Scott & Karie Kaufmann, San Diego, CA to Barcelona, Spain

On July 28, 2002, three weeks after we got engaged, my wife and I decided in a parking lot of a car dealership that we wanted to move abroad for a year. We didn’t really know where, or how, but we knew we were about to sign a 5-year car lease, so that’s how much time we had to figure it out.

Five years and one month later, we sold almost everything we owned and headed for Barcelona, our home base while we travel to 18 countries throughout the next year.

We have maintained a strict budget for years, which not only makes our travels possible, but it has taught us a little something about creativity. A little money & a lot of patience is the groundwork for a really great date. Some of our best memories have been made when our daily spending limit was depleted, or when we were just tired of eating in over-crowded and over-priced tourist traps. It usually involves some type of local fare, and a beach, park, or hotel balcony.

One of our favorite dates was in Venice. After attending a wedding in Florence, crossing paths with friends around Italy and taking in all the site seeing we could possibly handle, we were ready for a low-key evening. We grabbed pizza from a walk-up snack bar, and headed for an unused gondola dock on the Grand Canal.

It was like watching a private performance of a romantic play written just for us. The picturesque Pointe Rialto was the backdrop, and the soundtrack of music and laughter in the surrounding restaurants was close enough to be seen and heard, but far enough to feel like we owned that portion of the Canal. Sitting on the end of the dock, with conversation flowing effortlessly as the passing gondoliers sang just for us, we discovered what love is like on the road.

That was our first trip after moving to Europe, and we now make it a habit to recreate that experience in almost every city we visit, and sometimes even at home in Barcelona. We’ve fallen in love again over gyros on a bench with a view of the Acropolis, sidewalk crepes on the Seine, or homemade bocadillos on Las Ramblas. When you’re traveling the path to your dreams with the person you love, wherever you choose to park it - either for dinner or just a few moments together in silence – is the most beautiful place on Earth.