“Catch flights, not feelings”. A common mantra used amongst those twenty- and thirty- somethings bitten with the travel bug, choosing to explore the world in lieu of settling down. It was also Lauren's caption for her first Instagram post in Belize, where we first met on a group travel trip in December 2021. Little did we know, we would both be catching flights AND feelings on that trip. Neither of us were new to the group travel idea, having both been on multiple similar trips in the past (Under30Experiences, sponsor us). Brett’s goal for this specific trip was to temporarily escape the cold Alaskan winter and head to Costa Rica for some warmth. That trip was full, so Belize was the next choice. Lauren was originally planning on going to Belize in March 2020, but as we all know that's when the world shut down, requiring her to postpone the trip. Sometimes it works out when things don’t go according to plan! We hit it off quickly, sharing meals, stories, and laughs throughout the trip. Due to the absurdly long distance between our homes at the time, we both thought there was a very low chance of ever seeing each other again. Regardless, we made plans to spend New Year’s together in Boston (where Lauren is from) after spending holidays with our own families. What was meant to be a two day visit (and what we now consider our “first date”) quickly changed to a two week long visit thanks to flight cancellations and Covid quarantine! By the time Brett left we both knew that couldn’t be the last time we saw each other. We continued to date long distance for 6 months, overcoming the 4 hour time difference through daily video chats. We managed to see each other in person once per month visiting various locations including Montana, Alaska, Massachusetts, and Florida. Brett moved to Boston in June 2022, and we bought our first home together in April 2023. Brett proposed in January 2024 and the rest is history!