"I Met My Husband on a Girl's Trip in Thailand"

Yahoo Travel profiles readers who came back from a trip with the best souvenir ever — true love. Want to share your own story? Email us at traveleditors@yahoo.com.

image

(Ashley Hill)

Who: Ashley Munro (now Hill) and Joseph Hill

When: September 2008

Where: We officially met in Luang Prabang, Laos

Relationship status: Married on April 28, 2012. Expecting first baby!

(As told by Ashley)

After graduating from university and becoming single (and a tiny bit heartbroken), I wasn’t quite ready to grow up. So, I decided to fly out to Thailand to meet my sister and two girlfriends for five weeks of traveling and girly adventure. Having just ended a long-term romance and having a relationship status that Facebook would define as ‘it’s complicated,’ meeting boys was the last thing on my mind.

Suffering from some uncomfortable stomach issues and doped up on questionable over-the-counter Asian medication, I dragged myself onto a minibus departing from the stunning Luang Prabang in Laos to our final destination, Vang Vieng. Feeling and most likely looking like death, I barely uttered a word to the group of boys we shared the bus with, and to be honest, I didn’t really think they were my type. They seemed to have a penchant for singing Mika (I rather enjoyed their camp version of “Grace Kelly,” to be fair) and combining pink T-shirts with orange hair bands in a bizarre traveler fashion statement. Little did I know that the boy in the pink T-shirt was Joseph Hill — my future husband!

Related: ‘I Literally Kissed a Frog and Met My Prince in Thailand’

image

Ashley and Joseph during their first meeting in Vang Vieng (Ashley Hill)

After arriving safely in Vang Vieng and spending the night in an uber-dodgy hostel, I woke up feeling much brighter (praise those Asian antibiotics!) and ready for a day of tubing. We’d arranged to meet the bus boys and spend the day with them, and in the light of a new day and minus the hair band, Joe definitely caught my eye! After a few Laos beers, I’ll admit, my flirting approach did nothing for feminism and relied on playing the damsel in distress who couldn’t steer my tub onto the shore. Thankfully, Joe rose to the occasion and came to my ‘rescue.’ I look back and laugh now. Today we’d both agree there is no ‘damsel’ about me.

After a great day of tubing, we headed to Vang Vieng’s infamous bucket bar, where after many a bucket of gin and tonic, Joe and I had our first kiss. With the stunning Asian scenery as a backdrop, this all sounds very romantic, but in reality it was a bit tipsy and silly. Definitely not my classiest moment! However, this turned out to be the most important first kiss of my life.

Joe and I spent just two days together in Vang Vieng, and when my friends and I departed for Southern Thailand, I wondered if I’d ever see him again. Thankfully, by what seemed like fate, we all ended up on Koh Samui at the same time. Joe walked three miles along the Chaweng beach to find me, and that’s when I first knew he was a keeper! I don’t really believe in love at first sight, but I can honestly say I knew almost instantly I’d found something very special in this boy. It may sound corny, but I felt like I’d known him for years, not days. My travels ended at the full moon party in Koh Phangan, and Joe was also there. I remember thinking that this could be the last time I saw him even when he drunkenly asked to make things more “official” and for us to give things a go when we both got back to our opposite ends of the UK.

image

Ashley took a risk and moved to England to be closer to Joe. (Ashley Hill)

I flew home to Aberdeen, and two weeks later Joe flew back to Worcester, England, 500 miles away from where I was in Scotland. Having known him for little over two weeks and going completely against my normally sensible nature, I instantly began looking for jobs near his home. In hindsight, my family must have thought I was mad. I was 22 years old and ready to up sticks and change my life for a boy who was barely more than a stranger. Thankfully, my family was very supportive, and almost three months to the day after we met, I moved the 500 miles south. I left my home in Scotland to start a new adventure with the love of my life — the pink T-shirt-wearing, hair-band-loving Joseph Hill!

Related: Whale Watching = Happily Ever After? It Did for This Couple

image

The couple on their wedding day (Ashley Hill)

I expected to come back from traveling with a tan and some great stories. It never crossed my mind that I’d come back with a boyfriend who six years later is now my loving husband and soon to be father of our first child, due Jan. 25, 2014. We’ve maintained our love of travel over the years and have been lucky to share many more trips and adventures. Still, we can’t wait to embark on our biggest adventure of all … parenthood! And we can’t wait to tell baby Hill all about how his or her parents met, on the other side of the world when love was the furthest thing from our minds.

Fate, I salute you!

Let Yahoo Travel inspire you every day. Hang out with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.