I met my boyfriend, Xavier, two years ago in my hometown Atlanta, GA. He was visiting as a delegate from Santiago, Chile for a Bible convention that was, ironically, titled “Love Never Fails”. Since we started dating during a worldwide pandemic, we were not able to go and visit each other. We did everything possible to keep our dating life fun. We both love to travel, so we virtually travelled to Hawaii, South Korea, and India (to name a few places). Of course, we were also planning all the things we would do together when we would meet for the first time as boyfriend and girlfriend in person. 

In May of 2020, I purchased a ticket to visit Chile in June 2021  that I found through Pomelo. But as time dragged on, we found it harder and harder to wait to see each other. Then, ONE AMAZING DAY, I checked my email and found a deal to visit Santiago, Chile during my Christmas vacation. I figured if I travelled on Christmas day, the airplane would be less crowded and not many people would be flying, thus minimizing the risk. So, I decided to buy a ticket. IN TWO WEEKS, I WAS GOING TO SEE MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD! THANK YOU, POMELO TRAVEL!

 

Chile was still in lockdown, but we were able to get a permission slip to visit one place that we chose. We decided to go to Pelluhue, Chile. In Pelluhue, we visited beautiful black sand beaches. The beaches were SO WINDY. Yes, it was chilly in Chile. To celebrate another month together, Xavi and I made a fort on the balcony of our cabin and watched the sunset over the beach. It was gorgeous. We ate the BEST STRAWBERRIES IN THE WORLD. Seriously, the strawberries in the south of Chile in the summer are incredible. I have never tasted strawberries that good. I want to go back just for that to be honest (sorry Xavi I hope your not reading this). We visited these beautiful caves/arches called Los Arcos de Calan which were breathtaking! 

My absolute favorite day is when we were trying to visit a waterfall and we took the truck to do some off-roading to find it and we found a river. I had never swum in a river before, and it had always been a dream of mine. It was so refreshing and cool. There was a bed of moss on the bottom of the river, but I just tried my best not to touch the floor. Xavi tried scaring me saying that there were snakes, but I didn’t care at all. One night we were sitting in the hot tub looking up at the stars. A few bats were making their appearance and swooping down over the pool nearby. As we looked out over the ocean, a huge shooting star fell. I had never seen one before. 

I don’t believe in wishing on the shooting stars, but this felt like my dream-come-true already. I’ll never forget the crazy adventures we shared together this week in Pelluhue. If it wasn’t for Pomelo travel, I wouldn’t have been able to get this last-minute flight to see my best friend and love. I can’t wait to go back and see him again.

~Shauna Yap Maxwell