Relationship goals: ‘Without your push, we never would have fallen’

Let's be honest, since the advent of social media, public declarations of love have begun to wear a little thin.

Look, we're really pleased for you, but constantly using social media to reinforce just how much you love your SO can get a little wearisome, and dare we say it, dubious.

And yet, despite this, we're still die-hard romantics at heart which is why we're so taken by a recent heartfelt declaration of love which can be found in the dedication pages of Kyle James' book.

The writer, whose book Not Afraid to Fall details the worldwide journey he embarked upon with his girlfriend Ashley, contains a dedication which has literally moved us to tears at SHEmazing HQ today.

Outlining the circumstances which led to the couple's decision to up sticks and travel the world together, he wrote in a recent piece for Cosmopolitan: "In 2015, my girlfriend Ashley and I quit our 9-to-5 jobs and bought one-way tickets from our home in Denver to New York, and from New York to Paris."

"We spent the next 114 days trekking across 15 countries and 38 cities, alone but together."

"Before we left, we'd been dating — in love — for about three years and we'd fallen into routines," he admits.

Kyle goes on to explain that upon returning home he chose to write a book of their experience, and after receiving the first hard copy he took his girlfriend on a hike through the Appalachian Mountains, and asked her to read the dedication.

Ladies, we're gonna prime you here;  this dedication may leave you gruffly wiping tears from your face while promising yourself that your own life-changing journey is just around the corner.

Not Afraid of the Fall – Kyle James from Kyle James on Vimeo.

"Without your push, we never would have fallen," Kyle wrote in his dedication. "You always dreamed of travelling the world."

"When we began dating, it was all you talked about. You told me how you couldn’t wait to get out of this small college town, how you couldn’t wait to experience life through a different lens."

Kyle goes on to explain that he encouraged Ashley to wait until they were both established in their careers, and while Ashley agreed, her dream to travel was a permanent fixture in their lives.

"Each year at midnight, as we toasted our cheap Champagne and kissed softly to the background noise of cheering New Year’s Eve patrons, you asked me to travel the world with you.," remembers Kyle.

"You asked me to take you to romantic corners of Prague and intimate islands in Thailand. You asked me to spend miserable sunburned nights with you in Italy and long days under beach cabanas in the Greek Isles. Each year you asked me and each year I gave you a reason why we should wait."

Kyle then went on to explain that after securing what he considered his 'dream job', he suddenly realised the role wasn't for him and abruptly made the decision to chase Ashley's dreams with her.

"You sat me down on the couch, looked me in the eye, and told me you had a great idea," he wrote. "I was afraid to leave the comfort of our lives in Denver but waking up to your smiling face every morning, eager to explore, assured me that everything was going to be OK."

Together, Ashley and Kyle travelled all over the world, and revealed that their adventure confirmed what he already knew.

"Ash, you are the wind to my sails and the ink to my pen. No matter where I go or what I do, the only thing I am sure of is that I want you by my side," he told her.

"Every cliff I jump off, every moped I crash, every morning after a night of food poisoning, every Mediterranean sunset, I want you by my side. I never want to stop exploring with you, Ash."

Kyle finished the moving dedication with the words; "Will you marry me?"

And we're dead.