Summer 2001, at this time I was living in London, teaching around 4-6 months of the year and then spending the rest of that year travelling. I was a single lad from New Zealand, loving life and I had a great group of mates who I lived and partied with. On this one night (a Thursday) we planned to head down to the Shepherds Bush Walkabout, a pretty famous London pub mainly full of Aussies and Kiwis, for a night out. Within a few minutes of arriving, I ran into a friend from back home, and we proceed to have a catch-up. During this time, one of my mates (Junior) met a German girl along with her brother and her brother’s friend. He invited them to join us which they did. After finishing catching up with my friend, I returned to the group, and that’s when I first saw her, she had striking eyes and the most beautiful smile. However, she was talking to one of the other boys, so I just went to the bar to grab a beer.
A short time later, I was standing around, people watching, chatting to others and drinking my beer when there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see those striking eyes and that smile. To be honest, I can’t remember what she said at first, but I introduced myself, and she said her name was Connie from Germany. She was in London for a week, her brother had broken up from his girlfriend, and she thought she’d bring him here to cheer him up. How lucky was I! Anyway the conversation just flowed, and we spent the rest of the evening talking. Well, one thing led to another, and in the morning I was buying her the first of what turned out to be many breakfasts. As she only had a couple of days left and other plans in place, we only caught up one more time at another bar, but we managed to exchange phone numbers before she left.
We spend the next couple of months texting and during this time I booked my travels to Central America, America, Australia and home to New Zealand to attend a couple of weddings. ‘dI’d be away for around 6 months. But I just couldn’t get Connie out of my mind so the week before I was due to head to Guatemala I asked her if she would like me to visit her in Germany to which she replied yes. We spent about 4 days together, I got to see a part of Germany I hadn’t seen before, and most importantly I got to know Connie. To be honest, I really liked her but with so much travel planned it would be 6 months before I would return to Europe and as we know long-distance relationships barely last.
Now I loved my travels, loved Guatemala, met amazing people, but it seemed that the feelings between Connie and I were pretty strong and yep within a few months I was back on a plane returning to Germany, this time for 10 days. When I left, I took my Taonga (a bone carved necklace in Maori culture) off from around my neck and placed it around hers. This was my most treasured possession, but it just felt right. I told Connie I would be back for it and with a Taonga for her that I would personally carve myself. To which I did.
Well, this is how it was for our first year, she remained in Germany to complete her studies, and I would fly back and forth. I totalled around 40 flights during that time. During one visit we decided that when she completed her studies she would move to London and we would live together. All in all, we spent a grand total of 6 weeks together out of 52 that first year. But I had the feeling that she was the one for me.
And so it was, soon she moved in, we travelled, fell in love and got married in Hawaii 4 years later. Now we live in New Zealand; have 2 boys, travel extensively, and yes we are still madly in love.
We often tell our story to others, I stretch it out a bit, adding in that she just couldn’t resist my personally, my charm and my outrageous good looks. However, I know I’mI’m the lucky one, and I look forward to growing old with my soul mate.
Scott is the founder of4 Degrees of Destinationand is part of a fun-loving, adventurous family of 4 who enjoy creating memories. They share their knowledge, passion, and experiences to inspire other families to get out and see the world. When they aren’t travelling they are planning, talking and researching their next getaway. Follow their adventures viaFacebook, Instagram and Pinterest
