#RealTravel: This Couple Met On Top of a Mountain in Utah

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Alyssa and Jared met while she was on vacation in Utah. (Photo: Alyssa Tomback)

Who: Alyssa Tomback and Jared Caldwell

Where we met: On a mountain in Park City, Utah

When: March 2013

Relationship status: Engaged

(Told by Alyssa and Jared)

SHE SAYS:

Our last day of a six-day ski trip with my girlfriends in March 2013 was a particularly gray, snowy morning at the mountain. After getting pummeled by a windstorm at the peak, we took a break and decided to check out another part of the mountain. We skied up to a lift, past a very cute ticket-scanner who said something I couldn’t hear as I was rushing to get onto the mountain. His words didn’t get past my friend Dara, who was one behind me in line and unbeknownst to me, picked up my spot in the conversation.

HE SAYS:

I was working at the mountain and was used to seeing packs of girls come through the line, but this one girl stood out as particularly cute so I decided to flirt. The cute girl completely ignored me, but lucky for me, her friend had seen my attempt at flirtation and said, “You were being flirty? We’re already working on it.”

Related: #RealTravel: I Met My Fiance on Study Abroad in Spain

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The couple loves to ski together. (Photo: Alyssa Tomback)

SHE SAYS:

After a few more runs of trying unsuccessfully to run into him again, Dara spotted him at the end of our afternoon and exchanged numbers for us. We invited him to join us for dinner and drinks on our last night of vacation.

This brave soul walked into a brewery to face five chatty and loud New Yorkers on vacation and spent all evening entertaining all of us, while ensuring we got some one-on-one time to talk.

HE SAYS:

By the end of dinner, I knew I wanted to see more of her. I didn’t have to work the next day, so we all strolled down the street for another drink. We learned we had a lot in common and wound up talking easily for hours. When talking about life, journeys, and risks, she said, “Sometimes you just have to take a risk and go for it.” That’s when I kissed her.

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Alyssa never thought she’d meet the love of her life on vacation. (Photo: Alyssa Tomback)

SHE SAYS:

I knew he was special because he kept asking to see me again before I left town. My friends and I were leaving the next afternoon, but he left work to meet me at the airport for a proper goodbye — with flowers. He asked “if you lived here, would you go on a real date with me?” That’s when I realized we might be venturing out of “vacation fling” territory. I never thought I’d meet someone on vacation, wasn’t anywhere near on my mind on this trip or really any others!

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THEY SAY:

We managed to see each other about once a month for the next year until we moved to Denver together in early 2014. On the last day of ski season at Winter Park (our local mountain), Jared orchestrated an elaborate proposal involving food coloring, a spray bottle, and Alyssa’s nickname under the Super Gauge Express lift, where Alyssa read the message in the snow on the way up the mountain on the lift! We have season passes for next ski season.

We are most looking forward to our new life in Denver and more travel adventures together!

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The couple in Boulder, Colo. (Photo: Alyssa Tomback)

WATCH: See where Alyssa and Jared met—take a tour of Park City, Utah:

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