I saw fireworks the first time I met Tony! 

We met at a 4th of July work party for the airline we both worked for. I’m a flight attendant and Tony is a pilot. We started dating and have been traveling the world ever since!

We took our first vacation together to Belize. We had a wonderful time in Ambergris Cave, Belize, where we went scuba diving at the famous Blue Hole and site seeing around the Mayan ruins. We’ve seen over 50 different countries, each giving us so many special moments together. We even have a large map in our dining room with pins for each country visited. This helped inspire me in creating my tooth fairy gift sets which include a map of the world.

After 4 years of dating, on April 2nd, Tony surprised me with a trip to Cambria, a gorgeous little town on the central coast of California, where he proposed. I am thankful that he wanted the extra day and didn’t propose on April 1st, for obvious reasons. Despite all the places we’ve traveled, the best day of my life occurred 5 months later in Bass Lake, California when we got married.

People like to ask us where our favorite place is to travel. Every place is special for its own reasons; just some places are just more challenging than others.

Our most recent trip was to Israel and Jordan. Floating in the Dead Sea was incredible and walking in to the West Bank to see Bethlehem was a definite highlight. We love Germany at Christmas time and Cambodia for its unspoiled culture. Sydney is a wonderful city to explore and a great place to catch a free opera in the park.

We were invited to a wedding in Punjab, India and our hosts made us feel like family.

We find that people in other countries are hard workers trying to provide for and love their families just as we are here at home. Most people want to “do good.”.Often during our travels we will pack an extra suitcase full of saved hotel soaps and shampoos and kids clothes and small toys or medical supplies. I will research an orphanage in whatever country we are traveling to and will deliver the suitcase to them. The kids welcome us and often sing us songs or give us a tour. We always feel like we get more than we give.

Travel is a defining characteristic of our relationship as each place we visit delivers a new chance to connect and learn about each other. Although we get the chance to travel together and see so many different cultures and ways of life, the most powerful thing we get is the opportunity to grow, not only as individuals, but as a couple as well. I’ve shared this with my family, too, after being inspired by my niece to gather “tooth fairy” coins from around the world.

My favorite quote, “The more you experience in life, the more you have to offer others.”-Sara Blakley