Wonder is a word we use in so many different ways. As a noun, wonder is a feeling of surprise mingled with the unexpected, the unfamiliar and the inexplicable. As a verb, wonder is to desire or be curious to know something, or to feel something.
I used to dream of someone who shared my wonder of playing, which was less about winning or losing and more about the connection of playing…with people, with ideas. Then, 15 years ago something remarkable happened. We met each other. And over a simple, old Vietnamese horse racing game which consisted of a board, die and some horses, Jack and I discovered we shared the exact same sense of wonder – the same curious desire to change the rules, expand, and build a new, more exciting game. Strangely, we didn’t discuss what we were doing, we just did it. Together. Falling in love with each other. Falling in love creating together. Now, years later, in every aspect of our lives, we continue to share this same wonder and creativity, fully embracing and living the question of “what if…”
We are slowly approaching our golden years after Jack’s long career in entertainment and mine in IT project management, and together we’ve published a few books and created some art projects. After exploring painting for a while, we pondered painting boards for a game. So, we did. And then so many “what ifs” exploded into questions and possibilities…what if we create a board that could be set up differently each time? What if we put another game on the back of that one? What if each board had multiple games that could be played on it? What if, What if, What if….
A new chapter of our lives began when TRAVELUS became our passion project, our labor of love. And along the way, many lovely people helped to get us here.