Valentine’s Day means love is in the air! This week, we’re featuring tales from travellers who prove that love and travel go together like passport stamps and street maps. From the UK to the US, with transit through Tokyo, Tanzania and all points in between, here are three couples whose adventures continued long after they unpacked!
Anna and Tom
“Distance is just a test to see how far love can travel.” – Author unknown
Anna and Tom met first at a university in the UK and then travelled together for seven months. Confides Anna: “Living out of bags, getting lost and not knowing where our next bed would be (if we were lucky enough to find one) was a good test of our relationship.”
While on a G Adventures tour through Africa, Tom surreptitiously organized a hot air balloon ride, where he proposed to Anna in a basket above the Serengeti. “Travelling’s brought us closer together and strengthened our relationship,” says Anna. “We’re going to keep going. Our honeymoon’s up next, and the Inca Trail’s on our list”.
So, will the group’s other members be invited to the couple’s upcoming wedding? “Yes,” exclaims Anna, “our G Adventures group has quickly become a second family!”
DID YOU KNOW?
Tom popped the ultimate question on the 54 day Ultimate Africa tour.
Christine and George
“We travel, in essence, to become young fools again – to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.” – Pico Iyer
American Christine met Canadian George while rolling solo on a G Adventures tour through Mexico. Partway through a nine-month round-the-world trip, George continued on while Christine returned to her native California. They stayed in touch, however, and agreed to meet in Thailand, where they shared yet another incredible experience together.
Not wanting the adventure to end, George returned to San Diego, where he and Christine were married. “We travel at least once a year to a new place,” writes Christine, “we’ve learned so much about each other through our travels.” As the saying goes, the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end. Three years on, Christine and George are still going strong. They recently tackled Mt Kilimanjaro to celebrate their honeymoon and, more recently, sailed the Dalmatian Coast. “Meeting while travelling was a dream come true,” remembers Christine. “After all, we were both doing something we were passionate about.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Christine and George experienced love on the Sailing Croatia – Dubrovnik to Split
James and Jeanette
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
“Eat well, travel often and drink coffee” is Australian couple James and Jeanette’s travel mantra. According to Jeanette, this was no truer than on their first date, which saw them cover over 300km trying to secure a table for two, enjoying cuisine from four different cultures and dancing the night away at a Spanish nightclub in Melbourne. “Travelling together has brought out both the best and the worst,” writes Jeanette, “but above all, it’s helped us understand what we value most in ourselves and one another.”
Indeed, they make a formidable travel duo. Whereas Jeanette can sniff out the closest espresso machine to satisfy James’s love of the finest bean, James is wonderful at locating women’s restrooms and ensuring that Jeanette’s formidable library of travel books is evenly distributed among their packs.
DID YOU KNOW?
James and Jeanette made good on their motto on the Indochina Cycle tour.
Congratulations to each of our couple who’ve found love on the road. May all their adventures be filled with the right ingredients: a heap of love, a dash of humour, a touch of romance, and a spoonful of understanding.
We want to hear your stories! Has one of your journeys ended in a love connection? Share yours in the comments section below!
