Travel Romance Gone Wrong: 10,000 Miles for Him

A New York City woman relocated to Australia to be with her husband after initially finding him irritating when they first met on holiday in Latvia in 2008.

Unexpected Encounter

Lanie van der Horst, now 44, was participating in a Contiki tour beginning in Riga, Latvia, before travelling onwards to Russia and Scandinavia when she first encountered Mark. At the time, van der Horst was residing in New York City and embarking on a 13-week European expedition with a friend.

“I arrived late because the flight was delayed, which meant I got to dinner late and got the last table. It was the table my now husband was sitting at,” she said.

Their meeting was statistically improbable, given that there were approximately 6.5 billion people on Earth at the time, and the pair lived roughly 10,000 miles apart.

Initial Impressions

Despite the unlikely circumstances, Mark didn’t make a favorable first impression. “I thought he was an absolute idiot. He was sitting with a roommate he didn’t know. They were both very excited. They were giggly, they were young. He was 26 at the time. I’m one year older. They were talking about shooting fireworks off, drinking. Things I wasn’t interested in. Dinner was fine. I thought, ‘Of all the people, I’m not going to hang out with him’.”

Mark, who now works in wastewater management, had three weeks to change Lanie’s initial perception.

“You’re together a lot, and we started having different conversations. I didn’t think I was going to marry him. He said to me that I talked about real things, like my family going camping, and everyone else was talking about what they did today. It became something more during those three weeks,” Lanie elaborated.

“Halfway through the trip, he asked me to travel with him afterwards. I went, much to my mother’s dismay. He rearranged his trip a bit and we went to Latvia, Russia, Finland, Estonia and Denmark.”

Continued Travels and a Lasting Connection

The extended journey proved successful. “The first whole day we spent just together was in Tallinn. It is now my son’s middle name. That’s how much I liked it. We then added two more weeks after. In Romania and Hungary. My family is from those countries. It was fun rearranging my tour, getting to know somebody. I thought we’d part ways.”

After returning home, Mark and Lanie maintained contact through email and messaging. By December, they began planning a trip together.

“I told him next time I travel, I’ll go to Asia, and he said, ‘Maybe I’ll see you there’. However, by December, we were planning a trip together. It wasn’t like we had to be together. I really liked him, but I didn’t think we’d end up together.”

They reunited in Asia the following year, arranging multiple group excursions. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t by myself,” Lanie revealed.

“In China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. We clearly really liked each other, but I told him we were on vacation, and he didn’t know me in real life. He was so nice, and we were working so well together. Partway through, I realised I didn’t want him to leave.”

The couple spent a total of nine weeks traveling together. At the end of their Asian trip, Lanie was heartbroken at the prospect of parting ways.

“I cried and cried and cried and told him he had to come see me. He had to get a new job and come visit. He did,” she recalled.

Mark visited Lanie in the US, meeting her family at her sister’s wedding and staying for three months. They then traveled around Europe and Central America together.

“We just met up around the world,” she said.

Settling Down in Australia

Eventually, the couple decided to settle down after Mark proposed in Fraser National Park in Tasmania. They married six weeks later and initially lived in New York, then Florida, after their daughter was born.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Mark expressed a desire to return to Australia. “He said he wanted to go to Australia, but not forever, just until the vaccine was out. I told him I wasn’t moving, then he reminded me I’m adventurous. And so we moved. With everything going on in the US I’m not going back anytime soon. I think we’re there for good.”