Couple that live 9,000 miles apart get engaged after meeting twice

A couple that live 9,000 miles apart are happily engaged despite living so far away from each other.

Sarah Dorough, 21, and Luke Bond, 22, only met twice before they decided to commit to getting married in December last year.

But the pair are happier than ever and are set to get married in New Zealand in 2024.

While Sarah lives in Virginia, US, Luke's home is in New Zealand. The pair initially met online in December 2021 and FaceTimed every day before meeting the following summer. Just a few months later and Luke surprised Sarah by popping the question.

"Our relationship is exciting and adventurous," says Sarah.

"It is just all-round fun, loving and caring. I love that he is funny and kind, we have such strong communication and interest in each other.

"The biggest thing is trusting each other, especially when you're far away from each other, there is always going to be little thought that can pop into each other's head.

"Luke and I never have any concerns about what the other person is doing as we have that bond and trust."

pappedyouphotography/SWNS

After dating long distance for a few months, Luke flew over to America to see Sarah.

“We would talk around two times every day and talk for a long time and making it work with the time zones is hard to," she says.

“We were already invested in each other from the call, so from there that’s when we were like if we are going to move forward and have a relationship we need to meet in person as we don’t want to be online together.

"When I first met Luke in person it almost felt like a dream. An experience I haven't ever felt before, that first hug was something we had waited so long for, so you can only imagine how exciting that moment was when we ran up to each other and gave each other a hug.

"To this day that moment still blows my mind."

pappedyouphotography/SWNS

That year, Sarah flew out to New Zealand to spend Christmas with Luke's family and Luke later popped the question on a family camping trip in Lake Taupō.

"It was super exciting, this was something we had to work out - whether we do want to spend our lives together - we did figure that out because we don't want to keep travelling back and forth," says Sarah.

"I knew it was coming but I wasn't exactly sure the day, it was really amazing - such a special moment.

"I think everyone knew, ever since he was coming all the way from the other side of the world to see me - most people knew it was coming."

Sarah says trust is the key to their relationship, but being 9,000 miles apart, it can be hard at times.

"We really struggle but we also have a few things that we do to make the long-distance better, like having proper communication, prioritising our calls and having trust in each other - we really trust each other," she says.

"Communication is important, making sure that you really understand and talk through what you're going through because you are not there with the person a lot of times so you're going day to day about what is going on and walking each other through those steps."