Nixon
“Okay, what are we telling them this time?” I turned to Charlie and grinned, loving the excited look she got whenever we were getting ready to record another YouTube clip.
We’d started a channel in New Zealand, posting daily updates on our trip. The clips were never more than a couple of minutes, but we’d try to choose one awesome thing from each day to share with our friends and family at home.
At first, it’d just been for them, but the Chix Travel Diary had grown in popularity and we now had thousands of subscribers who checked in for each episode.
“Let’s get the mountains in the background and tell them about the temple.”
I nodded and got ready to set up for recording.
We only had a few days left in Nepal before flying to New Delhi.
The last four months had gone by in what seemed like a rush. New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos. We’d met the most amazing people, seen the most amazing sights, and there was still more to come.
In an effort not to run out of money, we’d brainstormed ways to earn as we traveled. My trust fund and Charlie’s savings would only keep us going for so long, and I kind of wanted the liberty of spending cash I’d earned rather than continuing to use my parents’ money. If anything, I wanted to keep that money for necessities only…plus a few donations we’d made along the way. Some of the poverty we’d seen was a real eye-opener, and it was impossible not to give some to charity. It was the least we could do.
So as a way to earn some cash-on-the-go, Charlie had started selling her photography and was making a mint on each picture. However, the sales were sometimes sporadic, so I’d spent a few weeks contacting every travel magazine I could and had managed to score myself a weekly column for an online one, plus a monthly column for a glossy one in LA. Dad helped me hook it up. It’d been a beautiful moment.
Charlie and I were also working on publishing a series of travel books as we went. One per country, filled with photos, guides, travel tips—anything useful to travelers on a tight budget looking to do something similar. Readers were starting to take note and between the different income sources, we were getting enough to fund our flights.
The thought of returning home seemed so farfetched it was almost laughable.
Our plans took us through the next twelve months at least, and we wanted to keep going for as long as we could.
The lifestyle suited us.
We’d slept in hostels, tents, a few nights of luxury in the odd hotel, but mostly we were “roughing it.”
And I was the happiest I’d ever been.
Waking up beside Charlie on a daily basis suited me. Experiencing life together, the good and the bad, the stressful and the peaceful. We somehow worked our way through it all and continued to come out stronger.
“Okay.” Charlie stood behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her chin on my shoulder.
She must have been on the very tips of her toes, but the shot on screen was perfect.
I pressed Record and we grinned at the camera before doing a slow circle as we captured the Himalayas behind us.
“Hey, everyone.” Charlie’s voice was bright and vibrant, just like her hair. The ends were still blue, but she’d added a layer of purple, which looked amazing. “So we’re in Kathmandu. Today we checked out Bodhnath Temple, which was so incredibly like wow.”
“Totally wow.” I nodded.
“So, I’ll post some of my pics online…along with a certain video.”
Charlie’s dry voice and expression made me laugh.
“Yes, thank you to Everett Marshall for today’s challenge.” I grimaced and poked my tongue out before grinning at the camera.
Charlie laughed in my ear. “Yeah, so it turns out Swan Puka is actually goat lungs,” she explained to the camera. “We ate goat lungs today, people. Thanks for that, Everett.”
We’d no doubt get a lot of comments on that one, plus some more challenges. The idea had taken off pretty soon into our trip. It’d been fueled by Chaos, who got the whole thing going after Fliss found out how I’d started Charlie’s trip for her.
Some of the challenges were pretty insane, but so far we’d managed to pull all of them off, including sex in the ocean (Flick’s idea—we didn’t video that one) and breaking into a spontaneous rendition of “Geronimo” at some random restaurant in Thailand. That one had been from Jane and Harry, and in typical Charlie style, she managed to get the whole place singing. That was one of our most liked Daily Challenge videos.
Surprisingly enough, my parents commented on almost every clip we posted. It meant a lot and was a way to help mend some bridges.
Charlie spoke a little more about our day in Kathmandu, including some history about the temple before we signed off with a local greeting. We were trying to at least learn “hello,” “goodbye” and “thank you” in the language of every country we visited. It was working pretty well so far, and people appreciated the effort.
Tucking the camera into my day pack, I hitched it onto my shoulder and then smiled down at my girl. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her against me and wiggled my eyebrows.
She grinned. “What’s that look for?”
“Well, we’ve kind of seen everything we wanted to today, so I’m having visions of you, me, a little hotel room about five minutes down the road, and a whole lot of afternoon delight.”
Biting back her grin, Charlie shook her head. “You’re never going to get enough of me, are you?”
“Nope, never.” I winked at her, loving the smile on her face.
“Well then, Mr. Nix, you better just take me to bed and show me exactly what afternoon delight means.”
With a soft chuckle, I took her hand and started walking for our little hotel, humming “Afternoon Delight” as I went. She snorted and slapped my arm, taking charge in the music department and changing the song to “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby” by Smash Mouth. She changed the word “I” to “you” and belted out, “You can’t get enough of me, baby” at the top of her lungs. I wasn’t about to let her win, so we ended up doing a song battle all the way back to the hotel—laughing, singing, and basically being Chix.
The way we were always meant to be.
Two best friends.
A whole wide world.
And enough love to last a lifetime.
*******
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