Ryan was traveling through Mexico with his friends Michael Sills and James O'Connor. They started in Mexico City and headed north, visiting San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and León. By chance, they ended up in Aguascalientes, after finding cheap flights from there to Cancún.
It was Super Bowl Sunday, and they were looking for a place to watch the game, so they went to St. James Irish Pub. Jocelyn, a dance student at the Universidad de las Artes, also happened to be there that evening with her friends (despite her pushing for Buffalo Wild Wings).
We met when our two groups of friends started playing pool together, and the rest is history.
Not long after that first meeting, we took our first big trip together: exploring Chile from Santiago, to the Atacama Desert in the north, all the way down to Torres del Paine in Patagonia. It was on this trip that we realized how much we loved traveling together, and that we definitely wanted to see each other again.
On April 20th, during this adventure, we made it official and became boyfriend and girlfriend.
Ryan later flew to Aguascalientes to attend Jocy's graduation party from the Universidad de las Artes. This was the first time we had seen each other since Chile, so we were very excited. The celebration involved plenty of dancing and was the first time Ryan met Jocy's family, along with countless friends.
Afterward, we traveled to Jocy's hometown of Guadalupe, in the state of Zacatecas, which Ryan was visiting for the first time. There, he met the rest of Jocy's family while Jocy showed him around the city.
After that, we made a quick stop in San Francisco before flying to Europe, marking the beginning of our many travels together.
At a viewpoint overlooking Guadalupe at sunrise, Ryan got down on one knee and asked Jocy to marry him. She said yes!
We celebrated with Jocy's family in Zacatecas, and later with Ryan's family in both Florida and New York. Now, we can't wait to celebrate our marriage with everyone back in Zacatecas!
Highlights from our time together are shown below: the countries that we've explored, our trips to Mexico, and the places we’ve visited across the United States.