Eight Years of Adventure

Mike and I aren’t great at marking anniversaries, or even remembering them. So he probably doesn’t even realize that this weekend will be 8 years since we first met (it’s on the calendar Mike!).

When I met Mike, I wasn’t looking for a man. I mean, I REALLY wasn’t looking. I was just months away from quitting my job to backpack around the world solo for a year or more. Mike was about to go teach in China for a year. It wasn’t really the optimal time for either of us to be starting a relationship.

But life doesn’t let you choose when you fall in love, and from the moment are eyes locked across a crowded room of drunk travel bloggers, we both knew something big was happening. All those cliches I used to roll my eyes at, like “when you know, you know,” came true. When you know, you know.

Part of the reason I didn’t want a boyfriend was that my previous relationships had always stood in the way of my dreams, not furthered them. I wanted to travel, I wanted to write for a living, I wanted adventure and fun and exploration, and I didn’t think I could have those things and a partner.

Mike surprised me: with him the last eight years have been an epic adventure that has taken us across countries and continents. It hasn’t always been easy or fun, but it’s been well worth it.

From Asia…

To South America…

To Europe…

And back to the US…

We lived in Mexico…

Then Seattle…

 

And Now Italy!

Plus a whole slew of other places along the way:

 

 

This is just a small fraction of the places we’ve been and the things we’ve done. All that in less than a decade! Just think of the epic photo essay I could make given another 10, 20, 40 years.

Happy Anniversary Mike, thanks for the adventures.