Mason and Nicole met on the plane on the way to study abroad at Georgia Tech Lorraine in France in August of 2015. Nicole was starting her Master's degree and had already been on this program once before as an undergrad. With her experience, she volunteered to chaperone all the younger students, most of whom were making their first trip to a foreign country. Nicole remembers Mason sitting alone at the gate in Atlanta airport, away from where the rest of the students were sitting together and introducing themselves. See, Mason was starting his 5th year of undergrad and had every intention of flying solo, traveling unencumbered and just wanted to go camping in the European wilderness by himself every weekend.

When they landed, Nicole led a small army of early college students through immigration and the endless maze that is Charles De Gaulle airport to the meet up point. Mason stayed right up front with her the entire time, and was also the only person that offered to help with her mountain of luggage, as he could see she was struggling. Nicole refused any help because in her words, she did this to herself. He still stayed up at the front of the crowd with her and the conversation never let up. They talked throughout the entire journey, including the 4-hour bus ride to Metz. It was like they had known each other their entire lives.

Nicole had been planning a trip to Barcelona for the first weekend. After meeting Nicole, Mason quickly threw his initial solo-traveler plans out the window and joined her along with a couple other grad students, and it became their first of many memorable trips together. Nicole even witnessed her first fire spinning show! She won't admit it, but you could say sitting in Plaza de las Cascades watching Mason spin fire poi is what sealed the deal. Mason and Nicole bonded over giant bowls of sangria, endless tapas, and even ridiculously overpriced drinks. One of their favorite moments was sitting on the beach one night, talking and drinking, while they waited for the rest of the group to get back from clubbing. That night cemented their friendship, and they were pretty much inseparable ever since

Nicole and Mason traveled together often throughout Europe that semester, before Mason returned back to Atlanta and Nicole finished out the year in France. Eventually, their friendship grew to more and they have spent the last 8 years traveling the world and making memories together with their fur-babies, Luna and Ozzie. Finally, on July 5th, 2023 on the peak of Mt Fuji in Japan, Mason dropped down on one knee and asked Nicole to be his forever adventure partner. Of course, she said YES! and here we are.