We met in 2022 on a camping trip in Big Sur through a group called Outsiders Together...which, yes, kind of sounds like a cult, but we promise it was just a bunch of outdoorsy singles looking for connection (and maybe a little romance). What started as some light trail flirting quickly turned into something more. Our first official date was on Valentine’s Day, because apparently we don’t do anything casually. Just a month later, we took our first big trip together: two weeks in Costa Rica, full of waterfalls, sloths, and the realization that this was something special. Funny enough, we had unknowingly lived just miles apart in Orange County back in 2018, Dani was at Chapman and Ben was at Fullerton, but our paths never crossed. It took five years, a few hundred miles, and one not-a-cult camping trip in the woods for us to finally meet. That summer, Ben set off on a solo road trip in his truck, and Dani flew out to meet him in Yellowstone. On top of Mount Washburn, surrounded by epic views, Ben asked her to be his girlfriend...moments before a massive thunder, lightning, and rainstorm sent us sprinting back down the mountain. From there, we were inseparable. We spent the next year adventuring with the most incredible group of friends, eventually moving in together (unofficially) by taking off on a five-month road trip across the western U.S. in a tiny camper. And by tiny, we mean shoebox-level tiny. Over those months, we visited 14 national parks, soaked in 11 hot springs, road-tripped through 14 states, and even crossed into another country. We learned a lot, like how to function on one shower a week, how to safely camp 20 ft from a family of moose, and that 4am wake-ups to hike 14,000-foot peaks are a questionable idea... but somehow still worth it. If we could survive five months of that kind of close-quarters chaos, we figured we could get through just about anything. Following our trip, we spent meaningful time getting to know and love each other’s families, traveling between Napa and Atascadero. In May of 2025, we traveled to Japan for what became one of our favorite trips yet. After almost two weeks of bottomless ramen, 30,000-step days, sumo wrestling matches, and flawlessly navigating Japan's public transit system, Ben got down on one knee in the magical bamboo forest of Arashiyama and asked Dani to marry him. We’ve fallen for each other under starry skies, in hot springs and thunderstorms, across mountain passes and ocean crossings. From muddy hiking boots to tiny camper kitchens, ramen-fueled jet lag, to road trip playlists (always starting off with Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again"), every twist in the trail has brought us closer. What started in the wild has only grown steadier, deeper, and more rooted with every mile. We’ve built a love that’s both an adventure and a home, and we can’t wait for everything this next chapter has in store.