The Meeting

Mallorca, Palma city beach, a volleyball game. We had just played two games and the score was even, now we were in the final stage of our tiebreaker game. The sun beating down on our tired bodies, the sound of waves and wind in the distance. I was tired, sweat pouring down my forehead. I put my aviators on and prepared to serve, when I saw my friend Matt coming to join with two new friends. They sat on the beach next to the net, and as soon as I set eyes on Kristina, I knew I had to meet her. Suddenly I wasn't tired, and 5 minutes later, we crushed our opponents! I strutted proudly over to introduce myself and the rest was history. 😉

It was just after New Year's 2023 and we were halfway through our 5 month round-the-world travels, on a road trip through the Canadian Rockies. I had been planning the proposal for months already and I wanted to choose the time spontaneously, so I gave myself plenty of opportunities while planning our trip. After spending a few days with my parents (who were in on the whole thing of course) at the Fairmont Hot Springs, we drove to our first stop in Revelstoke, B.C. where I had booked one night at a lovely Bed & Breakfast. Everything was going according the plan, except one thing. Kristina had gotten sick. I thought, no problem, she'll have the sniffles a day or two and bounce back! 

The next two nights we stayed in Kelowna, the heart of Okanagan wine country and one of the country's most beautiful and temperate regions. Even in the middle of the harsh Canadian Winter, Kelowna was balmy and rain was more likely than snow. I had booked a beautiful Airbnb, a cosy self-contained unit full of romantic decorations. It even had a lovely garden, full of old trees and flowers, birds and squirrels, and even an outdoor Jacuzzi and a fire pit for making s'mores! I thought surely, the perfect moment will present itself here! Unfortunately Kristina spent the majority of the two days in bed while I made trips to the local pharmacy and back.

With renewed optimism, and a couple bottles of wine, we set out from Kelowna and headed to Vancouver, where I had booked a one-night stay at high-rise hotel in the centre. We had a long drive through some of the most beautiful mountain ranges of Western British Columbia. Poor Kristina, who was still suffering the effects of congestion, didn't enjoy the drive as much as I hoped since the constantly changing altitude of the mountain roads were causing her a lot of pain in her ears! Coupled with a rather disappointing  experience in downtown Vancouver, our spirits were broken, and I was almost ready to forget the whole thing and try again in Thailand (our next country after Canada)! Thankfully, we decided to keep going, hoping the situation will improve once we arrived at our final stop, Vancouver Island.