It all began on a hot arid day above the California desert.
I had taken the day off to take my friend Arlene skydiving. She would be doing a tandem jump while I, as a licensed skydiver, would be jumping solo. As the twin otter rose higher and higher conversations began to break out when I noticed a man with sparkling blue eyes sitting across from me. As we began chatting we realized we were both jumping by ourselves and so decided to jump out do a “two-way”. Which is exactly as it sounds, two people jumping out together. Little did we know that we were about to not only fall thousands of feet in the air, but fall in love as well.
Conversation came easily as we walked back to the dropzone to pack our parachutes. His gentle demeanor and tales of his travels soon won me over. He had already been traveling the world for 11 months by the time he arrived in California. He came to Perris Valley Skydiving Center to skydive for two weeks before making his way up to Idaho to do a BASE jumping course. I, on the other hand, had been living in Los Angeles for two years working as a nurse and pursuing my dream of acting in my free time. Neither of us expected to find “the one” when we woke up that morning.
Needless to say things moved fast and it was only a matter of weeks before we realized that we were in love. (I declared my love by writing a love song and singing it to him. (Embarrassing right! But, when you’re in love you will do anything, no matter how cheesy, to make it known)! After meeting, and realizing our affection, Barry returned to the UK to work while I stayed on in LA barely able to get through a shift at the hospital without daydreaming about him. Acting lost it’s luster and I wanted nothing more than to be together no matter where or what that looked like.
Barry was born in Zimbabwe but grew up in South Africa while I was originally from US. We were were apart more than we were together and started to looking into closing the distance between us. After much research, we realized it was easier for us both to move to Canada than it was for him to come to the US. And, since one of my closest friends had just moved back to Alberta, Canada, we decided Canada would be a great place to start. By December of that year I had moved in with Esther and her mom. Barry flew out to join us for Christmas, and it was then that he proposed. It was only six months after we met. Barry was unable to move to Canada until we were married, making it hard for him to actually show up to his own wedding! We had planned to be in South Africa that February so we decided to privately get married just so we could have our “white wedding” the following June. It was only 8 months from the time we had met until the time we were married.
We thought our move would be temporary but after 18 years we are still here, nestled close to the wild Canadian Rocky Mountains. We had four kids in 4 1/2 years, moved cities and found family within our church community.
Two years after being married we found our forever home, which we named “The Shire,” big LOTR fans over here, and took almost ten years to completely renovate our home and property while doing most of the work ourselves. Our kids have grown up knowing how to swing a hammer and manage themselves in a construction zone. Needless to say, there is never a dull moment, or lack of adventure around The Shire.
Early in our marriage Barry and I had the dream to one day take a year off and travel. At the time we had never heard of any family doing what we had hoped to do. It seemed almost like an impossible dream but one that kept pulling at our hearts over and over. The difficult thing about dreams is they take time and the waiting can sometimes be the hardest part. So we waited. As I saw more and more people on social media start to do what we once dreamed of, it gave me hope but, at times, also made me wonder when our time would come. This is where we had to trust and know that God had not forgotten the dreams placed in our hearts. So here we are, almost 15 years later and we are finally getting ready to step into the dream we’ve waited so long for.
Last year felt we were to get ready and start preparing to travel and we’ve spent the last year doing just that. In a short amount of time we finished our home renovations and landscaping. We have been purging, packing, and selling as much as we can. As a travel nurse, I, took a contract out in New Brunswick for the summer and the rest of the family followed after school was finished. Living out east for 3 months felt like a preparation for what is to come.
Our dream has changed over the years from just traveling to now serving and loving on others along the way. One of our favourite things to do at home is host others. Whether it is a single person or a family we can love on or hosting. We’ve hosted a wedding, church events, neighbourhood breakfasts and speaking events. WE simply love to love! So what better way to spend our time traveling helping others along the way.
We plan to partner with different organizations along the way, serving as well as taking time to explore. Both aspects will make for one glorious adventure! Which is how we came other our name, Adventure 6. From traveling as family, doing renovations and loving on others, we see life as one glorious adventure that we get to be apart. We hope you will join us as we learn, grow and serve together!
“Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll