Isotta Peira

June 2016 · Madrid, Spain

Where it all began

We met at Fran’s birthday picnic in Madrid. It wasn’t until a month later, on a trip to the beach with mutual friends, that something actually clicked between us. Neither of us planned to fall in love that summer, but sometimes life has better ideas than we do. Something shifted over the course of that beach weekend, and nothing about either of our lives has been quite the same since.

December 2016 · Samaipata, Bolivia

The engagement

Six months in, and we already knew. We had spent barely a handful of those months in the same city, but the connection was undeniable. So we got engaged, even though it meant saying yes to a lot of uncertainty about how we’d make a life across borders. That promise has held ever since.

June 10, 2017 · Savona, Italy

The day

We got married at the beach where my family has been going since I was a teenager. After spending only about 90 days in the same city since we started dating, we stood in front of almost everyone we loved (a few couldn’t make it) and made it official.

Fancy wasn’t the point. What made it special was the people: a crowd from around the world who loved and supported us, and still do. Many of them couldn’t easily talk to each other because of the language barriers, but everyone leaned into the day and found their own ways to celebrate together.

2017 to 2022 · Madrid, Spain

Building a life together

Wedding gifts gave us the runway to start our life together. Those first months weren’t easy. I was working for a company with pretty bad conditions, and Andrea couldn’t work until her residence permit came through, since she wasn’t an EU citizen, but we were full of love and dreams for the future, and nothing felt like a real obstacle.

We found the perfect home to rent and grew an unexpectedly close relationship with the owner, Paco. Madrid also gave us friends from across languages and cultures, the kind of people who become family over time. Even after we moved to Barcelona in 2022, we stayed close to all of them. Paco passed away in May 2025, and we still carry him in our hearts and in our memories.

Our determination and the way we kept supporting each other got us through major career changes. It took time, but we found work that fulfills us both, and lets us live fully and dream even bigger.

2022 · Barcelona, Spain

Closer to the family

In 2022, we moved to Barcelona and reunited with part of the family. Andrea’s mom Ximena, her sister Tania, our nephew Benjamin, and our dog niece Mia had made Barcelona their home too, and Andrea’s dad Manuel is joining soon. Andrea’s uncles and cousins are also in the city, so our day-to-day suddenly came with family nearby. The move brought us closer to my family as well. Barcelona is much nearer to Savona, which means more visits and more time together. My parents Paolo and Enrica, my sister Ariela and her husband Alessandro, our nieces Azzurra and Camilla, and our nephew Elia are all just a two-hour flight away.

January 2025

Three of us now

In January 2025, we adopted Mutti (yes, we named her after my favorite Italian tomato sauce brand). She became the center of our world overnight. She’s high maintenance, in the best way, and we wouldn’t change her for anything. We’re learning from each other and growing together, the three of us.

Along the way

The adventures

Along the way, we’ve traveled wherever curiosity and friendships took us. San Francisco and New York. Friends in Oregon and Mexico City, business trips that extend into holidays in Costa Rica. Home swaps in Paris, Berlin, and across the UK. Family visits in Italy, Bolivia, and Uruguay. Christmas 2021 in Indiana with Andrea’s brother Sebas, his wife Fu, and our nieces Olivia and Martina, ending with a week at the Orlando parks with the whole family together. Plus more long weekends here and there than we can count.

On our list for 2027: Asia. We’ve never been there on holiday, and Thailand could be our first stop.