OUR STORY

We fell in love unexpectedly.

Our first meeting was in Room 113 of Bülachhof student housing in Zurich, Switzerland – but it was definitely not a meet-cute. Julie was not impressed by Carlos’ photos of museum taxidermy, while Carlos found Julie’s Europe travel itinerary did not match his own desires to explore within Switzerland.

But before we continue, a little background information first…

In late 1989, Carlos was born in the German-influenced city of Blumenau in southern Brazil. He was blonde and adorable and mischievous. Almost two year later on the opposite side of the world, Julie arrived in the world as a summer baby in a city otherwise known for winter – Harbin, in northeastern China. She was really chubby and empty-looking, but well-behaved. Julie grew up as an only child, later relocating to Calgary, Canada with her family, reading and drawing and checking items off the “good kid” list. Carlos grew up in Blumenau fighting his younger brother and other boys his age as well as playing an excessive amount of video games. He went to the beach often and never saw leaves changing color or felt snow. We both had very loving families and stable upbringings, but felt the innate desires to go out into the world and see and explore for ourselves.

Cut to our college years, Julie at Penn in the US, Carlos at UFSC in Brazil, both with lifelong dreams of studying abroad despite studying engineering degrees. We just so happened to study abroad at the same time – fall 2011. We just so happened to choose the same school abroad – ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. We just so happened to apply to live in the same student housing – Bülachhof. And as luck would have it, we just so happened to be neighbors – Julie in 112, Carlos in 113.

While the first meeting may not have been a meet-cute, there were plenty of opportunities for Julie and Carlos to hangout as neighbors with other roommates after the initial conversation. What brought us together over the next few weeks are the same things that keep us together to this day. Fascination with the other person’s dramatically different life experiences and point of view. The surprising similarities amidst all of our differences, such as the thirst for adventure, to experience new and challenging things. The value we place on collecting memories as opposed to things. Above all, we both wanted to grow beyond the foundations our families provided and build our own lives on our own terms… it just so happened that our paths crossed and we chose to grow together from that point forward.

Julie took Carlos to more museums that had better exhibits than taxidermy. Carlos bought an Eurail Pass instead of a Swiss Rail Pass, and we traveled Europe on weekends together.

Following the semester abroad, the next few years were filled with ups and downs (and a lot of expensive intercontinental flights) that brought us closer together. We returned to our respective universities to finish our college degrees and struggled with being very, very far apart. Carlos found a research position at Penn to join Julie and conned his way into getting a “Penn faculty” ID (the Julie dated a professor jokes continue to this day). Post-college, we again had periods of long-distance while dealing with the already tough college-work transition. US Immigration put us through the wringer but we survived. Throughout all of this, our shared love for adventure only grew, culminating in the creation of our blog, Our Global Trek – more than a year of backpacking through Asia. Most importantly, we were doing what we both loved, just like when we first met, but this time starting out together.

We both knew we had met the person we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with pretty early on. But the idea of marriage seemed too “old” for both of us for a long time – neither Julie nor Carlos had ever expected or were prepared to have met the right person so early in life. After almost five years of traveling the globe for and with each other, we decided that similar to our atypical relationship, we would make marriage uniquely ours, too. Best decision ever.

There was a minor hiccup the day we were scheduled to get married – something came up for Julie at work and she had to reschedule. As we joke – Julie had cold feet and left Carlos at the altar… but not for long. The next day, on May 18, 2016, Julie made it out of work early enough so we could sign marriage papers at the Bloomfield, Connecticut town hall before they closed for the day. The Justice of the Peace we found online (you’re the best, Vada!) went above and beyond to prepare beautiful words for us to say to each other as we held hands in a meeting room beside filing cabinets and pledged “I do.” We couldn’t have been happier.

Unconventional doesn’t even begin to describe our relationship, but we have never wanted it any other way. So in lieu of a traditional wedding (with all its stresses), we just wanted to have all of you (our closest friends from around the world!) in one place to celebrate. Celebrate us. Celebrate friendship. Celebrate that love of all kinds has no boundaries and is the most meaningful journey of all.