I’m Steve, and found my love of travel a bit later than others, my first trip abroad not until I was 30. Born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, I was a bit of a home body until I moved across the country to Vancouver to go to school. In 2011 had my first trip to SE Asia. I spent a month exploring the beautiful Bali, Indonesia. At that point I fell in love with the region, and have spent over 6 months since exploring the beautiful beaches and jungles. It is travel that has ignited my desire to be alive, through both good times and bad. I credit a 4 month trip in 2015 to helping get through the death of my parents and find some healing, and a path to happiness. When not on the road, I live and work in the Bay Area of San Francisco, slugging it out in Silicon Valley. The dream is to retire early and spent my days roaming aimlessly around the globe.
Hi friends, I’m Tina. I too didn’t start traveling until my 30’s because I was a full-time, single mom and career woman in my 20’s. I did manage to get some big trips in when my son visited his Dad over the summers. As an adolescent, I remember always wanting to be anywhere but home. It certainly made growing up in a strict multicultural family difficult. Little did I know at the time that it was the wanderlust inside me all along. I eventually remarried, but in 2014, found myself a widow when my husband passed away in his sleep on Thanksgiving Eve. It’s hard for me to put this in writing because it makes it real – but our 7 year relationship was very tumultuous and toxic, especially the last 4 years leading up to his death. What does this have to do with my travels you ask? My husband’s death left me with more questions than answers and my desire to be transported to anywhere else in the world kicked in full gear.
In early 2015, I was working on my financials with my accountant and friend, sharing my story and travel plans with her. My story resonated with her, and reminded her of a friend she had met the previous summer in New Orleans. He too was going through a hard time after the death of both his parents in the same year. She told me that he was off on a journey for several months in SE Asia and that if I really am going, that I should meet up with him. So, she introduced me to Steve on Facebook. Yada, yada, before I knew it, we were travelling together in Thailand.
As I reflect on my life these past years, I know now that I will never get closure from Simon’s death. Some questions will never be answered in this lifetime. I’m okay with that because I am in such a good place right now…mind, body and soul. For the first time in a very long time, I am not running away from something, but rather running to something and someone who fills my heart with love, who shares my sense of adventure and a pursuit to living a more deep and meaningful life.
It was tough circumstances that brought us together, but from that first trip in Thailand, we’ve fallen in love, and continue to find excitement in our future together. We always are looking to our next trip, and aiming to get purposely lost together!