Stop 1
San Salvador, El Salvador
In early 2022, Sage traveled to El Salvador with her older brother, Evan, for the wedding of a friend’s sister. Walter, the friend they were visiting, picked them up from the airport, and on the drive into the city he said, “Sage, I have someone I want you to meet. He’s tall, has blue eyes, and he’s an engineer!”.
He wasn’t wrong, but Sage quickly realized Juanpa was much more than that. He was friendly, respectful, funny, and a little dorky—which has always been Sage’s type.
The two were pretty much inseparable that weekend, from long conversations at the beach to dancing on nights out. By the time Sage had to leave, she was genuinely sad, mostly because she assumed she would probably never see Juanpa again.
During a layover on her flight home, Sage called her sister, Natalie, to tell her all about the weekend. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, she said, “Natalie, I think I just met the love of my life.”
The funny part is that Sage had met Walter years earlier. In 2018, Evan and Walter spent the summer volunteering together in a rural town in Panama. Sage visited Evan at the end of the summer, and she, Walter, Walter’s now-wife Valeria, and a few other friends traveled through Panama City and Bocas del Toro together.
At the time, it was just a memorable trip with new friends. None of them knew that Walter would later be the person to introduce Sage to Juanpa.
Stop 2
Arizona, Utah & Nevada
A few months into talking, with Juanpa in Texas and Sage in Arizona, Juanpa learned that Sage had never been to the Grand Canyon. He decided that was reason enough to plan a visit.
What started as an excuse to see each other turned into a week-long road trip from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Zion, and finally Las Vegas, where they had their first official dinner date at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.
Stop 3
Holbox, Mexico
A few months after their road trip and officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, Juanpa took Sage to Holbox, Mexico, for her 23rd birthday. They spent the week at the beach, exploring the island, and enjoying its laid-back pace. It is still one of their favorites trips to this day.
Stop 4
Mexico City, Mexico
So excited about his new girlfriend, Juanpa decided it was absolutely essential that Sage meet the whole family, within one month of dating, of course, in order to receive final approval. So off they went to Mexico City, where Sage met his parents, his brother, his brother-in-law, and his sister, who had given birth just a few days earlier.
It was a full introduction, but Sage loved them right away. Around the same time, Juanpa moved back to El Salvador, and their relationship officially became both long-distance and international.
Stop 5
Ravenna, Italy
With a few trips back and forth between El Salvador and the U.S. in between, their next big adventure was Europe. They had been training for a half marathon together, long distance, of course, and decided their first race should be somewhere memorable. So they headed to Ravenna, Italy, where they had a blast running, laughing, and even tripping across the finish line. We’ll let you guess which one of them face-planted.
Stop 6
Zurich & Lucern, Switzerland
Next came Switzerland, where Juanpa taught Sage how to drive stick shift on the side of a mountain. Why? Because he couldn’t legally drive there without a U.S. license, of course. Nothing says romance like learning manual transmission under pressure, with a beautiful Swiss view in the background.
Stop 7
Istanbul & Cappadocia, Turkey
Their final stop was Turkey, where they quickly fell in love with the architecture, culture, food, and general chaos of trying to fit everything into one trip. Between Istanbul and Cappadocia, they wandered through markets, drank plenty of Turkish tea, ate more baklava than necessary, and somehow still found room for kebabs.
Their hot-air balloon ride in Cappadocia was canceled because of bad weather, but an ATV tour through the valleys turned out to be a pretty great backup plan. Not exactly what they had pictured, but memorable all the same.
Stop 8
Cartagena, Colombia
After spending Christmas together in El Salvador, Juanpa and Sage had to get back to work, so naturally, they planned a month-long trip to Colombia.
They rented a beachfront Airbnb and spent their days working and studying for the MCAT. When they closed their laptops, they explored the city, learned to kitesurf, found plenty of great places to eat, and took trips to Santa Marta, Tayrona National Park, where Sage willingly slept in a tent in the rain, and Medellín!
It ended up being a pretty accurate preview of their life together: a lot of hard work, a lot of travel, and usually at least one slightly questionable adventure.
Stop 9
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Next stop: Antigua, Guatemala, where Sage and Juanpa attended their first wedding together as an official couple. Little did they know, it was the beginning of a trend—they’ve now attended more than 20 weddings together, from Guatemala and Mexico to Texas, California, and, of course, plenty in El Salvador.
They road-tripped from San Salvador with some of Juanpa’s closest hometown friends, which meant Sage got the full collection of childhood stories, inside jokes, and long-awaited chisme on Juanpa. The weekend was full of laughter, great stories, and a lot of dancing.
Stop 10
Catalina Island, California
With Juanpa still living in El Salvador and Sage preparing to move to California for medical school at UCLA, they planned a quiet trip to Catalina Island for Sage’s 25th birthday. They kayaked, rode bikes around town, and started talking more seriously about what a life together in California might look like.
They knew a lot was about to change, but they were excited to take on the next chapter together.
Stop 11
Austin, Texas
A few months later, Juanpa moved back to Texas, and Sage managed to sneak away from school for the weekend to celebrate his birthday at the Circuit of the Americas.
Ferrari pulled off a 1-2 finish — a rare sight for the Scuderia after two decades of heartbreak — which was pretty much the best birthday gift Juanpa could have asked for.
Stop 12
Kauai, Hawaii
On another break from school and with another excuse to see each other, Juanpa convinced Sage to spend five days car camping in Kauai. To her surprise, she loved it.
They stayed at campsites by the ocean, explored the island, and spent their days hiking, swimming, and figuring out how to make car camping feel slightly more glamorous than it was. It’s still one of their most memorable trips.
Stop 13
Athens, Sifnos & Milos, Greece
Next stop: Greece. Sage and Juanpa spent a week island-hopping and eating some of the best food of their lives. What Sage didn’t know was that Juanpa had a ring with him the entire time.
Between the ferries, hotels, outfit changes, and Sage’s habit of constantly cleaning and reorganizing their luggage, she somehow never found it, which may have been the most impressive part of the trip.
Stop 14
Paris, France
After Greece, they traveled to France, where they met up with some of Juanpa’s close family friends, wandered through the gardens of Versailles, and explored the streets of Paris.
Juanpa proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower—a full-circle nod to their first official date at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas back in 2022. Sage had absolutely no idea it was coming. She was wearing her retainer and had insisted on borrowing Juanpa’s blazer because she was cold, not realizing the ring was hidden inside it.
When the moment came, Juanpa had to pull the ring box out of the jacket Sage was already wearing. Somehow, it worked perfectly.
They spent the rest of the day walking more than 20,000 steps around Paris, taking it all in before heading home engaged and still laughing about the blazer.
Stop 15
San Salvador, El Salvador
After a long engagement and lots of planning, Sage and Juanpa are so excited to celebrate their wedding with all of you in San Salvador.
They’ll be getting married in the same church where the wedding that first brought them together took place, which feels like a pretty perfect full-circle moment.
There are many more trips, stories, and everyday moments that could have made it onto this page, but the most important part of their story has always been the people in it. Each of you has played a role in shaping who they are, both individually and together.
They hope you’ll join them in San Salvador to celebrate this next chapter in the place where it all began. They love you all and can’t wait to see you!!