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The Journey To Our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary

It’s been better than I thought.

Wade and wife
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PRAGUE, Czech Republic- Ten years. That’s how long I’ve been married for. A decade ago I stood up there under the chuppah, with a woman who was wearing a fake mustache. I had on a wig. We both basically had the same idea of how we were going to surprise each other. That was auspicious, I thought as I stomped on the glass.

That was about the only thing I thought about marriage, actually. I knew that I wanted to marry my wife but I didn’t really think much more about it than that. At the time, it seemed like something fun to do, but it’s since grown into something much more than that.

10 years.

That’s probably longer than most marriages last (sort of).

10 years.

I underestimated my wife when I married her. I figured she would backpack around with me for a little while, have the baby, and grow up. I still didn’t understand how adults became grown ups at that time — I figured it was just somethintg that automatically happened by becoming parents.

But that didn’t happen. My wife wanted to keep going.

She hopped on a plane and flew out to me in Arizona when Petra was six weeks old. We traveled around the American Southwest then went to Central and South America, where we would spend the next two years.

From there, we went to China, where Hannah began teaching in Montessori schools and I began the work that would land me my first book deal a couple of years later.

We then decided to have another baby,and returned to the USA so my wife could birth it on her mother’s living room floor — she likes having kids there.

For the next two years my wife and kids would stay in Maine while I traveled up and down the Silk Road doing research for a new book. They joined me for a summer in Eastern Europe.

Not long after that my wife informed me in no uncertain terms that she was going to start traveling with me again full time. The sedentary life wasn’t doing it for her. It was around this time that I began realizing who it was that I married.

For the next year we bounced around Southeast Asia and eastern Europe.

My wife then decided to go to school to get her AMI Montessori certification, and we stayed for the better part of the next year in Prague.

We are now in New York City. In a couple of weeks my wife will start working at a Montessori school on the Upper East Side.

It’s said that marriage is a journey, but I believe we may have taken this a little too literally.

***
My wife is a traveler and something in her doesn’t really like the idea of setting up a base of operations in NYC and staying put while I go and travel. She wants to travel too. It’s what she’s always done. I kept thinking she was going to grow out of it but that hasn’t happened yet. While she usually won’t admit it she digs the traveling life …

***
I didn’t buy my wife a diamond ring for our engagement. I got her an emerald ring instead — my birthstone. Our wedding rings are made of rose gold. While she liked the ring that I gave her and still wears it, she would sometimes mildly lament the fact that she never received a diamond.

I’ve always remembered this, filing it away for some future use … when I would be more financially established and could give her a diamond ring — like every other married woman.

Well, I’m not really that financially established yet but it’s not looking like this is going to get any better, so if I’m ever going to do it I may as well do it now.

Diamond ring

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Filed under: Czech Republic, Love/ Relationships/ Sex

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3723 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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VBJ is currently in: New York City

12 comments… add one

Leave a Comment

  • Trevor July 15, 2019, 12:51 pm

    10 years jeeez ..congratulations man .

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    • Wade Shepard July 15, 2019, 2:29 pm

      Thank you! It’s been a good ten years (way better than I thought).

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  • Rob July 15, 2019, 5:19 pm

    Congratulations guys!

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    • Wade Shepard July 15, 2019, 6:02 pm

      Thank you!

      Link Reply
  • The Head July 16, 2019, 6:12 am

    Congrats you guys.

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    • Wade Shepard July 16, 2019, 8:17 am

      Thank you!

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  • steven July 16, 2019, 9:21 am

    Mazel tov,
    Quite the journey and a BIG & wonderful congratulations for you both on ten years .
    That’s a milestone and getting the diamond was a class call, glad you did it.
    May life bring you and your whole family many many more wonderful & joyous years together.

    Link Reply
    • Wade Shepard July 16, 2019, 10:53 am

      Thanks! It’s been fun so far. I’m down for renewing my lease for another decade haha.

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  • Ryk Sink-Zinckh July 16, 2019, 12:10 pm

    Congratulations Wade, on a shared journey of love, world travel, and commitment!

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    • Wade Shepard July 16, 2019, 12:44 pm

      Thank you for reading and following along!

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  • Elizabeth Sunday July 22, 2019, 4:16 am

    Congratulations! I find it challenging to travel, write and stay committed, but reading your post gives me hope that it is possible – also for a lady 🙂

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  • Mary Soderstrom July 29, 2019, 3:57 pm

    Very nice gift, very nice tribute. Marriage has a lot going for it. Glad you two found each other.

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