The Backstory on Our First Official Road Trip

We had what some might call a whirlwind romance. We met on July 7, 2012 at a singles luncheon and proceeded to spend the rest of the day together, staying out until midnight walking around Boston and chatting about our lives. We had our first date the following weekend, began our exclusive relationship by mid-August, and by the end of August, determined it was time for our first vacation together. We had the long weekend coming up for Labor Day and thought it would be fun to drive to Niagara Falls.

We left the Friday of Labor Day Weekend, a day that Anthony technically didn't have off work. Some things never change. His job was flexible enough that he could do work on the road. Also something that hasn't changed...or maybe has changed a little, is that we've always roadtripped with a Dashboard Froggy.

The drive was a full-day, approximately 7-hour drive without stops. We were already used to spending marathon amounts of time together, so the car ride was smooth. Although it didn't stop me from asking Anthony to reassure me that he wasn't in fact going to push me off the Falls and murder me. After all, we hadn't known each other for very long. Thankfully we were both as genuine as we appeared to be when we first met. This initial honesty helped our relationship tremendously, both in the early days, and as we've progressed through the past decade.

We didn't plan a whole lot during our weekend. We wanted to just see the sights and have a relaxing time. Our few planned activities included the Maid of the Mist tour and a day trip to Toronto, where we did a combined hop-on/hop-off trolley tour and boat ride. Otherwise, you can spend days just viewing the Falls, heading to a couple observation decks, and walking around. We didn't want to overfill our short amount of time there.

We've heard the sage advice, "Before you get married, take a road trip with your partner. You'll either grow closer or grow to hate each other." Obviously it's clear what side of the fence we ended up on, and road trips became one of our favorite activities. That being said, a weekend away after only knowing someone for less than 2 months did result in some overwhelm. I remember the night we returned, Anthony seemed like he needed a breather from me. To this day he tells me that's not true, but I know me. I'm a lot to take! Either way, we established a relationship that was a blend of relaxation and adventure, and our love for intellectual conversation fit nicely with long travel days. That conversation was always stimulating, authentic, and helped us confirm what we sensed all along: Our relationship could weather the storms, ride the ups and downs, and lead us on a lifetime of wonder and magic. Every road trip since has re-confirmed just that.

Now we're living our greatest adventure, though not much has changed since that weekend in 2012. We still have our computers on the road. We still have great conversations and to this day continue to learn new things about each other. We still have a Froggy - okay, 3 Froggies - that travel with us. We couldn't wait to journey back to Niagara Falls, where our love for travel blossomed along with our relationship. Little did we know 10 years ago where we'd be now, and it was all thanks to a leap and a drive on that fateful weekend.