Jason and Mariel met in January 2010 on a trip to New Zealand.
The first day of tour, a small hotel van offered to take the whole tour group in to town, and instead of taking turns, a number of people stuffed into the one van. As they were piling in, Jason happened to plop down on Mariel's lap. How's that for a "nice to meet you"?
The second day of tour was spent in Milford Sound with beautiful waterfalls, dolphins, and mountains. After jumping into the glacial waters of the Sound, the group stayed in playing games and cards. Mariel sat across from Jason and they ended up creating their own game called "Battle Risk." They played and talked until they realized they were the only ones left awake. They laughed, had their first hug, and went to their bunks.
The next day, Jason sat next to Mariel on the tour bus and the sparks continued. That night, touring around Queenstown after a bungee and a buffet, they shared their first kiss. For the rest of the tour, they were inseperable.
The last day of the 2-week tour, Mariel sat on the tour bus which was leaving for Bay of Islands, but Jason's tour was over. They had their last hug, cried, and Jason stood on the curb waiting for the bus to leave. As everyone waited, someone suggested Mariel go out and get one last kiss. Suddenly the whole bus was chanting "Go, go, go!" and finally Mariel rushed out the door for that one last kiss as the whole bus cheered.
After the tour, their relationship continued. They talked multiple times each day. They were there for each other through everything, despite the 18 hour time difference. At 2pm, 2am, it didn't matter, they were committed to each other's lives and being together despite time and distance.
Though their relationship was anything but normal, they got some sense of a regular relationship by having "Skype dates" where they would point the camera at themselves while watching the same rented DVD on their televisions together. (Pressing the play button at the same time was always a challenge!) Sometimes they'd even fall asleep while talking, and wake up while the other was still there.
Throughout their relationship they managed to see each other only through travelling the world. Jason visited Mariel in America in Summer 2010 for an LA, Vegas, New York trip. Then in November he took a "long weekend" and travelled for 4 days to Dubai, where Mariel was having training. After the training, Mariel met Jason's family in Australia and saw where he grew up. Then in March 2011 they travelled to Argentina, Brazil, and Peru and saw many wonders of the world.
Finally, Jason decided to take a 6 month leave from work to finally be with Mariel (for more than a couple weeks...wow!) They travelled on a "road trip of a lifetime" all around the country, even Puerto Rico and Canada. Jason met Mariel's family and friends in California and fell in love with Grandma's famous pancakes.
To finish off the road trip, they decided to stay in a private villa in Sonoma. It had everything from miniature donkeys, to llamas, a private pool, and a table overlooking the valley. After making a steak dinner and having wine and cheese overlooking the valley at sunset, Jason dropped to one knee. There he proposed with the ring of Mariel's dreams.
And the rest is history!