Remember when they told us not to talk to strangers on the internet? Whoops.
August 29th, 2017:
“Where are you from anyway?”
“I’m from Orlando, FL. You?”
“Holy crap I’m from the other side of the country, Monterey CA”
If you love cute stories then continue to read, if you hate millennial shenanigans continue to read because screw you this is cute!
Kevin and I “met” on the grams, aka Instagram. A comment turned into a message, a message turned into a text and a text turned into a phone call every night for 3 months. I’ve always said, “I get what I want”, I’ve never meant it in a spoiled way, but a very tenacious and plan of action type of way. If I want something, then I will find a way to get it. Even if that means hopping on a 6-hour flight to go meet a boy.
With disapproving parents and no backup plan, I did what I do best. I booked a round trip ticket.
May 31st, 2018:
I sat there on a plane by myself listening to my music and journaling completely calm. It wasn’t until I was 30 mins from the bus stop that my stomach leaped into my throat and my brain screamed, “Dude what the f*ck are you doing?!”
To which my wild heart replied, “Too late!”
I tend to turn fear and nerves into excitement and energy. And man was I super nervous as we drove up this hill to a beautiful park in Monterey. Kevin put up his slackline and was trying so hard to teach me how to use the gear, but I was so amped up that I ran around doing handstands, chasing bumble bees, and climbing trees to even notice. Very nervous, very energetic.
After about 2 hours of playing, laughing, and rolling around in the grass it was like we had known each other for years. We walked around town, ate tacos and found an old used book store. There, we shared our first kiss tucked away in a tiny hallway full of old books stacked to the ceiling. The sweet musky smell of yellowing pages and concerned looks from the small white-haired store owner as two hoodlums wandered around where all just cherries on top.
Stoked on everything and anything, I was gently brought back down to earth when he said, “alright it’s getting late, we’ll go back to my house, meet my parents then watch a movie, yeah?” While finishing school Kevin lives on his parent’s property, so it was kind of hard to NOT meet his parents. Cue the little blonde nervous bundle of energy!
The next 4 days flew by full of shenanigans. We drove down to Big Sur to stay in the van, played on the beaches, searched for Jade during low tide, hopped fences and casually passed by no trespassing signs, he even took me to the ER to get my second rabies vaccine shot (a story for another day). Does my life qualify to be an indie rom-com yet?
I was NOT a happy camper when we hugged and said our goodbyes at the airport; which I didn’t know at the time but would become a very regular thing in our relationship.
Upon landing back in Florida, I bought a new car, pack everything I owned in it, and left 2 days later. Where I spent the next week and a half driving from Florida to California alone to join Mr. kweaver_ for a month-long road trip up the Pacific North West before moving my life to Colorado.
Long distance relationships involve a stupid amount of FaceTime, mailing letters, planning, and A LOT of frequent flyer miles. But man am I just happy that I’m only 1,347 miles away instead of 2,826.
And that folks, is why you should never talk to strangers on the internet…who would want to live a rom-com?!
-Shelby Lynn
Photo by Jose Romero
Where In the World is Shelby Lynn 