Boy meets girl. Girl goes traveling for 2 years

Just before departing on a two-year backpacking adventure Nicole Erickson met the man destined to become the love of her life. Here's what happened next.

(CNN) — American student Nicole Erickson was about to embark on an epic round the world trip. Ahead of her lay two years of adventure that could change her life forever. But fate had different ideas. The life-changing event happened before she'd even departed: she encountered a total stranger on a ship, and something unexpectedly clicked. It was the summer of 1999 and 24-year-old Erickson, having just finished a two-year Fulbright scholarship in Germany, was in no hurry to head home.