Carla and I met in paradise! More specifically El Nido, Palawan. And we owe it all to a crappy dry bag...
It was my last days of a three-week Philippine adventure. I had already fallen in love with the country. But seeing all the mushy couples in El Nido who were so busy with themselves, that they wouldn't make for a good solo traveler's company, I was rebelliously annoyed with this other kind of love that started to ruin my trip. Same picture on this boat tour I had picked: a Spanish couple, a Filipino gang and a bored Jakob :-\.
I had this awesome new dry bag that allowed me to bring my camera even to beaches the boat couldn't reach. I had just put my phone, my MP3 player and my camera (yes, those were all different things back then) in the dry bag and threw it confidently in the water. Swimming back, I realized the stupid dry bag had ripped of course and all my gadgets were broken! Well - at least for that I was pitied by the cute girl who - good news - was a lot into gadgets and - better news - was not with the guy from her gang :-)
The rest is history: We had dinner together that same night, scheduled another dinner for my last night in Manila. I even chowed down a balut to impress her!
We stayed in contact - Facebook became Gtalk, Gtalk became Skype and suddenly we're planning a whole trip together in Malaysia/Singapore where you could have seen us strolling the cities holding hands...
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Germany, Paris, Belgium, Lithuania, Jakarta - some say before we marry we had three years of honeymoon. To us it was three years of long distance relationship with all its perks and some advantages. The distance brought us closer. It made us good communicators, taught us the importance of trust, taught us patience and valuing every moment we have together. We found ways to share our lives where ever we are.
Our bonds are numerous and they are strong but the strongest one is yet to happen and we want you to be our witnesses and guests :-) Just like where we met and where we got engaged, we want to marry by the beach on August the 21st 2014 :-D
- Jakob
[Update] Due to usually bad weather in August, we decided to have a garden wedding instead. Depending on the weather, we will go to the beach after the wedding!
-Carla
