Travel

"Let's get married, Hayden" he said, excitement shinning in his eyes. I had always been reluctant about marriage, but I loved Douglas and we had been dating long enough for me to know I could spend the rest of my life with him. I said yes, of course, love is about making sacrificies, and I was willing to forget my distrust in marriage for him. However, it would need to be done my own way. Not wanting to get married meant I had never given thought of how would I want my wedding to be. There was something I knew, I didn't want it to be traditional. It took me some time to realize what was the perfect solution, and then I broke the news to Douglas. 

"I think we should elope." 

Douglas raised his left eyebrow, as he did when he was surprised. 

"Do you?" 

"Yes." I was sure about it. "I don't want to dress up like a princess and have to pay meals for people I haven't seen in ages. I want it to be something for us alone. We are celebrating our love, we don't need anyone else around." 

"So, what's your idea?" Douglas never talked much. Neither did I, our relationship was filled with comfortable silences. 

"Since we won't be spending money on fancy dresses and guests, we could simply travel around the world until we find the perfect spot to get married." 

It was perfect. We had actually met while hiking at a natural park and we loved to travel. We would have a wedding and a honeymoon all in one. And from the moment I first came with the idea, I knew it was what I needed. Douglas took some more convincing, specially because he was worried his mother would get mad at him. In the end, he accepted.

"So, where do you want to go?" 

"Europe" 

He out a face and I laughed at it. It was the kind of face that said "Say Rome or Paris and I'm dumping you." 

"I was thinking Prague, Budapest, Athens and the islands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland,..." 

He smiled. 

"Up to you then, you pick the first destinations, and then we will decide on the road." 

And so I did. Because the cheapest destination to fly to was Budapest, we started there. The spring in the city greeted us, the large Danube river crisscrossed with bridges. We walked around the city crossing the famous Chain Bridge from Pest to Buda, walking around the old city in Buda fascinated by the colors of the houses, crossing back to Pest through Elisabeth Bridge and eating in the food stalls in the market. I was always an early riser, and Douglas was more of a night owl, so sometimes I would start without him in the morning, and he would stay up late when I had already gone to bed. He explored the night life on his own. From there we took the train to Prague where we visited the constellation of squares and alleys, as well as the Jewish quarter and Kafka's museum. Our next destination was Athens, were I fell in love with the Acropolis, I could almost feel the stones whispering my secrets to me. The ferry took us around some small, little known, islands, with barren harsh lands and clear waters. We swam and we ate excellent fish, and it was hard having to say goodbye, but that was not the place were we would get married and we needed to move on. 

From the Greek islands we flew to another one. A larger, greener one, Ireland. As soon as we set foot in Killarney I knew I'd found the place. The Kerry peninsula was the place. It was wild, it was solitary, it was beautiful. It had to be there. And so I told Douglas. 

"We can't get married anymore, Hayden." He told me. 

"What? What do you mean?" Getting married had been his idea, why was he saying that, then? 

"Hayden, I met someone in Budapest, we have mantained contact, and I think she's the right one." 

"What?" I was shocked, and disappointed, and somehow convinced that I had seen it coming. Yet, I was not hurt. 

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. People fall in love and fall off all the time." I shrugged my shoulders. 

He packed all his stuff and left that same day. I couldn't leave, however, the land was calling for me. And I obligued. Carrying my backpack I set for the Kerry way. The wetlands on the way to the Black Valley soothed my soul. I walked and walked, from one town to the other, from Cahersiveen to Waterville, and from there to Caherdaniel. And on the coast just before Caherdaniel I found Derrynane beach. And there I fell in love. That was the place I'd have wanted to get married, that was the place were I'd have gotten married, but instead I found myself.