You really can find love anywhere, it can be in the most unexpected places, at the most unforeseen moments. Travel takes you to the furthest corners of the world, where you meet the people you would never usually cross paths with, and just like that when you least expecting it, love happens.
So, for anyone who thinks Contiki is all about hook up’s, empty emotions and beer goggles, think again! Our community of Contiki travellers prove Contiki love is very much alive and well. Here’s the 5 most romantic love stories that have filled our hearts with that fuzzy feeling this year:
Dylan & Ashleigh’s Story
I met my love Ashleigh on the Contiki European Experience trip this year. Over the course of the tour we ended up spending all of our time together and as we got along so well, we decided we would be exclusive whilst on the trip. Then towards the end of the tour we started talking about seeing each other after it was all over. As she lived in Melbourne and I’m on the Gold Coast it seemed difficult, but we wanted to see each other again.
We sadly parted ways in Amsterdam and kept in contact. I was meant to be going to Greece for another week but some things with my travel agent went wrong. Rather than go home and face reality I changed my flights and flew straight from Amsterdam to Melbourne. We spent a week together staying at her house and just fell more and more for each other as time went on. After that week together we decided to try out long distance and made our relationship official.
3 months on, Ash had a job interview on the Gold Coast whilst visiting me, she was successful and got asked to start just 12 days later. She packed up her life and moved to the Gold Coast and now lives with me. We have pretty much planned out a future together and have never been so in love, we both can’t believe how lucky it was that we met.
Mariah & Tristan’s Story
I went on the European Experience earlier this year with my partner Tristan. Tristan had originally planned to pop the question in London following our Contiki Trip. However, when our Trip Manager Lauren offered us the opportunity to have our own private gondola, Tris knew right then that would be the perfect setting for a proposal! Our Contiki family were clapping and cheering from their gondolas, it was amazing!! Let’s just say this became an even more unforgettable trip!
Lachlan & Natalie’s Story
All of us on the Contiki app had organised a meet up at a London pub to help get to know each pre the European Adventurer trip. The pub was quiet even though there where about 10 of us in a corner chatting. Then I saw Nat come in and she brought this atmosphere with her. This positive, happy, adventurous vibe. We got along like a house on fire. On our first day of Contiki we all loaded onto the coach and Nat was sitting behind me. We had a good laugh, initially bonding over asthma believe it or not! Then came the next few days in Paris, where we ended up getting to know each other and being over chatty after a few drinks one night, then all of a sudden out of nowhere she kissed me. Our first kiss was in Paris, the city of love. Skip forward a few days and we were getting along famously, having the time of our lives.
By Mykonos we were inseparable. When the end of our trip had finally come, all the emotions were running high. It was very difficult to leave everyone, especially her. Luckily, I was staying in London for a few days post trip and Nat had just moved to London from New Zealand, so we had a little more time together. Sadly, all good things must end but it wasn’t for long… Just 2 weeks post Contiki we decided to make this real and not just a Contiki love. We organised for Nat to move to Australia to live with me and we have been together ever since. 6 months on and we are still as happy as ever. I even recently went with her to visit her family back in New Zealand! Contiki has changed both our lives for the better. We both feel like totally different people now, life pre-Contiki is nothing but a very distant memory.
Mitch & Leah’s Story
I met Leah when she was acting in Shakespeare. I decided to ask the really pretty girl in the play out, and she said yes! 3 months or so later she was planning to go on a trip to Ireland and bravely (as the relationship was still quite new to be making international travel plans for 6 months down the line), she asked me if I wanted to go with her. As I was head over heels for her I said yes. 6 months went by and we talked every day and spent as much time as we could together, but because of our busy schedules it was rare that we saw each other for any more than 3 or 4 days at a time.
We were both super curious to see what it would be like living in the same room together for two weeks in a foreign country, and it turned out to be the best decision ever. We had the time of our lives on Contiki and took full advantage of the places we got to visit and knowledge we gained. After the Contiki trip it was clear to me that this was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. 4 months later we had been together for over a year and the more I got to know her the harder I fell for her. So, after a nice dinner in town, I set up some lights and rose petals under a tree and I asked her to marry me. Now we are wedding planning and it’s going great!
Steph & Shaun’s Story
I met my amazing partner, Shaun in Vancouver 11 months ago on The Powder Rush tour in Canada. I was shocked to have met the man of my dreams on the other side of the world and to learn that we only lived 600km away from each other. We spent a lot of our tour together and made some lifelong friends that we hung out with throughout the trip. We started a relationship when we got back to Australia. The distance was hard so I left my amazing job on a cattle station in April to move 600km to live with him and we haven’t looked back since! It was the best trip of my life not only tour wise but because I met the love of my life. I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have had the most amazing trip to Canada with a wonderful friend and met Shaun at the same time.
