“I came to Australia to study at the Australian National University and finish a graduate diploma in archaeology in 1998. When I went back to Texas, I was hired as a transportation mapper and town planner. I did not meet Sarah until my going-away party to go back to Australia to do my master’s degree. I just thought she was fantastic. I left a note after that party, that said ‘when I get back from Australia, if you’re not married or have joined some hippie commune, I’ll look you up’. About two to three years later, I came back home for the first time in years and—I looked her up. I went to a party at her house; the guitars came out, songs were sung, we had a great night.
We went on one or two dates before I went back, but 6 months later, she came to travel and visit Australia. I had a little 1980 Toyota Corolla in smurf-blue with a white pin stripe down the middle and we took it on this epic road-trip.
We’d been together 10 days and had never planned anything; it was just magic every day and wonderful. You do a road-trip with someone, it’s a really great way to get to know them. I was lying in a hammock and I had this inner conscience say to me, ‘ask her to marry you’. I had this overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be ok, just contentment. My life kind of flashed before me—with her in it. She obviously said yes. It was just a beautiful moment, in a beautiful place, isolated, in this little house overlooking the wetlands on the Great Ocean Road after only 10 days together. And here we are—still married 20 years on.”