Born Voyagers

Francesco and Birgit Galli Zugaro soak up the beauty of East Indonesia, the latest destination explored by their luxury boutique cruise company Aqua Expeditions

- HONG XINYI

Couples get to know each other on a whole new level when they travel together, and tiffs triggered by life on the road and constant togetherness are not unheard of. When Francesco and Birgit Galli Zugaro took their first major trip together, however, perfect harmony prevailed. Considering they were backpacking around the world for a year, spanning 1996 to 1997, that harmony was a very impressive achievement indeed.

“He was a great companion. We never got tired of each other,” says Birgit. They met as students at Boston College in the US in the 1990s and by the time they embarked on this epic adventure, they had already been in a relationship for six years. They had gone on weekend vacations, visited each other’s families (hers in Ecuador, his in Italy), and were living together when Francesco suggested travelling around the world.

“We were around 23, 24 years old and I thought it was a good time to drop all our responsibilities,” he says. Birgit was up for it and they set off after saving enough money. Starting off in the Americas, they moved on to the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, and then ended the journey in Europe. Along the way, they relied on Lonely Planet guidebooks and stuck to a shoestring budget. The only place they splurged on a nicer hotel was in Bali, Indonesia, and it was by Francesco’s design—that was where he proposed to Birgit.