Eat Play Love

One Year Ago: Kristin and I surprised a few of our family members with a picnic wedding at Crissy Fields. With the Golden Gate bridge as our background, and typical summer fog keeping things cold, our ceremony lasted all of 45 seconds. We wrote it while covertly driving my old Geo from City Hall to the park.

Six Months Ago: Kristin and I were in the dead-of-summer heat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We were staying with a friend, taking part in Carnival, and surviving the heat by running early and cooling off with a frequent acai drink.

Today: Kristin and I celebrate our one year anniversary in Murmansk - the largest Arctic city in the world. We are staying with a new friend from couchsurfing. We have not only escaped the heat of central Russian summer, but we have found near freezing temperatures. This morning we left the flat wearing wool baselayers, our favorite puffy blue Montbell jackets, our down parkas, gloves, and fleece caps. We are prepared for the cold.

Our schedule for the day? A healthy start of millet/oatmeal with fruits and yogurt, free internet at the library, fruit/veggie/cake shopping, and a ride on a nuclear-powered ice breaker!

When we started our journey in Guatemala last year, Kristin brought Eat Pray Love for me to read, and for her to reread. We both love the book and can relate to it in some ways. However, instead of divorcing and then following our dreams, we got married first and making our dreams into goals that we are achieving. Why wait any longer?

As much as I have learned from travelling, I have still learned more from being with Kristin. She constantly pushes and challenges and inspires me.I wish I could say I do the same for her, but I think there are many personal things that I can work on to improve our relationship. So after one year, I can definitively say that, even though there is a giant world out there to see, my energy is best spent exploring and illuminating the depths within me.