J+A

Eight

Ten years in the making...


  • In Alex's words
  • I was first swept up into Jessica's nomadic wonderlust whirlwind only a few short months into dating in SF.

    It really began when Anish first invited me to crash his friend's out of town birthday party. I was rightfully skeptical. I couldn't imagine the free spirit that would trust Anish to extend open invites all willie-nilly like that. I truly wasn't sure, but he said to trust him.

    Of course I misread the party's ”bougie” theme as 'boogie' but still, what a party it was! A mini road trip efficiently stocked from Costco, with an around the clock dance floor, a fire juggling show, jet skis, jacuzzi and new friends to boot. I was impressed with the number of people that drove to Tahoe that weekend, but also the energy they brought. That poor Airbnb.

    After Jessica's birthday party we exchanged numbers but in an attempt to play things super cool I made a point of declaring just how busy I was with work ”the next couple of weeks...but we should hang out sometime.”

    In retrospect, it's a little embarrassing I only managed to hold out 2-3 days before extending immediate and back-to-back invites to meet up. Apparently I couldn't get this Leo fire cracker out of my head and I definitely couldn't let that free spirit get away! Fast forward less than 6 months and we would plan to quit our jobs at the same time in exchange for 1-way tickets to S.E. Asia. Likely the best decision of my life, and completely sparked by her idea!

           Anish and Alex at Jessica's Tahoe bday party.


  • In Jessica's words:
  • Alex crashed my 28th birthday party at Lake Tahoe - where I came to appreciate his dance moves and unique boogie attire. A few days later he expressed interest in hanging out, but feigned being "super busy" for the next week. After running into each other at a concert the very next day, his hard-to-get ploy was foiled. We made plans one Saturday to grab mimosas, which turned into Dolores Park perusing, which turned into a spontaneous lunch... which turned into dinner... which turned into a sunset beach bonfire. After finding out these plans weren't spontaneous - that Alex had researched 12 hours worth of date ideas, I was intrigued. His sentimental notes won me over. And when he said he enjoyed our time together as much as ice cream, I knew it was love.

    Shortly after we jetted across the world together, with one giant suitcase each, for adventures in Bali and Southeast Asia... which turned into an expat chapter in Australia... which turned into another one in France. 17 countries later it's safe to say he's been the best ride-or-die partner through all of life's adventures - those we've dived into and those that have come as surprises.


           Jessica and Alex on a Dolores park date.