Rogers, from Wales, and Faustino, from the Philippines, first met each other in Mui Ne, Vietnam, when Faustino was sliding down the sand dunes on her rented sand sled, according to CNN Travel.
During that first encounter, the two ended up spending hours with each other on the beaches of Mui Ne.
“I remember thinking she was really cool and different,” says Rogers.
“She was never really taking Insta selfies, or on a phone all the time, she was more present in the moment.”
At the end of the day, the two parted ways. Little did they know they would bump into each other again the following day at a bar.
That evening, they shared their life stories with each other.
At that time, the 26-year-old Faustino was teaching at a university in the Philippines. She was taking a break to travel. Rogers was four years younger than her and had just graduated from college in the UK with a degree in aerospace engineering.
When they bid each other goodbye again, they joked about whether or not they would ever meet again.
But fate must have played a role, as the two met each other again two days later at a hostel in Da Lat.
“That was when our travel romance began,” says Rogers.
For the next three weeks, the two rode Rogers’ motorbike together on a trans-Vietnam trip. They realized their travel styles matched well.
After that, they separated once more before reuniting again a few weeks later in Thailand, which was supposed to be Faustino’s final stop before she headed back to the Philippines.
During their time in Thailand, the couple realized they were in love. Rogers then added a new destination to his itinerary: Faustino’s home country of the Philippines.
Rogers stayed with Faustino in her apartment, and he didn’t make any plans to leave the country. The two felt so comfortable around each other it was as if they had known each other for years. Rogers soon found a job in the Philippines.
As time passed by, the couple started to consider their future. Rogers wanted to resume traveling, but Faustino’s financial resources wouldn’t allow her to accompany him.
The duo tried to make a plan that would work for both.
Then Faustino came across an article about a traveler who had made $5,000 blogging.
Faustino and Rogers were inspired.
After some thorough research and preparation, they launched their travel blog, “Adventure in You,” in 2015, and the pair became full-time travel bloggers.
Within a couple of years, the blog “was really profitable,” says Rogers.
“In another two years, it was past six figures. And during all of this, we gained a lot of respect for each other because we saw each other’s work ethic, and that just strengthened our relationship.”
In 2021, the couple got engaged.
Recalling their relationship over the last 10 years, they couple now know that day on the Mui Ne sand dunes is what changed everything.
“For a random stranger and I to just sync up so well was really, really cool,” says Faustino.
