Two solo travelers met at an airport 14 years ago. One bold decision changed their lives forever

Some encounters are fleeting, while others redefine the course of a lifetime. When two solo travelers met for the first time at an airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand, they made a choice that seemed impulsive—but it turned into something neither of them had planned for. Lauren Juliff and Dave Dean weren’t looking for romance when their paths first crossed. Both had left behind conventional lives to explore the world, focusing on their travel blogs. Juliff, the founder of Never Ending Footsteps, had set out on a solo adventure in 2011, as per Newsweek.

"My one rule? To remain single. I didn't need any distractions, just adventures and building my website," she told the outlet. Dean, a New Zealander, had a similar mindset. Juliff said, "He was a travel blogger too, who had just left his job to travel to Thailand and focus on his website, 'What's Dave Doing?' full-time. Like me, he was all in on travel and had no interest in romance." Their paths naturally converged and when Juliff heard Dean was heading to Chiang Mai, she decided to reach out. She recalled, "I sent him a message [online]. We started chatting and immediately hit it off. Hours would fly by as we talked on Facebook Messenger; the kind of effortless connection that made us both excited—and nervous—to meet in person."

By the time she boarded her flight, their online conversations had become a daily ritual, lasting for hours at a time. They also had their first kiss at the airport and moved in together the same day. The decision wasn’t entirely spontaneous. Juliff said, "It was something we'd talked about in the days before my arrival." They decided to "meet at the airport and spend a few hours together to see if we had the connection." If not, Juliff had decided to stay in a hotel instead. But the moment they met, everything felt natural. Juliff said, "I was instantly comfortable around him in a way I hadn't been with anyone before. He made me laugh, supported me and shared my obsession with travel, which was rare to find."

In the world of travel bloggers, relationships often move quickly. Juliff explained, "We had plenty of mutual friends who vouched for us, so it wasn't as risky as it might seem from the outside." She also said how "more than anything, he made life on the road feel easier." Over the next five years, their travels took them through more than 60 countries across Southeast Asia, Oceania and Eastern Europe. Their days were spent discovering new places, adjusting to unfamiliar cultures, and constantly adapting to life on the move. Even after more than a decade together, they never felt the need to marry. After five years of full-time travel, they began to feel the strain of "constantly planning, packing, and adjusting to new environments."

It was also difficult for them to run their business while on the road and it wasn't as fulfilling as it used to be. Plus, the lifestyle took a toll on their health. Eventually, they decided to settle in Portugal. Though they "fell in love with the city," the pull to be near family took them to Bristol, U.K., but they struggled to make friends. Eventually, they decided on Melbourne. Juliff said, "Three years later, we're still in Melbourne, and for the first time in years, have no plans to leave."