Novak Djokovic survived a scare in the third round of the US Open, fighting back to win a five-set match 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-3 against fellow Serb Laslo Djere.

It was almost 2am by the time that the match finally finished, but much of the crowd had stayed to watch Djokovic complete his comeback from two sets down for the eighth time in a grand slam, according to the ATP Tour.

Victory ensured that Djokovic’s hopes of winning a 24th grand slam title remain alive, as he seeks to equal Margaret Court’s outright record and extend his own men’s record.

“I hope you enjoyed the show, it was not so enjoyable for me especially in the first two sets,” Djokovic told the crowd, according to the ATP Tour. “It was one of the toughest matches I have played here in many years. Huge, huge credit to Laslo for playing some of the best tennis that I’ve ever seen him play.”

Djere’s serve in the first two sets was impenetrable, even for Djokovic who is considered one of the best returners in the game. The No.32 seed held every service game in the first two sets, and won 18 of his 20 first serve points in the second set, according to the US Open.

And then Djokovic displayed all the tenacity and skill that has propelled him to 23 grand slam titles.

Two sets down and facing a huge upset, he broke Djere’s serve for the first time in the match at the first opportunity in the third set, winning break point after an astonishing 26-shot rally.

It came after Djokovic had given himself a “little pep talk in the mirror” when he left the court in the break following the first two sets, he said afterwards, per Reuters.

“I had to force myself to lift myself up, lift the spirits up a little bit. I’ve done it a few times before in my career, it worked. A few times it didn’t work, but tonight it did and I’m grateful.”

From that point on, Djokovic seemed in control of the match even as Djere almost broke in the third game of the fourth set.

The 36-year-old will next face Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo in the fourth round.

North Korea may be known as the hermit kingdom, but the isolated nation could be edging toward opening its borders to small numbers of tourists for the first time since the pandemic.

In late August, flights on North Korea’s national carrier Air Koryo resumed services between the capital Pyongyang and Beijing, China, and Vladivostok, Russia, for the first time since January 2020, signaling that a wider reopening may be in the pipeline.

However, getting information from North Korean officials is a challenge, leading tour companies to speculate on when they will be permitted to bring travelers into the country again.

Simon Cockerell is the general manager of Koryo Tours, a China-based company that specializes in group tourist trips to North Korea. When North Korea slammed its already tight borders closed in 2020, he was one of many travel industry professionals left out in the proverbial cold.

“There’s no Ministry of Tourism,” Cockerell explains. “So there’s no high-level government officers or anything like that involved in tourism.” As a result, information is spotty, and the best he and his colleagues can do is wait and wonder.

“Imagine a company with no access to its market with no customers and no income for three and a half years. That’s how difficult it’s been,” he says.

Koryo Group also operates tours to other Asian destinations like Kazakhstan and Mongolia, allowing the company to stay afloat, but not at its previous level.

One of Cockerell’s business concerns, he says, is that a lack of search engine interest in North Korea trips could hurt his website’s visibility on Google.

While Cockerell believes the resumption of some international flights is a promising sign, he says that even if tour companies like his are allowed to restart their trips, there’s no telling whether vaccines, quarantines and other Covid-era restrictions would be on the table.

Tourism to North Korea was permitted before the pandemic, but heavily restricted.

The American angle

Even if leisure tourism in North Korea becomes possible again, there’s one major demographic that wouldn’t be included in those tour groups – Americans.

In 2017, the United States banned its passport holders from traveling to North Korea and has renewed this ban through at least 2024.

In a government memo issued at the time, the US urged potential travelers to consider that money from tourism in North Korea goes to the Kim regime and its practices.

“It is entirely possible that money spent by tourists in the DPRK goes to fund (weapons programs). We would urge all travelers, before traveling to the DPRK, to consider what they might be supporting,” said the memo.

The 2017 ban on American travel to North Korea came shortly after the death of Otto Warmbier, a recent college graduate from Ohio who participated in a Young Pioneer Tours group trip to North Korea.

Warmbier was detained in North Korea in 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster and held for 17 months. He was released back to the United States in June 2017 in a vegetative state and died not long after. He was 22 years old.

Individual tourists are not permitted to enter North Korea. Before the pandemic, the majority of visitors signed up with a company like Koryo Tours and visited in a group led by government-assigned minders and tour guides. The places they visited were strictly chosen and controlled.

Most of these tour groups traveled by air from Beijing, which means that would-be visitors had to also obtain a Chinese travel visa.

North Koreans permitted to return home

While many countries with strict Covid-era border controls permitted their citizens to return home from elsewhere, North Korea was a rare exception.

As a result, many North Koreans –- such as the many restaurant managers, construction workers, and others sent to foreign countries to make money for the regime –- were essentially marooned overseas.

However, that policy finally changed this week. On August 27, the North Korean government said it would allow its citizens living overseas to return home – but will still require them to do a one-week quarantine upon arrival.

In travel news this week, the Americans who’ve had enough of the United States and have started new lives overseas, plus everything you need to know about Europe’s new visa waiver scheme. And while this Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of the summer travel season, you might want to think about booking next summer’s trip now. Here’s why.

New life in the Old World

The turmoil of the past few years has made a lot of people rethink their priorities and decide to start their lives afresh.

The Tibb family from North Carolina chose the Italian region of Umbria for their new life, buying an apartment unseen and opening a thriving new restaurant serving Umbrian and Tuscan cuisine.

Finally, Pennsylvanian Alan Andrew and his Belgian husband, Vincent Proost, bought a rundown farmhouse in the Alentejo region of Portugal. It had been abandoned some 50 years, but they started over and built a dream home.

Young hearts run free

There comes a day in all our lives when we’ve taken our final vacation, whether we realize it at the time or not. That’s why it’s so important to make the most of our health, and our youth, while we have it.

Florida mother Terry Ward took her son out of school for the first week of first grade for a trip to Canada to spot polar bears and beluga whales. Here’s why she doesn’t regret her decision.

If you’re still in your teens or 20s, there are a lot of amazing discounts, experiences and adventures available only to those younger than 30. We’ve rounded up some of the best, from cut-price air fares to working vacation visas.

Money makes the world go round

Price-gouging has long been one of the hazards of traveling, but 2023 has seen some egregious examples of rip-offs in Italy, from a two-euro charge for slicing a sandwich to tourists to being billed 60 euros for two coffees and two waters.

From next year, it won’t even be free to travel to Europe. The new ETIAS visa waiver program will allow entry into EU countries for fees starting at $7.70. Here’s all you need to know about it and Europe’s city taxes.

Over in Asia, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is to halve the $200 daily fee it charges tourists in an effort to lure more visitors a year after lifting Covid restrictions.

Isolated for generations, Bhutan has always been wary of the impact of mass tourism but its economy is needing that recovery boost.

Eating out in Asia

At the Oriental Pearl restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, pho is slow-cooked and simmered for up to 48 hours and served with gold leaf, wagyu beef and foie gras. It costs $170 a bowl, but fans say it’s spectacular.

Over in Tokyo, Take-Noko cafe serves up insect cuisine, from cricket curry and silkworm sashimi to water bug cider. It’s famously a great source of protein, but ingesting scuttlers isn’t to all tastes.

Finally, one of Hong Kong’s top local specialties is “silk stocking” milk tea. This video shows the unique process that goes into making it.

Love is in the air(port)

Riiya Shukla heard her boyfriend’s voice on the PA system at Auckland Airport. Then she – and everyone else in the terminal – heard the marriage proposal.

In case you missed it

The “Norway of Arabia” is home to the world’s only desert fjords. 

Discover the Musandam Peninsula.

She texted her mom the night they met: “I met my husband.”

Here’s what happened next.

The bohemian paradise that became a magnet for superyachts.

There’s a reason visitors keep coming to Antalya.

Instagram is making you a worse tourist.

Here’s how to travel respectfully.

If the idea of spending three years on a cruise ship made you claustrophobic, it’s time to look away now.

Life at Sea Cruises – which is due to depart in November for a three-year round-the-world cruise – reckons that people are so enthused by the idea of sailing around the world nonstop, that they’re going to continue the journey indefinitely, making it “the cruise that never ends.”

Individuals will still have to sign up for three years – but now they can start at any point in the itinerary, making it a rolling three-year cruise, rather than a set one.

Not that latecomers will get a rehash of what they missed. To appeal to customers who want to stay on, the itinerary will continue to new destinations, rather than returning to previous ones. The cruise will then continue indefinitely says Holmes, who adds, “It’s become the cruise that never ends.”

Holmes says that major destinations such as Easter Island, Dubai and all of India are not on the first itinerary for logistical reasons, and are expected to appear in year four.

There will now be seven potential start locations in the first year of the cruise, which departs Istanbul on November 1.

‘The cruise that never ends’

“Once the ship was announced in May there were a lot of people who wanted to come, but November was too soon to sell their homes, make plans and pack up their lives,” she said.

“We made a list, started brainstorming and said, ‘We were going to restart it – why don’t we just extend it?’”

Some fully signed-up clients had also been hit with health issues.

“We’d said from the beginning we’d refund in full for anyone with medical problems, but we had people saying, ‘I don’t want a refund, I just want to get this treated and come on board,’ so we thought we’d give them an opportunity too.

“We also had residents asking what would happen if they wanted to keep going [at the end of three years] so we started looking at itinerary options, seeing what places we could add.”

Those who can’t make the Istanbul departure have a chance to join at Barcelona on November 6, the Bahamas a week later, or Rio de Janeiro on December 20, just in time for Christmas on board.

There will be three more stops in central and north America in the first half of 2024 as well.

An ‘affordable’ lifestyle

Holmes says the new system shouldn’t affect the company’s policy to sell only 85% capacity.

The ship – the MV Lara – can carry 1,400 passengers, but Holmes promises “we won’t ever sell full capacity – we don’t want residents to have that experience. We’re trying to keep it at 85%.” Occupancy is currently at over 50% for November boardings.

The cruise is also launching a “Dive Around the World” program after Holmes – a scuba instructor herself – noticed that many of the guests were keen divers.

There’ll now be an on-board dive shop, run in tandem with Scuba Diving International (SDI), with a full-time instructor joining the ship’s crew. Passengers will be able to get scuba certification as they travel, and there’ll be opportunities to dive around the world, linking up with SDI-vetted diving schools.

Guests will also be able to take part in ocean clean-ups and coral propagation efforts as they travel.

The new policy is the latest change in what has been a baptism of fire for Life at Sea.

Miray parted ways with some of the project’s founding team in May – a schism that is now at the heart of a legal dispute brought by Miray.

Many would-be cruisers canceled their reservations because of the confusion, although new bookings have now overtaken the original numbers.

While they aren’t the first to offer permanent (or semi-permanent) cruises, Life at Sea remains the only (relatively) affordable option for long-term cruising, says Holmes.

“It’s $3,500-$4,000 per month, and you can go see the world. We can offer this to the average earner, or a person who just retired from the average job.”

Current pricing starts at $38,513 per year per cabin for two people. Everything is included – right down to the on-board healthcare. Solo travelers pay an additional 85% for single occupancy.

More than a week after Spain’s historic win over England in the Women’s World Cup final, there is little talk of soccer.

Instead, the victory has been overshadowed by an unwanted kiss that has sparked global outrage and put the spotlight on Spain’s enduring culture of machismo in many quarters, despite significant advances in equal rights in recent years.

Star player Jennifer Hermoso described the actions of Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales as an “impulse-driven, sexist out of place act without any consent.” The 33-year-old veteran said she felt the “victim of an aggression,” one that took place in front of a packed stadium and a global television audience after her team’s hard-won 1-0 victory over England on August 20.

Hermoso’s teammates share her outrage, with all of them now refusing to play again for Spain until Rubiales quits or if removed.

Instead of continuing the celebration of a historic victory, a gesture that happened shortly after the match finished now has overshadowed the rest in Spain.

A day after the kiss, Rubiales said he had “made a mistake,” but since then has insisted that it was consensual.

But FIFA, the world’s governing body of soccer, has provisionally suspended him for 90 days from his federation job. The Spanish government has sent a complaint to Spain’s Sports Tribunal, in a step toward trying, at the least, to suspend Rubiales, who has refused to resign.

On Friday the scandal escalated further when Rubiales made a defiant speech at the soccer federation’s Extraordinary General Assembly, where he had been widely expected to stand down but instead said multiple times he would not. The members of the federation who haven’t quit since then are backing him and the federation threatened legal action against Hermoso, accusing her of lying,

A reminder of inequality

For Spaniards, the episode is a stark reminder that the country, for all of its advances towards women’s rights and equality in recent years, still has “macho” and “machismo” as a lifestyle for some. It rears up in cases of domestic violence that have left nearly 40 women dead in Spain this year. But more broadly, men are still in a power position in many activities and endeavors across the country, including at work.

She said Rubiales “needs to be dismissed,” along with those who didn’t hold him “accountable or condoned this behavior for a long time, not just during the World Cup.”

Verge Mestre, who’s based in Barcelona, added that the “sports federations – which are private associations – need to be forced to train on gender issues. All members of their boards, because they have to be able to identify these instances of not just sexual violence but also power abuse which is quite pervasive in professional sports.”

It is worth remembering that Spain ranks highly on women’s rights, ranking 19th out of 146 countries rated by the Global Gender Gap Index for 2023, having made measurable strides to close the gender gap.

The number of women on boards of directors is 32.4 percent, about 3.5% higher than in 2021, but still below the 40% target in a European directive for large listed firms, IESE, a leading business school in Spain, reported last March.

However, the country is also home to the far-right Vox party, now the third-largest force in parliament, and aims to use its growing influence, including in local and regional governments, to roll back decades of progress in women’s rights by blocking abortion access, repealing legislation on gender-based violence and shutting down the ministry of equality.

Recent years have seen mass protests against sexual abuse and violence, with the so-called “Wolf Pack” case – where a group of men who gang raped a woman were initially charged with sexual assault – a particular flashpoint.

For Spain’s women’s soccer team, there have been protests over lower pay than the men’s national team. And the women have pressed for better equipment, training facilities, and treatment.

What was harder to prepare for, it seems, was an unwanted kiss from the very top of Spain’s football federation, which threatens to turn the story of Spain’s World Cup victory from one of women’s talent and perseverance into a tale of all that is still wrong with the country’s treatment of women.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is expanding to 18 schools with the addition of Stanford, Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the University of California-Berkeley, after a vote by the conference’s board of directors on Friday.

In a statement, the conference announced the schools would be members with full voting privileges starting from July 2024 – SMU will officially join in July 2024 and Stanford and Cal will do so the following month. They will begin competing in the ACC from the start of the 2024/25 academic year.

Stanford and California’s departure from the Pac-12 leaves the 108-year-old conference with just two remaining members – Oregon State and Washington State.

“We are thrilled to welcome three world class institutions to the ACC, and we look forward to having them compete as part of our amazing league,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips.

He later continued: “Cal, SMU and Stanford will be terrific members of the ACC and we are proud to welcome their student-athletes, coaches, staff and entire campus community, alumni and fans.”

“We are very pleased with the outcome, which will support the best interests of our student-athletes and aligns with Berkeley’s values,” said University of California-Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ.

“We are confident that the ACC and its constituent institutions are an excellent match for our university and will provide an elite competitive context for our student-athletes in this changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics.”

SMU President R. Gerald Turner added, “This is a transformational day for SMU. Becoming a member of the ACC will positively impact all aspects of the collegiate experience on the Hilltop and will raise SMU’s profile on a national level.”

“Stanford welcomes the invitation extended by the ACC member universities, and we are excited to join them beginning in 2024,” said Stanford University President Richard P. Saller.

“Student-athletes come to Stanford to pursue their highest academic and athletic potential, and joining the ACC gives us the ability to continue offering them that opportunity at a national level.”

World No. 1 Iga Świątek was utterly dominant in her straight sets victory against Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan, winning 6-0 6-1 in a mere 49 minutes to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

In what was surely one of the most one-sided grand slam encounters in recent history, Juvan won just 15 points all match against a ruthless Świątek, as the Pole continues to exert her dominance as the favorite to lift the title at Flushing Meadows.

Świątek has given up just nine games in her three matches so far in New York – seven of those coming in the comparatively difficult match against Daria Saville in the second round – with even her close friend Juvan not immune to being served up a bagel, the 20th of the year for the relentless Świątek.

Świątek and Juvan have been close since playing together as teenagers at the junior level, but there was no time for sentiment as the Pole got straight to business.

She had tied up the first set in just 24 minutes and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second before Juvan won her only game of the match.

The crowd inside the Louis Armstrong Stadium gave the Slovenian a warm round of applause after she made it 3-1, but it wasn’t long before Świątek finished the match up.

“I didn’t like the fact that I was winning against my best friend, but I knew that I had to be really focused and not let myself think about that because it was like playing against a sister. We’ve known each other for so long,” Świątek said after her win.

“I don’t have many friends, but she’s my best friend. That was the toughest part.”

Świątek is looking practically unbeatable as she bids to defend her US Open title, making just five unforced errors in the near perfect performance on Friday. She will face either Jelena Ostapenko or American Bernarda Pera for a place in the quarterfinals.

In the meantime, the top seed is still getting used to just how good she is.

“Honestly, I kind of have to learn to find more joy in that,” she added.

“I talked with Roger [Federer] about that last week. He says the best way to approach it is to really embrace it, to be proud and happy about your results.

“I’m always looking to the future, trying to do the best job another day, so I’m glad I have people on my team who kind of remind me of the good work that I’m doing. It’s good to appreciate the process and the progress.”

Labor Day weekend may mark the unofficial end to summer for many, but Mother Nature didn’t get the memo this year.

Nearly 100 temperature records may fall this holiday weekend as parts of the central and eastern United States sizzle under heat that feels more like July than early September.

As temperatures soar on land, rough surf and an elevated rip current risk may make beach plans dangerous for a large swath of the Atlantic coast, while a surge of moisture could spark stormy weather for portions of the West and raise the risk of flash flooding.

July-like heat sends temperatures skyrocketing

Temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal levels for September could break or tie close dozens of records as heat builds over Labor Day weekend and into Tuesday.

High temperatures on Saturday will climb into the 90s to low 100s across most of the Plains and Upper Midwest. This will include cities like Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

By Sunday, sweltering heat will expand across much of the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and even portions of the mid-Atlantic. Minneapolis is forecast to reach a scorching 100 degrees on Sunday, which would break a high temperature record for that date that has stood for nearly 100 years.

On Labor Day Monday, conditions will feel more like July across nearly two-thirds of the US.

Philadelphia is forecast to be hotter than both Miami and Orlando on Monday as temperatures there soar more than 10 degrees above normal.

In the heat of the afternoon, temperatures in the 90s and low 100s will stretch from the Plains to the East Coast and challenge records in major metros like Chicago, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.

The high temperature in New York City could surpass the 90-degree mark on Monday, something the city fell short of during August and has only reached eight times this summer. That count could increase on both Monday and Tuesday.

Temperatures in most of the Southeast will hover around normal, bringing some relief for a region that baked in record heat in August. Many cities along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida, including Houston, New Orleans and Tampa, recorded their hottest August of all-time, according to data from the National Weather Service.

Rip current risk enhanced by tropical troublemakers

A handful of tropical systems hundreds of miles away are churning up the Atlantic Ocean and may lead to danger for people headed to the beach.

Rip currents can be fatal to even the strongest swimmers. In June, rip currents claimed 11 lives in under two weeks in Florida and Alabama.

Powerful Hurricane Franklin and Post-Tropical Cyclone Idalia – the latter of which is packing strong winds despite losing its tropical status – are creating rough seas that spread out hundreds of miles from the center of each storm.

These rough seas can prove dangerous for any boaters along the Atlantic coast and will keep the risk of hazardous rip currents elevated.

Rip current alerts are in effect through Saturday night from South Carolina to southern Florida. The risk of rip currents is also expected to remain elevated through the holiday weekend farther north into portions of New Jersey and New York.

Flash flood risk for the West

A surge of monsoonal moisture will produce stormy conditions from the Southwest to the Rockies this weekend and elevate the risk of flash flooding.

A Level 2 of 4 risk of excessive rainfall is in effect for portions of the interior West on Saturday and Sunday, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

Enough rain to trigger flash flooding can occur in parts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah on Saturday. The threat will shift northward on Sunday to include portions of Idaho and Wyoming in addition to Utah.

Wet weather will keep parts of the Northwest and California damp and cooler than average through the weekend, but the flooding risk will be relatively low.

Showers may begin as early as Saturday in Seattle and Portland and continue through Monday. Temperatures in these cities will struggle to climb on Sunday and Monday and only reach the upper 60s in Seattle and low 70s in Portland – nearly 10 degrees below normal for early September.

Places like Los Angeles and San Francisco may have the best weather in the country for Labor Day weekend. Both cities will start the holiday weekend with a few showers but will end up dry, sunny and seasonable on Monday.

The Spanish government has suffered a setback in its attempts to remove beleaguered soccer chief Luis Rubiales from his post over the unwanted kiss he gave to Spain star Jennifer Hermoso.

Spain’s Court of Arbitration in Sport (TAD) on Friday agreed to open a case against Rubiales but rejected the government’s argument that his offenses were “very serious,” preventing his immediate suspension and forcing ministers to ask the tribunal to do it instead.

Minister of Culture and Sport Miquel Iceta said at a press conference on Friday that he will submit a separate complaint to TAD and request for Rubiales to be removed from his post until the investigation is resolved.

This development comes as pressure continues to mount on Rubiales ever since he gave an unwanted kiss to Hermoso after Spain won the Women’s World Cup on August 20.

Rubiales was suspended by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, from all football-related activities for 90 days on Saturday, though he could also eventually face suspension by the government’s High Council of Sport (CSD).

A government statement released on Tuesday said that Rubiales displayed “unacceptable behavior” at the World Cup final and called his actions “very serious” violations of the country’s Law of Sport, something which TAD has now rejected.

Rubiales on Friday expressed regret about his actions, but also lashed out against a “manufactured campaign” against him, insisting that he had been treated unfairly.

“Last August 20th I made some obvious mistakes, which I regret sincerely, from the heart. It is true that for such errors I have asked for forgiveness,” he said in a statement released on social media and widely reported by the Spanish press.

“I have learned that no matter how great the joy and deep the emotion, even when A WORLD CUP IS WON, sports leaders must be required to exhibit exemplary behavior, and mine wasn’t,” he said, adding he is apologizing to players, the federation, fans and anyone who may have been offended by his actions.

Rubiales has previously admitted that he made a mistake kissing Hermoso but said the act was consensual – a claim that Hermoso has squarely rejected.

In a statement last Friday, the soccer champion said that at no point did she consent to a kiss, writing on social media: “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part.”

Hermoso also said the RFEF president’s explanation of the incident was “categorically” false, adding: “I want to reiterate as I did before that I did not like this incident.”

Pressure on Rubiales to step down from his position as RFEF president only intensified after he dramatically refused to do so during a speech at the federation’s Extraordinary General Assembly last Friday, vowing to “fight to the end.”

Earlier this week, all 19 of the Spanish federation’s regional presidents called for Rubiales to resign while also offering unanimous support for interim president Pedro Rocha, who stepped into the role following Rubiales’ suspension by FIFA.

Isis Woods had only known Michael Bradford for a few hours when she texted her mother, overcome with excitement.

“Mom, I met my husband,” she typed, phone in one hand and cocktail in another.

“Are you drunk?” Isis’ mother replied.

“Yes,” said Isis. “And I met my husband.”

It was the fall of 2018 and Isis, then 23, was on vacation in Puerto Rico, enjoying what she calls her “first adult trip.”

She was traveling with her best friend, who’d just graduated college. Isis, a student teacher, was almost finished with her studies too, and the two friends decided they deserved a moment to celebrate and explore somewhere new.

They settled on Puerto Rico as a vacation destination because it was easy to fly there from their home in Atlanta, Georgia – but also promised lots to see and do.

The pair arrived on the Caribbean archipelago ready to soak up sunshine at the beach, bar hop and eat good food. The trip got off to a rocky start when their Airbnb turned out to be nothing like the posting, but Isis’ friend saved the day, using her hotel points to book them a last minute stay at the swanky beachfront La Concha Renaissance San Juan Resort.

As Isis surveyed the sandy stretch of Condado Beach in front of the hotel, she felt herself relax into vacation mode.

After unpacking at La Concha, she called her sister to update her on the trip so far, telling her about the accommodation upgrade and filling her in on her first impressions of Puerto Rico.

Her sister mentioned a guy she knew from college was also in San Juan on vacation.

“Is there a festival or something going on there right now?” she asked Isis – it seemed like a coincidence that two people she knew were vacationing in the same place at the same time.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Isis. “I guess we’re just there at the same time.”

Later, getting ready for the evening, Isis started feeling a little nervous about going out in a new place with just her friend for company. She remembered her sister mentioning the guy she knew, and started wondering if maybe they could tag along with him and his friends, at least for the beginning of the evening.

Isis dropped her sister a message, asking if she could pass on the friend’s number “just so we can meet up, feel safe, go out with a group.”

“And so she, quote unquote, slid in his DMs,” recalls Isis. “I don’t know exactly what she said. But she keeps telling me that she’s going to print it on a shirt – just to prove that she’s the one that got us together.”

That college friend of Isis’ sister was, of course, Michael Bradford.

‘Like a movie’

When Michael got the message from Isis’ sister, his attitude was simply, “the more the merrier.” He was on his annual vacation with his best friend and some other close pals.

Michael and Isis’ sister were part of the same extended friend group at college, so he was intrigued to meet Isis. But as numbers were exchanged and plans discussed, nobody considered the idea that a romantic spark could be about to be lit.

Isis quickly glanced over Michael’s Instagram out of curiosity, but she was left less than impressed.

“I was like, ‘This guy looks like a douche – one of those guys who just want to wear short shorts and a tank top and get girls,’” she recalls.

But when Isis phoned Michael to confirm plans, her impression of him shifted.

“When we got on the phone, he seemed like a kind young man,” she says.

On the phone, there was also an “instant” ease between them, as Michael puts it.

“We were both just very, very comfortable with each other,” he says.

They arranged to meet at a San Juan restaurant and have dinner that evening.

The moment Isis walked into the restaurant and Michael saw her for the first time was, he says, “like a movie.” She was wearing a bright blue dress and stood out against her surroundings. He was immediately drawn to her.

“Oh man,” he thought.

Isis and her friend sat down and introductions were made. Isis liked Michael right away, but his friends were pretty quiet at first.

For the first part of the evening, Isis and her friend were surreptitiously texting back and forth across the table: “These people are weird.”

“Eventually they started to warm up,” says Isis. “But at that point, me and Michael were just really talking.”

Isis and Michael had ended up sitting next to one another and after a while, Isis had stopped paying attention to anyone else. She was just focused on Michael, and he only had eyes for her.

They bonded over a shared interest of trading, discovering they were both into tracking stocks and shares.

“I remember that was the first really interesting conversation that we had,” says Michael. “And then we started talking about entrepreneurship – and started talking about everything.”

Isis talked about how she loved teaching, but also wanted to inspire people in other ways, and maybe start her own business one day.

“What that told me was, ‘You’re adaptable, you’re accepting of change, you’re accepting of a growth mindset,’” says Michael.

Isis and Michael didn’t stop talking for the rest of the evening. Later that night, Isis fired off her starry-eyed text to her mother. She was swept off her feet, and Michael was equally as smitten.

The two hung out over the rest of their time in Puerto Rico, bringing their friendship groups together each day.

“We ended up going to the Bacardi factory, which is out there, and sightseeing and doing stuff together,” recalls Isis.

Their friends were keenly aware of their growing connection. As the group explored Puerto Rico, Michael’s friends kept offering to take photos of the pair.

“These are for the memories,” they said.

On the last day the group went out to breakfast together and Isis’ friend was direct about it:

“So, how does it feel to have met your husband and wife on a trip?,” she asked, eyebrow raised.

“We’re like, ‘Whoa, please. We’re just having a good time,’” recalls Isis.

Even though Isis was convinced Michael would be part of her future, she was also trying to manage her own expectations. She was heading back to Atlanta, while Michael was flying back to Washington D.C.. They’d have to try and stay in touch across several hundred miles.

As she climbed into her airport taxi, Michael promised to call her as soon as they were both home.

“I remember thinking, ‘Well, you don’t have to, let’s not set an expectation,’” she recalls. “That totally went out the window, in my head, by the time we started talking when we got back home.”

Coming together

Within a month Isis was calling Michael and asking, “Are you going to officially ask me to be your girlfriend?”

Michael wanted that commitment too. Their vacation meeting felt meant to be.

But Isis’ sister was, at first, less convinced.

“She was like, ‘I cannot believe that you would go to Puerto Rico and fall in love with my friend.’ And I was like, ‘Why are you so mad?’” recalls Isis.

“She said that she thought that I was a man eater, which she has no evidence of. But she thought that I was going to hurt him.”

Isis was frustrated by her sister’s reaction at the time, but today, she’s more magnanimous.

“Looking back – again, she’s my sister, so she knows all my relationship history. She knows that I cut people off easily. I didn’t trust men a lot, before Michael.”

Meanwhile Isis’ mother, once she’d confirmed the vacation text wasn’t just a drunken message, was delighted for her daughter.

“It was so funny, I expected my mom to be more worried and my sister to be the one that was over the moon,” says Isis. “My mom was the one over the moon.”

“Just keep going. She’ll come around,” She advised her daughter. And eventually, after a couple of months at loggerheads, the sisters sat down and had a proper conversation about Isis’ relationship.

Isis made clear she was serious about Michael, and her sister gave the relationship her blessing. From then on, she was nothing but supportive.

During all this, Isis and Michael were navigating a long distance relationship. They tried to meet once a month, but it wasn’t easy.

“We were both very much wanting to see each other more than we could,” says Isis.

The couple started talking about moving somewhere new together and settled on Dallas, Texas, where they moved in 2019. The two were excited for this step, but they decided to live separately at first – Isis and Michael wanted to test the waters of being in a new city together before they signed a joint lease.

In March 2020, they were supposed to embark on a return vacation to Puerto Rico. Instead, the pandemic hit, their flights were canceled and the two hunkered down together in Michael’s apartment.

Suddenly living together was a “learning experience” for them both, but overwhelmingly it was “a good thing,” as Michael puts it. As the pandemic receded, the couple were closer than ever.

A surprise engagement

Even before they met, both Isis and Michael knew they wanted to get married one day. And as their relationship developed over the next couple of years, they both knew it was the next step.

But all the same, when Michael proposed, it was the last thing Isis expected.

It was April 2022 and the couple were supposed to be heading to a brunch hosted by one of Michael’s childhood friends.

Isis had just returned from a work trip and wasn’t feeling great. She’d woken up tired, suffering from a migraine and looking to get out of the social commitment.

“I don’t want to go,” she told Michael.

“We can’t cancel,” he said, adamantly.

“You’re ignoring the fact that I have a headache,” said Isis, upset. “You’re choosing this party over my wellbeing.”

Michael, looking panicked, wouldn’t budge, simply saying he’d promised his friend they’d be there.

“And so I walk away. And in my head, I’m like, ‘I don’t know why this is so important to him, but if it’s so important, I’m going to shut up. I’m going to take my Tylenol, and I’m going to go,’” recalls Isis today.

When they arrived she was still none the wiser. She only started to question what was happening when they stepped out of the car to silence.

“This is a very quiet party,” Isis thought.

When the door opened, the house was crowded with the familiar faces of Isis’ loved ones.

“There was a second where I was shocked, and I’m like, ‘Oh, why is my sister here? Why is my mom here?’ And then I break down crying, because then I realized,” says Isis.

Michael had gathered all of Isis’ friends and family there to witness the moment he asked her to spend the rest of their lives together.

“It was a beautiful day,” Isis says.

Isis and Michael were married five months later in October, in Las Vegas. She took his name, becoming Isis Bradford.

The couple started with plans to keep the celebrations small, but in the end over 100 of their friends and family joined them to celebrate.

Their wedding reception was held at the Skyline Terrace Suite at the MGM Grand Hotel.

“It was nice, because we were all dancing with the Vegas skyline behind us,” says Isis.

The destination wedding felt appropriate for the couple who’d met on vacation. Plus, Isis and Michael liked the idea of inspiring other people to take a trip.

“I really enjoy the fact that people came in for us, but stayed for a family vacation, or they stayed for a friend’s get together,” says Isis.

“That was pretty cool,” agrees Michael.

For their honeymoon, Isis and Michael chose a cruise trip that started and ended in Puerto Rico, “where the beginning started for us,” as Michael puts it.

“It was just a little nostalgic,” he says.

Living life as a team

Walking around San Juan, hand-in-hand with Michael, Isis says she felt “very grateful” – especially for the fact that she found “someone doing something that I loved and that he loved.”

“Our common interest is traveling, we love traveling, we love experiencing other cultures,” agrees Michael. “And this is my forever travel buddy now.”

The couple are also united in their commitment to their careers. Today, Isis is an entrepreneur and digital marketing strategist with her own business, while Michael does financial planning and analysis for a technology company.

“Having a wife so creative and innovative generates thought-provoking conversations that allow me to add some color to my black and white view of financial planning,” says Michael.

“I second Michael,” says Isis. “I’m a dreamer and he makes my big ideas become doable.”

The couple believe in “making your own destiny,” both in work, relationships and life more broadly.

“I think that us getting married is kind of just manifesting those dreams and goals,” says Michael.

Isis says she always holds on to the idea, first and foremost, that she and Michael are “on the same team” in whatever they do.

Before they got married, the pair decided to go to premarital counseling, which they describe less as a “why” and more of  a “‘why not’ decision.

Their biggest takeaway from these sessions was that love is a “choice.”

“I choose to love you, you choose to love me,” says Michael. “And each day, we have to reup.”

“Choose each other again and again,” adds Isis.

“I think that just having that mindset was very important. Because that’s how we’re going to continue to grow and learn and love each other,” says Michael.