Tommy and Djamila met on Kik, a mobile application used to send messages. Djamila used the app to exchange tips and to connect with other artists while Tommy was on it out of boredom. Tommy was the first one to send a message and the rest is history. The two connected instantly. They were made for each other. We met them through their shared Instagram account that is full of vibrant colors and positive vibes. Read our interview with the couple below.
You have a very bright and inspiring Instagram account. Can you tell me about it?
After our trip to Northern Norway, we realized how passionate we truly are about exploring this beautiful world. That’s when we got the idea to start an Instagram account. We wanted a place to post our pictures and experiences, hoping to connect with and maybe even inspire like-minded souls.
Our goal is exactly that, to connect and inspire. Life’s a journey that we travel through, that’s why our username is both about physical traveling as well as the spiritual journey. Hopefully, we can grow a wonderful community where we can all learn from each other.
What’s important to you? What matters to you the most?
Staying true to ourselves and connecting with our true selves is very important to us. Love, kindness, spiritual development and our families are what drive us on the daily and therefore matter a great deal. We strive to be our best selves so we can not only give back to ourselves but to everyone.
Have you had any struggles in life, and if you did how did you overcome it?
The biggest struggle of our relationship was definitely to try and make long distance work. We really fought for each other and for our future together. We sacrificed all our spare time to talk to each other every single day. We planned future visits, wrote each other letters and supported each other to get through it all. On a more personal level, we both dealt with depression, feeling out of place and a lot of loss and grief.
What has been the happiest moment in your life so far? The saddest moment?
The happiest moments in our relationship were definitely getting married and having Tommy’s residency in the Netherlands approved! The saddest moments were always the heartbreaking goodbyes.
Tommy: For me meeting my wife, best friend and the person I am meant to be with all in Djamila is definitely one of the happiest moments. The saddest would be watching my only sister lose her battle to brain cancer at 29 years old.
Djamila: Our belated honeymoon to Norway and specifically having a close encounter with wolves was one of the happiest moments for me. Especially because I got to share that with my soulmate. The saddest moments were losing my grandmother and aunt, both were way too young. And seeing my sister lose her way more and more over the years was heartbreaking.
Can you tell me more about your wolf experience? It looks like you had a pretty close encounter with you?
Our wolf encounter in Norway was truly out of this world! I had seen something about this online and dismissed it as something ‘people like us’ would never do. Then last January we were planning a belated honeymoon to Norway and Tommy reminded me of that wolf visit I had seen. We decided it was time to create our own destiny and we booked it! Our whole trip was planned around this haha. The wolf visit took place in an arctic wildlife center called Polar Park. We were so lucky, even though they keep groups very small and visits limited, no one booked that day so we had a private experience! Before we went into the enclosure we were given thorough instructions on what to do and especially what not to do around the wolves. Everything was on their terms. Which was very important to us since we would never do anything that isn’t in line with respecting animals. The wolves greeted us a little cautiously, we kneeled down and waited for them to come to us. The alpha female was the first one to approach us, she sniffed our faces and finally greeted us with a lick in the face. She was inviting us to interact with her, allowing us to touch her. We pretty much got to see and interact with the whole pack, but it was mostly the alpha pair that interacted with us.
It was such a powerful experience, very spiritual and humbling. When the pack started howling I couldn’t contain my tears anymore, I was so deeply grateful for this experience with these beautiful animals. This is something we will forever carry in our hearts with so much gratitude.
What are you most afraid of right now?
Both of our biggest fears have to do with not achieving our goals. Whether it would be because there’s not enough time, subconsciously getting in our own way or it simply just not working out. That would mean we would never live our lives the way we feel we are meant to live them, that’s scary stuff!
