On May 27th, 2017, I met my husband, Sam.

Just a few weeks before, I had graduated from college and, the week before, I started my internship with an airline. With flight benefits that could take me anywhere in our network, I chose to spend my first long weekend in London (in hindsight, I could’ve picked somewhere a little more exotic, but I guess it worked out okay).

 


He and his ‘mates’ were on a pub crawl and, with nearly 20 of them, they were hard to miss. They invited me to join them, as the token American, and who was I to say no to a good time. I spent the rest of the day, on into the evening, following the group around to the pub after the pub and even stopped off at a park to enjoy some brews on the green. There was something special about meeting his friends right off the bat because I really got to know him rather than getting to know a “first date” version of him.

Sam and I clicked immediately. We eventually lost his friends and decided to go meet up with one of my college friends who also happened to be visiting. We eventually found ourselves at a night club and danced for the rest of the night. We ended up spending the entire weekend together, with him giving me a private tour of London’s famous landmarks the next day. We awkwardly took some photos together that day and I am so glad we did. They are now framed in our home.

I left London the next day with a cute boy’s number and really no expectation of seeing him again.

We started to text, pretty much daily, for the next few months and, as my internship was coming to an end, I expressed to him my desire to visit Paris. To which he replied “yeah, sure. I’ll meet you in Paris,” and he bought a last-minute ticket. A couple of days later, I left the international arrivals terminal at Charles de Gaulle and, after wading through a sea of people, saw a familiar face.

We booked a last-minute hotel room and last minute tickets to some sights around Paris and spent the weekend as proper tourists, visiting the catacombs and doing a proper walking tour of the city. We spent our “second date” sipping boxed Bordeaux out of stolen hotel coffee cups under the sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower.

As I transitioned out of my internship, into my first full-time role, I had some time off. So I flew to London again and met his parents for the first time. On our “third date”, he took me on a beautiful dinner date and, when we got back to the house, asked me to officially be his girlfriend.

The next few months moved quickly. We weren’t able to see each other for 3 months while I was on probation for my new job. The next time I saw him, he flew out, on my benefits this time, to Indiana (where I was then living) and we spent his birthday together there. Thanksgiving, New Year, Valentine’s Day and so on and so forth. We made a point to see each other at least once every 5 weeks, usually once a month.

We fell madly in love. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. On our year anniversary, 15 months after we met, he proposed and, 3 months later on October 26th, 2018, we were married in a beautiful ceremony with just our parents. It was absolute bliss and by far the happiest day of my life. It took us over 8 months to organize my visa and a job but, FINALLY, just over two years after we met, I boarded a one-way flight to London.

Our love is so different, but so much fun! He’s enriched my life in a way I never knew was possible and made me such a better person. We’ve loved the adventure that our love has taken us on and can’t wait to see what else is possible when we choose to simply follow our hearts.

Flight Loads

Your love can be on your next adventure, or come with you! Find some loads to an amazing getaway and celebrate love this Valentine’s Day!

StaffTraveler for web