Long distance love
Distance makes the mountains blue & the heart grow fonder
There I was, all set up in my new room at Marine Conservation Philippines. The jungle surrounding the camp washed a new calm over me. The warm air felt .. right, in a way.
Of course, being from Iceland, it does take a while getting used to the heat, but for me it’s always felt way better to be in a 32°C humid climate rather than 10°C dry climate.
It just feels like a warm hug, it feels like home.
It’s weird to feel so at home in a place that you’ve only just landed in, but I guess some people need to travel half way across the globe to get that feeling.
But, there definitely was one thing missing.
Of course when I started planning this trip I had a one track mind to get my Divemasters and get to know the world of marine conservation.
I really wasn’t thinking about anything other than just saving, travel and diving.
But isn’t it just then, when we are so focused on anything other than dating, that we meet the one?
It’s a cliché, maybe, but I had my trip planned for April 2019 and I met this wonderful man in June 2018. At first I thought “Oh, this can be like a fun summer fling” and asked him out.
Well, within a month, we were quite sure this wasn’t just a summer fling.
He of course encouraged me to go to the Philippines, and we decided early on that we will just see where we are when we get closer to my trip.
But at New Years we decided that we wanted to live together, that this actually was something to hold on to and cherish, so I moved in with him and we somehow were still just as in love in this tiny basement apartment with thankfully, very cheap rent.
The closer it got to the trip, I knew this was going to be a little wake-up call.
We wouldn’t be together everyday and we would realise if we actually did miss each other or if it was just the closeness and familiarity that kept us together.
Almost three months apart will make our feelings either stronger or they might fizzle out.
I kept him updated weekly at first, planned out calls timewise, since reception and internet weren’t the strongest where I was and the time difference was significant.
We would spend an hour each time just talking to each other about whatever mundane thing happened that week.
After a a few weeks of this, it ended up being a call every couple of days, just to hear each others voices. I think that was the sign we needed. This really was something great.
Of course the courses were taking up a lot of space in my mind, but I felt myself bringing him up in conversations more the longer time I spent away from him. I really did miss him!
I felt like all the things I was experiencing would be such a great thing to experience together.
I guess my solo female traveller “career” would be short-lived.
The closer we got to my departure, it didn’t feel like I was leaving the adventure behind.
I was going to my home - my future travel partner and dive buddy.
Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I couldn’t tell you how happy the reunion was when he picked me up, but you can probably guess how cheesy we looked at arrivals with all the kisses and love you’s.
At the date of writing this we’ve been going strong for 7 years with loads of travels, dives and adventures behind us but so much more yet to come and I can’t wait for this adventure to continue with him by my side.
