A woman who flew halfway across the world for a family trip had no idea that flight would change her life forever.
"My brother was studying abroad and we were flying out there to visit," Meggy Meza, from Los Angeles, told Newsweek. "London was only my layover."
Long-haul flights and layovers may seem more stressful than romantic—but for Meza, everything changed when she spotted the man who came to sit in her row.
She noticed him immediately, and even texted "all my friends about the cute guy," but let "reality settle back in" as she thought they probably wouldn't even end up speaking to each other.
But when he dropped his earphones, she helped him look for them.
And when she heard his English accent, "it was pretty much game over."
Despite feeling an "amazing connection" throughout the hours-long flight, staying up all night talking—and even sharing a kiss—Meza never expected it to turn into anything else.
"We left that flight knowing we had a connection, but we were convinced that it was just a fun story to tell our friends," she said.
Except that "airplane guy"—real name Freddie Gershinson, 33, from London—went on to be her boyfriend, fiancé and now husband, and the married couple now live together in LA.
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Just a week after meeting on the flight, Gershinson and Meza both confessed to wanting to see each other again. Meza booked a flight to London for three months later, and they Facetimed every day—until when she stepped off the plane in London, "he was no longer a stranger."
That first visit, where she met his friends and family, made them realize they "wanted to make this work."
Being so long-distance was far from easy. They missed major life milestones, from birthdays to graduations, and never got to experience relaxed everyday life together.
"Long distance sucks, but with the right person you can make it work," Meza said. "It just takes even more work and communication. But if you have two people who are willing to put in the effort, it's possible."
In their case, Meza and Gershinson spent more than two years living separately in London and Los Angeles—and while they missed some milestones, "we got to celebrate other moments like our engagement and wedding!"
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Now the couple are settled in Los Angeles, and Meza is proud to say that their life together now is "kind of boring."
"We are just living the normal life we so desperately wanted when we did long distance," she said.
"We get to have coffee together and talk about our days in the evenings. We spend Friday nights at home with our dog, weekends golfing or by the beach. It's the best thing I could have asked for."
Their chance meeting and the life they've built together also had an unexpected consequence: it helped Meza find her passion for writing, as she started a blog about being long-distance and is now working on a novel based on their romance.
"It's surreal to think back to the fact we boarded that flight as two strangers and left still not knowing how different our lives would be years later," Meza said.
"That flight brought me a husband, a new writing career, and opportunities I could have never dreamed up. But I feel so grateful that we were seatmates that day."
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sirena Bergman and Emma Lee-Sang