About the Adventurers

A boy from Missouri, a girl from Colorado, and where do they meet? In Argentina of course.

It's kind of a funny story.

Ryan is from the St. Louis area, born and raised, but frequented Colorado for ski trips and to visit family and such over the course of his life.


 




Lisa is from the Fort Collins area, born and raised and, well, couldn't understand why the concept of "hiking" was foreign to anyone outside of Colorado.




When it came time to choose a prestigious university for their undergrad experience, the decision was of course stressful, intense, and exciting all at once. Lisa decided she couldn't leave Colorado, and Ryan decided to try living full time in her mountain state. They both chose the University of Denver - but never met there.

Fast forward to fall of junior year. Lisa is sitting on a bus in Buenos Aires with about 40 other foreign exchange students from all across the country crowding onto the bus for a tour to La Boca, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It was orientation week of a five month study abroad Spanish immersion program, and everyone was a bit nervous for the program to begin, along with the full-time Spanish. As the bus filled with excited students, Lisa looked up to see quite a handsome young man coming down the aisle, looking for an unoccupied seat. Secretly, Lisa rather hoped he would sit by her, and with a stroke of luck, he did.


"I'm Ryan," he introduced himself. "Lisa" she said. They made some small talk before she asked, "what school are you from?" "University of Denver in Colorado," he replied. "Really? Me too. That's kinda funny." And that's how they met.

But that's not how they fell in love.

Our first photo together after mountain biking

Still in the friend zone while skiing.

I was still trying to figure it out here...

It took about a month for them to figure it out. Ryan caught on first, realizing that a girl who enjoyed mountain biking, hiking, and general adventuring was someone perhaps worth pursuing as more than a friend. Lisa's girlfriends, "las chicas" figured it out next, and constant harassment and giggling finally got Lisa to thinking. Then came the biggest hint a shy, slightly uncoordinated, personal space loving lad could muster: he joined Lisa's tango class.

And so the adventurers were united. They traveled all over Argentina together, then returned to the U.S. where they adventured all over Colorado and Utah. Ryan taught Lisa how to ski in trees, and Lisa taught Ryan how to mountain bike on Slickrock. They dreamed, they planned and they came up with The Road Trip, which is the foundation of this blog and the greatest adventure they'll be embarking on yet.

How they met may have been a fairy tale, but life isn't always that way. Undoubtedly crazy problems will arise along their travels and of course some of these instances will come out in the blog. But Lisa's the detail-oriented people person and Ryan's the math and geography genius and both realize they can't adventure without the other. So, we learn, grow, and work it out together -- kinda like tango.

"When traveling with someone, take large doses of patience and tolerance with your morning coffee."

-Helen Hayes