Written by Pearl F. Wood

On a drizzly Thursday morning, you know the type that Peter Kay would describe as ‘the fine rain that soaks you through’, John and I quietly eloped in York. It was the two of us, with two close friends, inside the registration office at precisely 10am in May, 2016.

We exchanged our vows in the celebrant’s office, yes, an actual office! It was a small, ordinary room, just big enough for a desk and a few chairs, and I’m fairly sure there was even a water cooler tucked in the corner. Between the grey skies outside and the mountain of office supplies inside, it was hardly the scene of a cinematic wedding. Yet, the soft tapping of rain against the window brought a certain warmth and intimacy to the moment. The ceremony was short and sweet, over in less than twenty minutes. Signing the marriage certificate beside a pen holder, a stapler, and a suspiciously tall stack of paperwork might have felt more like closing a business deal than getting married, but somehow it felt more genuine. Real. We left out all the frills and the fuss to remind ourselves that this was not a performance. It was simply our quiet, our private, I do.

However, just because we eloped doesn’t mean it was a secret, and it certainly wasn’t without a proper celebration! After the ceremony, the four of us met with our family (well, my family, but we’ll get on to that bit later) and enjoyed a beautiful, rather posh, lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant by the riverbank called the Star Inn The City. Then we moved on to a slightly larger reception with family and friends, at the same bar where we had shared our very first date.

At the reception, we decided to not have a traditional guest book. Let’s be honest, most of the messages end up being the same and well-meaning anyway. Instead, we set up a large mason jar as a centrepiece, deliberately near the buffet to lure in the hungry, and asked our friends and family the following question:

‘If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?’

For inspiration, we gave the example ‘Paris, to see the Eiffel Tower’. Everyone grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down their suggestion and placed it in the jar. Their answers became the foundation of our Travel Bucket List – a collection of destinations and experiences inspired by our nearest and dearest.

Some shared their dreams of faraway places, while others chose destinations connected to their childhoods, fondest memories or of personal turning points in their lives. Since then, it has become kind of a mission in our marriage to explore as many of these places as possible. With every destination we check off, the person who suggested it receives a handwritten postcard as a thank-you for helping us chase the world.

Now, nearly a decade into this journey, with two young children, evolving careers, and still an overflowing list; we’re nowhere near finished! Our travels are far from over, and that’s exactly how we like it. Through upcoming blogs, or pages of a book if lady luck gives us her blessing, we’ll share the adventures we’ve had, alongside reflections of our upbringings, our relationship, and all the in-betweens that have made our life.

This isn’t just about travel. It’s about how we have moved through the world together and you, dear reader, have been given a first-class ticket to come along for the ride.

Prologue from my first book

This is a work of non-fiction based on the life, experiences and recollections of the author. In some cases names of people, places and the details of events have been changed and characters created for artistic purposes and to protect the privacy of others.