Vanessa and Mark have all the time felt a calling to discover – whether or not that’s of their homeland of Scotland or the wilds of Patagonia. After a really Intrepid engagement in Malaysia, they vowed to make married life an journey – beginning with the honeymoon.
We set off from base camp at 1 am, head torches glowing, for the ultimate ascent to the summit of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. We have been 5 days into our Sabah Journey and had liked each minute – however this was the second we had been ready for. In actual fact, it was the principle motive we selected this journey.
Climbing below a blanket of stars with the twinkling lights of the world under us felt surreal. We have been among the many first to achieve the summit. By that time, after a protracted and difficult hike in full darkness, I used to be completely freezing. My fingers had additionally began ballooning from the altitude – a lot to my boyfriend Mark’s secret horror.
To maintain heat and fend off the altitude results, we huddled collectively to look at the dawn round 5 am. It was a tangerine dream spreading over a sea of turquoise. Feeling just a little dizzy however completely in awe, I wasn’t my regular self. As a substitute of snapping infinite pictures as I normally would, I simply took all of it in, ft firmly planted on the bottom.
And that was Mark’s likelihood. He requested Rachel, a fellow traveller from our group, to take a photograph of us, and as we posed, I all of a sudden felt his arm transfer from my again. Earlier than I knew it, he was down on one knee, actually taking my breath away by proposing on Malaysia‘s highest mountain, 5 years to the day since our first date.
For a second, it felt like we had all the mountain to ourselves – till our group erupted into cheers and applause. Fortunately, Rachel realised what was taking place in time and managed to snap a number of pics earlier than capturing the second on video. We’ll without end be grateful.
It was the right proposal. Mark designed the ring himself however had guessed my ring measurement a bit too massive, which turned out to be ideally suited in my swollen state. I felt like I used to be on cloud 9 – atop a mountain, subsequent to my fiancé and surrounded by love from like-minded folks.
After a staggering, jelly-legged descent, we unwound at some scorching springs to appease our sore our bodies after the hike. That evening, we joined the remainder of the group for a celebratory feast of beef rendang, aromatic laksa and loads of beers.
The remainder of our journey was a blissful blur as we celebrated one of many greatest milestones of our lives, all whereas absorbing the magic of recent experiences – from recognizing dwarf kingfishers, saltwater crocodiles and long-tailed macaques alongside the Kinabatangan River to basking on Turtle Island’s untouched seashores and releasing child turtles into the Sulu Sea.
An unconventional map to matrimony
Getting engaged on an Intrepid journey felt so ‘us’. In spite of everything, journey has been woven into our story from the very starting.
Mark and I met whereas working at a design company in Glasgow again in 2016. We quickly grew to become pals, bonding over our sound style in dance music, shared love of pints and fervour for exploring Scotland.
Mark grew up in a household that thrives within the nice outside – we’re speaking kayaking, snowboarding and tenting execs. With sturdy ties to the west coast of Scotland, he’s explored a lot of our stunning nation, from its glens to its lochs.
I, then again, caught the journey bug early on once I gained a scholarship to check languages in Beijing at 16. My research took me to Paris and Madrid, then to London and Milan for work. I’ve volunteered throughout the Yasawa Islands in Fiji and carried out postgraduate analysis in Kathmandu.
I ultimately left the company job and misplaced contact with Mark. In 2018 I made a decision I used to be going to ebook a one-way ticket to South America to fulfil a dream: trekking via Patagonia. However six months earlier than I left, the whole lot modified.
Mark slid into my DMs. After quite a lot of chat and life updates, he invited me to a gig with some outdated work friends. Possibly it was the music, perhaps it was our first kiss – however that evening we each realised what we’d most likely recognized all alongside: we have been meant to be collectively.
Quickly after, Mark whisked me away on a tenting journey to the Outer Hebrides, the place the rain got here down sideways. However on the final day, after lastly getting a little bit of sunshine and below a sky filled with stars, he requested me to be his girlfriend. I stated sure, after all. I’d been ready for him to ask ever since we pitched the tent on the primary day. I had already advised my greatest good friend (and future bridesmaid) that he was the person I used to be going to marry.
Even so, I set off on my massive journey, realizing this was my second to give attention to myself and chase my goals. After six months on a visit of a lifetime, chatting to Mark each single day, I got here residence with one factor crystal clear: I by no means wished to expertise something like that with out him once more.
Since then, we’ve soaked up the solar in Portugal, skied in Switzerland, eaten our means via Vietnam, felt the desert dunes in Dubai, chased the northern lights in Iceland, caught COVID in Croatia, fallen in love with Bosnia and sailed down the canals of the Netherlands, organising the whole lot ourselves.
We knew our subsequent journey needed to be extra of an journey, additional afield. And that’s one thing we wouldn’t have had the boldness to do on our personal – primarily due to the concern of lacking out and the stress of organising the whole lot whereas balancing our jobs and home renovation.
Throughout my six months in South America, I usually spied Intrepid leaders of their crimson t-shirts, so I recommended that we take a look at their journeys for inspiration. Borneo appeared to have all of it: wildlife, hikes, seashores. So we went for it. I had no thought I used to be reserving my engagement journey. But in Mark’s head, as quickly as he realised we’d be climbing Mount Kinabalu, he knew that was the place he was going to pop the query.
Fancy honeymooning in Mexico? I do!
We knew we have been engaged to be married – not engaged to be engaged for a very long time – in order quickly as we received residence from Borneo, we received straight to planning. Simply over a 12 months later, in Could 2024, we tied the knot on a ship on Loch Lomond surrounded by probably the most particular folks in our life. We’re nonetheless in touch with the group from our Borneo journey and despatched them pictures of our big day. It was pretty to share this second with them, particularly Rachel, as she made our proposal without end memorable.
Planning a marriage could be disturbing, however planning the honeymoon? That was pure pleasure. In our vows, Mark and I promised to make life an journey, so when it got here to selecting the place to go, we gave it some actual thought.
The everyday honeymoon locations have been tempting, and there was oddly a way of stress to spend three weeks lounging on a tropical seashore – however that simply wasn’t us. We wished tradition, color, meals and enjoyable at a tempo that might be leisurely sufficient to soak in each element, but energetic sufficient to maintain our spirits excessive and gasoline our curiosity. We landed on the Better of Mexico journey as a result of it had the right mixture of the whole lot: vibrant metropolis life, lush jungles, sprawling deserts, historical temples and gorgeous seashores.
We received to spend plenty of high quality time collectively as a pair on the journey, however having the prospect to socialize with others was a spotlight. Our group was a blended bunch from Spain, Slovakia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It included different completely happy {couples}, like Stella and Gerard, a handful of solo travellers, and even a mother-and-son duo, Slava and Andrej.
Sharing our honeymoon with such a various group gave us a contemporary perspective on relationships, love and journey. It deepened our appreciation for what actually issues and reminded us that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to expertise pleasure.
One in every of our favorite experiences was taking a ship experience down a winding river via Sumidero Canyon. The panorama was a wild fusion of Lord of the Rings meets Jurassic Park – lush greenery draped over the towering cliffs, hidden caves, and waterfalls tumbling into the water under. Our chief, Valentina, advised us that the Chiapas, an indigenous folks whose essential settlement was within the area, fiercely resisted Spanish conquest, with their final refuge being a fortified space throughout the canyon. Legend holds that when this fortification fell, the remaining Chiapas took a lover’s leap into the canyon, selecting the afterlife over submission to Spanish rule.
We have been crusing via a spot of deep historical past and untold tales, admiring not simply pure magnificence, however the braveness of those that got here earlier than us. There was one thing so deeply romantic about it – the thought of affection and defiance intertwined, selecting the final word sacrifice for the assumption in one thing larger. Mark and I felt so small within the vastness of all of it, and so privileged to be experiencing it.
This was the form of journey we’d been craving. And this was precisely the form of expertise we had promised each other in our vows.
Sadly, we gained’t get to have one other honeymoon. However we’ll for certain be happening extra Intrepid journeys and making them really feel simply as particular. In actual fact, we’re off to Japan in April to have a good time our first anniversary.
I’d inform any pair of travel-mad lovebirds to ebook an Intrepid tour for his or her honeymoon in a heartbeat. Life’s too brief to stay to the established order – do what you’re keen on!
Vanessa and Mark received engaged on their Sabah Journey, spent their honeymoon seeing the Better of Mexico with Intrepid and are set to have a good time their first anniversary on the Highlights of Japan journey.
