Travel and romance are inexorably intertwined – the industry has helped make many a customer’s romantic dreams come true, organising giddy couples’ first holidays together, planning engagements in memorable locations and pulling off the ultimate destination weddings. And travel can also lead people to find their perfect partner, whether that’s locking eyes with an attractive stranger in a hotel cocktail bar or even while selling holidays in a high street agency.
Here’s our pick of the bunch of your travel love stories.
Full of surprises
The team at Ponders Travel regularly add romantic touches to their clients’ special holidays, yet there’s one story of blossoming young love that manager Clare Dudley is keen to share.
“A few years back, an 18-year-old called Rosie came in with her dad, wanting to arrange a holiday for her boyfriend David’s birthday,” she enthuses.
“She was shy but so keen to create an amazing trip for him. You could almost see love hearts coming out of her eyes,” Dudley remembers fondly.
They booked an Icelandic getaway including a whale watching trip on David’s birthday.
“We had pictures of them on the trip and a lovely note on their return,” Dudley recalls.
A year later, a young man came in asking to book a surprise trip for his girlfriend who was at university studying to become a teacher. It turned out to be David.
“He wanted to go to Japan but we were worried as he had a low budget,” Dudley says.
The team pulled it off with an Insider Journeys trip and the pair had an incredible time.
“To us that is love,” Dudley says. “That whole process of it continuing. We are hoping to do their engagement or wedding one day.” She adds: “Rosie came in recently and booked a trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. So the love story continues…”
Wedded bliss
There are few things as romantic as a wedding and Peter Shaw, travel consultant at Hays Travel Dundee, has a tale to swoon over.
Shaw and his partner, Lisa, had been together since 2017 when she was his assistant manager at Thomas Cook. Having bought a house and had a daughter, the pair decided to marry in Croatia.
They found a stunning spot at the Isabella Resort by Valamar in Porec and, along with a party of 34, headed there for the big day on 6 July last year.
“The location was perfect,” Shaw enthuses. “Right on the waterfront between two trees.”
One highlight was an Orcadian Strip the Willow ceilidh dance at the evening reception. “The bar staff were amazed – they wanted to learn it!” Shaw laughs.
Not everything went to plan however…
“I was asked to play a song for Lisa to walk in to. It was supposed to be A Thousand Years by Christina Perri but I played Perri’s Jar of Hearts. Those lyrics are far from romantic!’” Shaw cringes.
Fortunately only Lisa noticed and the romance was saved by one of the guests finding a painting in a local shop that depicted the exact spot they had wed in and presented it as a wedding gift. A memento of a moment the Shaws will remember for ever.
A fairy-tale romance
Travel Counsellors Becky Selby and Sarah Preston’s love story is one worthy of a fairy tale in the perhaps unlikely setting of a TMC.
The pair were working at the same company, Preston was married, Selby was single, the Covid pandemic was coming to an end, and they were regularly conversing via Microsoft Teams.
“We realised we had similar work values and were on the same page with how we wanted to look after customers,” explains Preston.
Then they came face-to-face at a work conference.
“I realised I had never felt the way I did about Becky with anyone before and had to make some drastic life choices.” Preston asserts.
“I had never been with a woman before,” Selby adds. “So I felt very confused by my feelings.”
Sure enough, romance blossomed. Two years later the pair made the move to Travel Counsellors.
“It was a breath of fresh air as we were welcomed with open arms and encouraged to be who we were,” Preston asserts.
Ever since, their love for each other, and for travel, has flourished. It also includes Sarah’s eight-year-old son Ryan and three dogs – a staffy, a lurcher and a sausage dog.
A modern day fairy tale indeed.
