we get lost together but somehow one of us miraculously finds the way, one of us will read a sign the other one missed (ahem usually me), one of us will carry the other’s bag when we get too tired (ahem usually E…#bestguyever). We have so much fun exploring the world together and I can’t wait for that to continue after we leave Prague, get married, and start a more nomadic lifestyle.
I’m so glad you were born, E! I count my lucky stars that I met a generous, adventurous, sweet, fun, amazing soul like you. I love you!
^^hope your day was a relaxing and awesome as this moment.
