On August 4 of 2014, Laurinha and Felix climbed up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, and on the very top (2695m), Felix asked Laurinha to marry him.

 

!!! She said YES !!!

 

 

The photo on the home page is on the moment of the proposal.

Laurinha was born in Fortaleza, a warm city on the coast of northeast Brazil, where she grew up surfing, skateboarding, playing soccer, eating mango, and drinking coconut water. She also did many community services related to health care. She loved that (and the beach), and wanted to move to Cuba to learn about the health care system and a more humanitarian medicine—and she did.

 

Laurinha was 16 and had just graduated from high school, when she left her Mom, Dad, and two younger brothers to go to college in Cuba studying Medicine and Public Health. Laurinha lived many great experiences in Cuba; in the first semester her campus in La Isla de La Juventud was destroyed by a hurricane and she moved to the capital Havana, where she met students from all around the world and learnt a lot about the health care system.

 

The adventure continued when Laurinha was part of the Student Medical Brigades and traveled through South and Central America until 2011, when she moved to the USA.

 

Felix was born in Cologne, a city not too far from the border to the Netherlands on the west side of Germany, which was still separated by The Wall at the time. He grew up eating Schnitzel and Klöße (traditional German dishes) and drinking Apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling water) and could not get enough of it. At the legal beer drinking age of 16, he added Kölsch (the local beer). His Dad taught him sailing since he was a little boy.

 

Felix always loved science (especially mathematics and physics), as well as computers and photography. When he was 15, he spent un trimestre (4 months) at a Lycée school in Auray, France. Later, he went to University of Cologne to study Physics and Mathematics. After graduating, Felix worked as a Consultant and Strategist at different companies and, in 2009, moved to work for a German-owned company in the USA.

 

Laurinha and Felix have very different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, but threee things united them since the beginning: travel, adventure, and Seattle, where they both lived and met in 2011.

 

“Felix was my Seattle guide. It was my first winter, and he taught me about the four seasons which were completely new for me. On our second date, he took me to ski for the first time and to explore the mountains of Washington. We had so much fun. When I met him I knew I had a partner, not only for Seattle, but for the whole world and life: in summer, winter, fall or spring.” — Laurinha

 

But things got a bit more complicated soon: Laurinha had enough of the Seattle rain and moved to sunny California in 2012. Felix went visit her often, and now it was Laurinha's turn to be the guide—this time in a different city, San Francisco. After exactly one year, Felix quit his job to launch his own startup close to the Silicon Valley and, of course, close to where his heart was.

 

They made California their home, and lived, traveled the world, and experienced many adventures together. 

The next adventure to come is getting married. To celebrate, they want to unify their families from Brazil and Germany, as well as friends from all around the world. 

 

“Travel and adventure has been the common theme in our lives. We've climbed up mountains together on rusty stairs, swam under waterfalls, and slept in a shelter to avoid a Tsunami; but getting married is definitely the biggest adventure of our life together until now.” — Felix