For those that fancy reading, we have outlined a bit about our story so far together….

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

It all started with a ‘like’ by Jan of a photo of Charlotte kayaking on ‘Hinge’ a dating website. Even though Charlotte was rather intimidated by Jan’s photography instagram account that was linked to his dating profile and the stories of his wild adventures, communicating by messages quickly became unmanageable so they decided to meet in person.

1st dates involved coffee and walks by the sea where Jan shocked Charlotte by admitting that he has never had a coffee in his life (Charlotte is a coffee addict!) and Jan hadn’t been swimming in the sea in 10 years (Charlotte’s 2nd home is in the sea!), whole food dinners where Jan impressed Charlotte by wanting to order chicken liver pate and kayaking / SUPing - the date where we realised that our values were really aligned and this could really work.

When we then ventured on fancy dates rooftop bars with instragrammable cocktails (Jan’s idea) and camping in Charlotte’s van, people started to get suspicious that both Charlotte and Jan had met someone special to share their life with.

ADVENTURING

From the start, Jan and Charlotte have loved going on adventures together. Charlotte already owned a VW campervan when they first met and Jan has a passion for landscape photography which takes him to many remote locations far and wide. A match made in heaven!

Whilst COVID restrictions were still in place in Australia, they made the most of exploring in the van. Jan’s camping food was significantly upgraded with Charlotte there to cook and Charlotte learnt lots about the night sky and photography.

They quickly realised that living in two separate apartments made no sense, so after 6 months Jan moved into Charlotte’s apartment. Within days of Jan moving in we went into yet another lockdown for 6 months! A real test that we survived and escalated our relationship!

FAMILY

Family is a really important part of both of our lives and for the first 18 months, our relationship with each other’s families was developed over zoom. Despite how good online video calls can now be, it was very special when we were first able to meet each other’s families. It has also been fascinating to learn about each others family and cultural traditions as we have started to meld our lives together.

OUR ENGAGEMENT

Jan asked Charlotte to marry him in Manarola in the Cinque Terre on 13 September 2022. We were back in Europe for 6 weeks to spend lots of quality time with family.

Finding some time alone with Julian to ‘ask’ for his permission proved to be difficult but Jan eventually plucked up the courage and asked him on the way back from emptying the bins on the last day of a family holiday in Tuscany.

A few days later after a 21km hike along the beautiful Italian coastline, Jan took Charlotte to a semi secluded spot overlooking the picturesque harbour of Manarola. He initially pretended to shoot sunset but then dropped on his knee which immediately brought tears into Charlotte’s eye who then didn’t hear anything Jan was saying but happily said yes

OUR LIFE TOGETHER

We love to go rock climbing, watch sunrises and sunsets, go on walks and swims in nature but balanced out with the occasional fancy meals out alongside lots of home cooked food and visits to local markets. Jan also loves to run and ran his first marathon in September 2023 whilst Charlotte loves to cook, yoga and pilates and learn more and more about health and natural living.

Many joke that we are “always away” - which is partially true as we try and make the most of the van, opportunities to explore new locations in Airbnb’s and also have staycations in fancy Sydney hotels (thanks to Jan’s photography expertise).

As you all know, our life changed in July 2023 with the arrival of our baby girl, Ellery, and now we are adapting to our new life as a family of 3. Something we are thoroughly enjoying so far! We are very excited to have her alongside us on our wedding day and in our lives.


Our contact information for further information:

Jan: +61 (0) 425 654 464 | jan.breckwoldt@gmail.com

Charlotte: + 61 (0) 429 922 548 | charlotteidhill@gmail.com