On January 7th, 1989 on opposite sides of the world two weddings occurred. In Cuernavaca, Morelos Francisco Sotelo and Diane Jimenez married after years of courtship. Meanwhile in Sale a rural town located in Australia, Peter Wheatland and Loretta Lee also married after two years of interstate travel. Some might say this is serendipitous or even fate. We have chosen to share this special date with our parents, and hope to be as happy as they are 34 years later.

In October of 2016 Andrew and Andrea met on a Topdeck tour through Europe. We were in a bus full of international strangers traveling and exploring new cities. After two days into our trip in Switzerland sitting down to have dinner Andrew sits down next to Andrea and asks, "Are you the American?" I looked over at him and responded "Yeah?" Andrew went on to ask "So, did you vote for Trump?" Andrea went on a rant about wasted votes. Later that night at the pub Andrea yelled at Andrew across the room to "stop being so boring and come dance". Andrew kissed Andrea and instantly got awkward. The next few days Andrew ignored Andrea. When in Rome Andrea offered wine to Andrew in hopes to stop the awkwardness. We became friends and sat on the bus together for the remaining of the trip. Andrew and Andrea realized they had nothing in common but really enjoyed hanging out. After 25 days of hanging out together it was time to say goodbye. We stayed in contact talked everyday and became best friends.

After an amazing holiday together we kept in constant contact and became best friends. Although it seemed we had nothing in common, we were talking every day. While both of us really wanted to get out of the friend zone, the distance seemed to be insurmountable. Despite this, we kept reminiscing and making plans to visit each other as soon as the opportunity arose. Romantic letters were sent, phone calls made and every weekend we hung out in some way or another. In July 2017 Andrea visited Australia as a short notice surprise, Andrew was not much of a tour guide but Andrea got her moment with a Koala. Later that year in November Andrew visited California to see Andrea and meet her family at Thanksgiving for the first time. Andrea’s tour guide skills were proven superior, as she managed to get Andrew to every major tourist drawcard in the state.

It was clear we both had significant feelings for each other and were more than just friends and had been for a while. This is when we (mostly Andrew) finally admitted to each other this was a serious relationship. This period in our relationship had us learn new things about each other, we were forced to become experts on international time zones and was a period of change in our own lives as individuals. Daily phone calls occurred, late at night till 3am Australia time but first thing in the morning in California. As one person finished their day, the others was just starting. Weekends were our opportunity to hang out, watch videos together or even play some online games. We also spent time planning our next opportunity to catch up, forming a bucket list of destinations we wanted to visit. In 2018 we travelled to Spain, the first country on this list where we travelled between cities and were introduced to new food and wines while seeing an amazing new country. Our conversations started shifting to what life together could look like. Who would move? What life did we want together? How could Andrea survive without spicy chips in Australia? How could Andrew survive without readily available espresso coffee in America? We were starting to make big important decisions. In 2019 Andrew flew to California to visit Andrea in November for Thanksgiving. Showing again that Andrea is a superior tour guide we visited Joshua Tree, Vegas, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon and San Diego. Most importantly though, Andrew was introduced to her family officially as her partner.

After visiting each other in 2019, we decided it was time for us to be together. We had spent too long apart. We started to plan what we could do in 2020 to make that possible. However, just as we started to make those plans, there were reports emerging from China of a new corona virus variant spreading and concerning scientists. We paid no mind to this news; how could it possibly affect us? We discussed the headlines while starting to make Australian holiday plans for March 2020, blissfully unaware of what was to come. What happened over the next two years was the single biggest test to our relationship. With world wide travel shut down and Australia having locked down and closed its borders to all but citizens, it was not clear when, if ever we would see each other again. For the longest of time there wasn’t even light at the end of what was a very dark, long tunnel. However, we made it work. Our nightly/morning phone calls continued, perhaps becoming an even more important part of our days. Despite not being able to visit each other, we became more and more involved with each other’s lives and families. Fortunately, in early 2022 Australia finally opened its borders and Andrew was finally able to visit Andrea. This was the start of the most exciting chapter of our story so far.

With borders open we could finally restart the plans we started making in 2020. The plan was to go on a two week road trip from Los Angeles to Denver, visiting places such as Zion and Arches National Parks along the way. Andrew had picked out Zion or Arches as proposal opportunities and we went on several hikes with the ring safely stored in the bottom of his backpack. Due total and utter exhaustion mixed with sunburn, Zion was missed, and a sudden rainstorm foiled his attempt in Arches National Park. Before reaching Denver we spent an night in Aspen. While in the mountains surrounded by snow, Andrew proposed, getting down and one knee and stumbling through some awkward words. Of course, Andrea said yes, despite the questionable show of romantic ability.

Andrea will be moving to Adelaide, Australia in 2023. During the pandemic (with Andrea’s blessing), Andrew bought a house in the suburbs of Adelaide. There are many projects and renovations to follow once Andrea arrives to finally make it our family home. Andrew had to concede that the spare bedroom would be entirely Disney themed. The prior owner even left a gift of Winnie the Pooh toys when she heard about this concession during settlement. There will be challenges, and Andrea is starting a new life in a new country but we will be facing this together. It is a chance for an exciting new beginning for both of us. We also still have our vacation bucket list. Andrew has promised Andrea a visit to Peru will happen, along with a trip back to the town in Switzerland where we first met.