It’s just been a really fun, unlikely friendship…it’s been a really wonderful connection for me to have in my life. And it’s wonderful to be able to get out into the world.
Giselle Ruemke
But after issuing constant corrections in every destination, Giselle stopped bothering. She decided this assumption was less about her and Savery, and more about other people’s preconceptions.
“tt really doesn’t matter. I kind of got over it,” she says.
Her attitude now is “They’re gonna think whatever they think. It doesn’t matter, because this is our trip, and we know who we are.’”
Savery agrees.
“Let other people think what they want,” he says. “We know. What they think isn’t going to change what is between us.”
That’s not to say the two aren’t aware of the “loadedness around male and female relationships,” says Giselle, adding this loadedness is “heteronormative and patriarchal” but existent nonetheless.
But to automatically assume their connection is romantic discredits the importance of friendship, says Giselle.
“There’s so much focus on romantic love. Maybe friendships can also have that level of importance,” she says. “I like the idea of cherishing our friendships and putting that effort into them as well.”
“It’s also interesting starting a new, close friendship this late in life,” adds Savery. “You’ve got all this life experience behind you, and now you’re starting a friendship with all of that stuff, all of that knowledge. And it’s a different, really interesting and great way, I think, to start a friendship.”
It’s a different, really interesting and great way, I think, to start a friendship.
Savery Moore
Savery says he’s excited for their connection to continue to grow as they travel the world, to continue to “respect what it is that makes our friendship so good and our traveling together so good.”
Giselle adds that Savery has made the year since they met “a ton of fun.” It was a year that’s panned out in a way she never expected.
“He’s just become a really cherished person in my world,” Giselle says. “And I didn’t expect that. That was such an unexpected thing to have happened out of that trip.”
Savery reflects that their meeting on the VIA Rail Canadian was “sort of magical.”
“It was truly a chance encounter,” he says, calling meeting Giselle a “silver lining.”
“It’s been really nice to be able to have a good friend, to go traveling and we’ve been having such a blast,” says Giselle. “I really love the mutual support that we offer each other. And just being able to do this is really, really something. It’s really special, and it’s really fun to share it.”
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