It is not uncommon for avid travelers to meet on the road. Since for many a love of travel is a prerequisite, meeting a fellow traveler on a trip assures at least that much in common. But travelers Lisa Niver Rajna and George Rajna’s lover affair did not begin in some far-flung, romantic destination. Like the Hamster dance, their relationship began on the Internet and blossomed into an intrepid life together where they could both share in their passion for travel and adventure.
Traveling in Sin is a book of Lisa and George’s year-long adventure that is part romance, part travelogue, and consistently enjoyable throughout. “I thought I might need to be medicated,” Lisa writes, recalling how she quit her job and rented her Condo in order to take a chance yearlong trip with George.
Her hesitancy came from that fact that her newfound relationship with George did not seem to fit inside any normal relationship mold. After all, who does that—meets a guy on the Internet and then discards her current life around friends and family to embark on a yearlong trip circling Southeast Asia? Could such relationship actually work out?
Traveling in Sin is about discovering the world while George and Lisa discover each other and realize, with surprise, that, holy shit, their wildest dreams, the man and woman of their dreams (respectively) not only might be out there, but might just be sitting next to them on the beach.
What separates Traveling in Sin from other travelogues like it the teasing interplay of Lisa and George, who each write in their own voice, sometimes agree, as often don’t about what is happening, what they are doing, what they are going to do, and why. Included in the adventure and cultural insights are reflections on their own well-traveled pasts.
The book reaches a climax as George plots to pop the question to Lisa on their trip. There is a specifically hilarious scene, where Lisa, who has been sick for days—Having the squirts on a squat toilet for more than four days—removes money from George’s shorts to buy water and is taken aback by George’s (who is harboring “the ring” in his shorts) aggressive reaction:
“I thundered,” George, recalls, “What are you doing in my shorts?”
Lisa stuttered in reply, “I‐I, wanted to buy us more water and since I have been sick I have no money. . .Why are you freaking out? We share stuff, right?”
In the end, Lisa and George end up not just sharing a trip, but their lives. Written especially for intrepid couples, I’d call it recommended reading for any pair—newly united or sharing years of togetherness—to read before or during a trip. Both George and Lisa’s unique voices and personalities shine through, and together it makes for a uniquely enjoyable read.
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Also, check out their continually updated blog, We Said Go Travel. When this site and The Expeditioner put out a call for travel bloggers to get involved in our fundraiser to put 55 street kids in Guatemala in school, Lisa and George were some of the most enthusiastic to take up the cause.