Travis: Elena and I’s story began in June of 2023, about seven months after I moved to Denver, and I began to attend Christ Community Church where I met Damon and Erynn Faber. Throughout the following few months, our friendship grew as I attended their Bible study and spent many evenings hanging out at their apartment. One day, Erynn informed me that she wanted me to meet one of her good friends, Elena. The only problem was that Elena lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan—nearly a thousand miles away from Denver. Due to the distance, I’m truthfully not sure if I ever would have mustered up enough courage to spend my days off traveling to that unknown city to meet that unknown girl on my own. However, God clearly had other plans. A mere four days after Erynn had told me about Elena, I was sent to Grand Rapids as part of a work trip. I now know without a doubt that this was God’s hand pushing us towards each other.

On June 29, 2023, after a long day and multiple delays, I finally landed in Grand Rapids. I texted Elena to apologize about the late arrival (past 10pm!), and asked if she was still okay with going on our date. Thankfully she was, and we agreed upon dining at one of Grand Rapids’ finest late-night establishments: Denny’s! Shortly after I arrived at my hotel, a beautiful girl pulled up in her little blue Mini Cooper. We got to know each other over pancakes, bonded over our love of travel, and I was astounded at her experiences living overseas. I easily could have spent the entire night talking with Elena. One of our last conversation topics was about Elena’s plans to move to South Korea within the next few weeks. Naturally, that left our path ahead full of obstacles and uncertainties; but as I drifted off to sleep, all I knew was that I wanted to continue getting to know the girl I had just met. We had no idea when (or how) we’d be able to see each other again, but I had a feeling that the night of June 29 wasn’t going to be the last time I saw Elena.

Elena: Just three weeks after initially meeting Travis, I moved to Jeju Island, South Korea, to teach at an international school. We now lived 6,000+ miles apart and had only met up twice, but I knew that Travis was someone I wanted to continue getting to know. Miraculously, he seemed unfazed by my change of address and asked to continue talking to me despite the 16 hour time difference. Texts eventually turned into FaceTimes, which eventually turned into an even bigger surprise: Travis asking if he could use his flight benefits to come to Asia to see me. He told me that he had always wanted to visit Taipei, Taiwan, and as I had gone to high school there, it seemed like the perfect place to meet up. Our week there was full of me getting to share special old memories with Travis and building so many new ones with him too.

The next 6 months of long distance dating were long and very unique. Travis made another trip over to Asia in December and got to see a glimpse of my daily life in Jeju. We then met up again in January in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo was a new city for both of us and we had a great time exploring together. Although being long distance throughout our whole relationship made some aspects of getting to know each other difficult, our travels together allowed us to see and learn about unique sides of each other.

In April, my parents visited me in Jeju, and Travis was able to join us! He had a remarkably good attitude about meeting my parents for the first time in South Korea over a week-long trip. This will always be one of my favorite trips because I got to share Korea with all of them and I watched Travis easily get along with my mom and dad. During this trip I told Travis that I had decided to take a teaching job in Denver in the fall and the days of long distance would soon be over. I can now admit that he miiiight have had something to do with that decision! :)

Travis & Elena: A few months after Elena moved back to the US, Travis and Elena were eager for another trip overseas. Travis wanted to check another continent off his list so they ended up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Travis knew this was the perfect opportunity to surprise Elena with a proposal. The ring arrived just in time for him to pick up the day before they left! Travis’ plan was meticulously thought out, but still presented a challenge as he had never actually visited the proposal site — or even the country. He told Elena they were going on a “fancy date” (not suspicious at all) and then brought her to a beautiful rose garden. It was spring in Argentina so the roses were fully in bloom. They spent an hour there — Elena obliviously wandering and Travis scouting the perfect proposal spot. After a very heart-warming speech, Elena ecstatically said “YES”! This was joined by some excited bystanders cheering “bravo!”.

A professional photoshoot followed, and Elena recalls feeling like she was in a dream. Travis’ last piece of the plan was dinner at a fancy schmancy Argentinian steak restaurant, fittingly called “Elena”. There they enjoyed one of the best dinners of their lives and celebrated the beautiful relationship that God had blessed them with.