When a few weeks passed and Nana Prempeh still hadn’t heard from the guy she met on vacation, she turned to her friends for advice.
“At least half of them were like, ‘Don’t call him. Don’t contact him. It’s a holiday romance. It’s done. It’s finished,’ ” Nana tells CNN Travel today.
Nana respected this perspective – it was, she figured, the logical conclusion. She was in London. Edouard, her vacation romance, was in Spain.
But Nana kept replaying their first date in her head – the deserted beach, swimming at dusk, kissing on the sand.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about him,” she says.
A handful of her friends were more magnanimous, suggesting maybe Edouard was busy, perhaps she should wait and see if he called.
One friend’s advice stood out.
“Stood out distinctly …” says Nana. “Because she had actually married a guy she’d met on holiday. And she said, ‘You should go for it. What do you have to lose?’ ”
Nana trusted this friend’s perspective – she knew what she was talking about. So one evening, Nana decided to dial Edouard’s number.
“I picked up the phone, and I called him,” says Nana.
Nana told herself it didn’t matter either way – she just wanted an answer, but whatever the outcome, she’d look back on her time with Edouard fondly.
“I think he was surprised to hear from me, because I could just hear this silence at the end of the line when he picked up,” recalls Nana.
“I said, ‘Is that invitation to come back still open?’ And there was a long pause and he said, ‘Yes.’ ”
A vacation romance
Nana had flown to Ibiza in the summer of 2018 to celebrate her 39th birthday with a group of girlfriends. She saw the trip – and the birthday – as representing a new era. Nana had a busy job working as a lawyer in London. In the past, she’d deprioritized her own well-being.
“But in the lead up to that trip, I’d been working on myself a lot,” says Nana. “I’d bought a flat and was doing lots of yoga, and buying myself flowers every week – trying to focus on being happy.”
With this new mantra in mind, Nana had decided to fly out to Ibiza a few days early “for some me time, just to relax.”
On her first day, Nana lay out on a sun lounger outside her hotel, which was in the north of Ibiza, in the picturesque village of Portinatx.
“I was relaxing by the pool,” recalls Nana. “I looked up from my phone and saw him walking past the pool quite purposefully. He was stereotypically tall, dark and handsome and dressed in black, standing out among the colorful holiday makers.”
Nana didn’t know it yet, but “him” was Edouard – a 40-year-old Frenchman living in Ibiza and working as the hotel experience manager.
“He was tanned, he was tall, very smiley…” Nana recalls.
Nana watched Edouard make his way across the pool area. She was gazing at him, but Edouard didn’t notice her, clearly busy with work.
But the next day, as Nana crossed through the hotel lobby, she spotted Edouard again.
“I was like, ‘Wow, gosh. He’s so handsome. And then he said, ‘Hi.’ And we ended up talking for probably half an hour.”
This time, Edouard noticed Nana. Not only noticed her but was immediately struck by her.
Edouard, who has asked for his last name not to be included in this article for privacy reasons, tells CNN Travel today he fell in love with Nana’s “beautiful eyes, which are almond shaped.”
As they stood together in the hotel lobby, Edouard asked Nana about her impressions of the island so far. When she mentioned she’d been getting taxis around, Edouard encouraged her to rent a car instead.
“Then he said, ‘Come back tomorrow. I’ll have some more tips. I’ll be here around 12 or 12.30,’ ” recalls Nana.
Nana was excited at the prospect of more conversation with this intriguing stranger. She left the hotel lobby feeling good, excited.
“I was on holiday, I’d spent all year trying to work on myself a little bit, to put myself in a better headspace,” says Nana. “Now I’d met this guy who I found very attractive. I had no idea what was going to happen at the time – I just thought he was a handsome guy working in the hotel where I was staying. But that in itself was excitement enough.”
The next day at midday, Nana and Edouard reconvened in the lobby. The conversation started with discussions of Ibiza and Edouard’s recommendations of the island and segued into something more flirtatious and inquisitive.
“What are you doing this evening?” Edouard asked Nana. “Would you like to join me for a swim?”
Nana was thrilled at the prospect. The two arranged to meet on the beach opposite the hotel, at around 6 p.m.
Both Nana and Edouard were excited for their evening swim. Edouard was looking forward to getting to know Nana better as he’d enjoyed talking with her in the lobby.
“Nana was kind, open, attentive and charismatic,” he says.
That evening, Nana got ready in her room, pulling on her favorite green swimsuit. Then she headed to the beach opposite the hotel, which she describes as “a beachy cove with a small but steep hill.”
She figured there was a chance Edouard was waiting on the other side of the hill but hoped that wasn’t the case. It looked pretty steep.
“I didn’t attempt to climb it,” she says. “I just sat on the beach and I waited for him.”
Half an hour passed. Then 45 minutes. There was no sign of Edouard.
“Then, at about seven o’clock, I saw him coming down the hill, saying ‘Where have you been?’ ”
It turned out Edouard had been waiting on the other side of the hill. Nana explained she was hesitant to attempt to climb it, but Edouard said he’d assist her. He took her hand.
“So he helped me up the hill, and we climbed down together,” Nana recalls. “On the other side of the hill was a deserted beach. There was no one there, and it was covered in the most luminescent white pebbles, with clear water. It looked like a swimming pool, really. It was absolutely spectacular.”
Nana took a moment to admire the view, to soak in the moment. She looked at Edouard, who was smiling at her.
Then he pointed at the ocean.
“Shall we get in?” Edouard asked.
Nana followed his lead and the two ran in, laughing and splashing each other as they descended into the turquoise water.
It was so still and shallow that they sat on the seabed, side by side.
“We sat there, and we talked about everything and anything,” says Nana.
The two shared more details about their lives – Edouard mentioned he was from Brittany, in France, where he’d trained as a pastry chef.
“He had a great vibe to him,” says Nana. “I thought, ‘Wow, he’s really interesting.’ And within half an hour, we were kissing.”
Later that evening, Nana and Edouard sat opposite one another on the airy terrace of a restaurant called The Boat House, in nearby Cala San Vicente.
“We drank some cava, and we ordered some food and had a lovely evening, talking,” recalls Nana.
Nana was fascinated by Edouard’s stories of growing up in France and of life in Ibiza. And Edouard enjoyed Nana’s company, too.
“She was so nice and kind and mature,” he recalls. “We had a great time at the beachside restaurant and these were already great memories.”
Over the rest of Nana’s Ibiza vacation, she and Edouard met up several times. They went swimming together, relaxed on the beach, sampled what Edouard promised was the best calamari in Ibiza. When Nana’s friends arrived, they saw how happy she was. They gave Edouard the seal of approval.
On their last evening together, Nana and Edouard went to a restaurant called Es Pins, in the coastal village of Sant Joan de Labritja.
“Es Pins is a restaurant in Ibiza that’s probably not very known amongst tourists, but it’s really somewhere more authentic and local, amazing food,” says Nana. “They do the most amazing tomato and bread salad, which Edouard was a huge fan of.”
It was the perfect final evening together.
“It was there where I took some of my first pictures of him,” recalls Nana.
As she snapped the pictures on her phone, Nana felt glad she’d have them to look back on when she was home in London.
When they said their goodbyes, Edouard told Nana she should come back to Ibiza and visit him again.
Nana hoped they would stay in touch, but in reality, she wasn’t sure what would happen.
“I was a bit like, ‘Well, you’re super tall and good looking. It’s not hard for you to meet women,’ ” recalls Nana. “So I didn’t take Edu’s invitation that seriously at the time.”
The two went their separate ways, happy they’d enjoyed the time they’d had together.
“I’d met a great guy, and we’d had a great week together,” Nana says. “I was about to start a sailing trip around Formentera with two friends.”
Picking up the phone
Nana spent the next week sailing around this Balearic island in the sunshine and celebrated her 39th birthday.
“Life couldn’t be better,” she recalls thinking.
Still, while Nana had said goodbye to Edouard unsure what the future held, she’d expected a few texts from him here and there. Instead, she didn’t hear anything – not even on her birthday.
“I was surprised by that,” says Nana. “And then I flew back to London and I still hadn’t heard from him.”
Nana was disappointed. She surprised herself by this disappointment – realizing that, to her, their connection went beyond just a vacation fling.
And that’s why – some weeks later, after that one friend’s encouragement – Nana decided to pick up the phone and call Edouard.
Edouard was surprised, but happy to hear from Nana. For his part, he’d also assumed their connection might not outlast the week in Ibiza. And he’d been slammed at work through August. Nana’s birthday had slipped his mind. He’d barely had time to sleep, let alone text Nana.
“I’d just met her,” he says. “It was the busiest time of the year working in Ibiza, and the weeks had simply flown by.”
But he was really pleased to hear from Nana. He encouraged her to visit again, and the two arranged that Nana would return at the end of August.
“I was just open to seeing how things went either way,” says Edouard.
In the lead up to Nana’s visit, Nana and Edouard texted regularly. While they were both unsure how their reunion would play out, they found themselves counting down the days to Nana’s trip to Ibiza.
“So, at the end of August, I flew back, and I stayed in exactly the same hotel as the first time, the hotel where he worked,” recalls Nana. “And whilst I was settling into my room – I’ll never forget it – Edu sent a bottle of champagne and some macaroons to my room, alongside a card.”
When Nana saw the gifts and read Edouard’s message inside the card, all her anxieties melted away. She felt certain she’d made the right choice in returning to Ibiza. This feeling only strengthened when she saw Edouard again.
Edouard was also excited to see Nana again.
“I was so happy,” he says of the moment they reunited. “We enjoy a lot of the same things, especially good food, so I knew we were going to have a good time.”
For the next week, Edouard and Nana were pretty much inseparable. Whenever Edouard wasn’t working at the hotel, he was with Nana.
“I got to show her a side of the island most people don’t discover,” recalls Edouard. “Hidden beaches and forests, wide open spaces, and plus lots of local places to eat she otherwise wouldn’t know of.”
“I hadn’t realized how beautiful the island was, away from the crowds,” says Nana. “We ate in all the authentic places, places that you wouldn’t see frequented by tourists – a lot of delicious, authentic Spanish food. We had the time of our lives.”
Moving forward
This time round, when Nana returned to the UK, there was no question of whether they’d stay in touch. Edouard and Nana texted, phoned and video called regularly. Nana booked flights to return to Ibiza at the end of September and visited again in October.
She was falling for Edouard. He seemed to feel similarly. But some of Nana’s London friends were still skeptical.
“One friend was like, ‘You’re the one traveling and going to Ibiza all the time – what is he doing? I don’t see him making much effort for you,’ ” recalls Nana.
Nana understood their concerns, but she felt cared for and safe with Edouard.
“Optically, to people, it may have looked like I was the one putting in all the effort, but once I got off that plane, he looked after me so well,” Nana says. “I never worried about anything. He organized everything, from planning our dates to what we’re going to eat …”
Then, in November, Edouard visited Nana in London for the first time.
“It was exciting,” Edouard says of this trip. He enjoyed seeing Nana’s home and exploring the city where she grew up.
“Just the two of us having quality time,” is how Nana describes Edouard’s first visit to the UK. “It was amazing.”
It was only a few months since they’d met in Ibiza, but Nana and Edouard were already talking about the future. Edouard had lived in lots of places, and was open to adding a new one to his roster. Nana loved the idea of living abroad, too, but her job as a UK-trained lawyer limited her ability to go elsewhere.
“Why don’t you come to London?” suggested Nana one day in early 2019. And within a month or so, Edouard booked a one-way ticket to the UK.
“I hadn’t expected moving to be such an easy decision for him, and so I really respect him for making that decision and taking a chance on me,” says Nana.
For Edouard, it was an easy choice. He knew he wanted to be with Nana and was “really excited” at the prospect of living with her in London.
“I was really looking for a relationship with someone mature, who knew what she wanted – and that was her,” Edouard says.
View this interactive content on CNN.comIt was around this time that Edouard and Nana met each other’s families for the first time. Nana was excited to make the introductions – she’d told her parents about Edouard early on, and they were intrigued.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m seeing a guy who lives in Spain. And I showed my dad his picture, and my dad was like, ‘Wow, he’s quite hairy,’ ” says Nana, laughing.
Nana suspected her parents were a little surprised when Edouard moved to London to be with Nana only six months later.
“But any kind of surprise they had was well-contained,” she says. “My parents have always been really supportive. They like him a lot. They see how much he takes good care of me. They see that he’s responsible and kind and caring and extremely supportive.”
Nana also felt welcomed by Edouard’s family, too. The first time Nana met Edouard’s mother, she asked Nana whether her son treated her well and whether he was kind.
“I think that said a lot about her as a potential mother-in-law, because it sounded like she was on my side, and also that she wanted to make sure that she’d raised her son right, which she did – she did a great job,” says Nana.
“They love Nana,” says Edouard of his family. “They’ve always been really happy for us.”
Making decisions together
Living together in London was an exciting step for Nana and Edouard. They enjoyed eating out at restaurants and weekends spent wandering galleries and museums.
But Edouard’s move to the UK wasn’t without its difficulties. He knew no one in London other than Nana, and he found the city an unforgiving, sometimes lonely place. These feelings were exacerbated when Covid hit the following year.
But when coronavirus restrictions were briefly lifted in the summer of 2020, Nana and Edouard enjoyed several trips to Spain, basking in the sunshine after months confined to Nana’s London apartment.
Nana, who’d always loved London, started to consider the prospect of putting down roots elsewhere.
“And so by the time we got to early 2021, we were thinking about buying a place in Spain,” says Nana.
The couple considered Ibiza, but on a trip to Spain, the couple fell in love with the city of Altea on the Costa Blanca. In early 2022, Nana and Edouard put an offer down on a house there.
At first, they envisaged the Altea house as a vacation home. But in August of that year, Nana and Edouard started wondering if Edouard might move to Spain full-time.
Two years into London life, Edouard was still struggling to find fulfillment in the UK. As much as he loved being with Nana, he missed the friendlier, more laidback Spanish lifestyle.
“It was a tough life in London,” is how Edouard puts it today.
Over a couple of months of long, in-depth chats, Nana and Edouard discussed how they should move forward. While Nana loved the idea of moving to Spain with Edouard, her work still grounded her in the UK. And she enjoyed her job – she’d trained hard to become a lawyer, qualifying later in life – she wasn’t willing to give up her career.
“So I said, ‘Look, why don’t you go back to Spain, and I’ll continue to work in London and we’ll make it work,’ ” recalls Nana.
Nana and Edouard were confident in their love for each other, certain a bit of back and forth from the UK to Spain was doable – not forever, but for now.
So in mid-2022 the couple settled into a new normal – which continues to this day. Edouard lives in Spain full time, working for an IT consultancy firm – while Nana spends weekdays in London and weekends in Altea. She describes herself as “commuting to London from Spain.”
Almost right away, Edouard and Nana felt they’d made the right choice. They focused on making their house in Altea a home and also acquired a cat.
“My work life is in London, but my family life with Edu, with our cat Petra, is in Altea,” says Nana.
“The move to Spain has been fantastic, and it’s been life changing for me on a personal level, and for Edu, it’s like coming back home again. In a lot of ways, it feels like we have the best of both worlds now.”
As well as working as a lawyer, Nana’s also been building a career as a career strategist and mentor. She’s growing an Instagram account, @nanaaaprempeh which she describes as both “creative outlet” and a space “designed to educate, empower and inspire others to be bold enough to pursue the career and lifestyle of their dreams.”
Via her Instagram presence, Nana’s passionate about promoting the fact that life, career opportunities and romantic possibilities don’t end when you hit your 40s.
In fact Nana and Edouard suggest that by meeting a little later, they both had a greater understanding of what they wanted. They knew their relationship was worth fighting for, even when they came across stumbling blocks.
“I think if I’d met him maybe five years before, for whatever reason it may not have worked out,” says Nana. “But I think we were both in a period of our lives where we wanted the same things. And I think because we wanted the same things, we made it work. If you really want something to work and you love the person, then you will make it work.”
Edouard adds that he was “feeling really good about life” when he met Nana – and knows she was, too. He thinks that was important in establishing a solid foundation for their relationship.
“I felt happy with my life, and I didn’t really feel I needed anyone to complete it,” Nana agrees. “But he did come and complement it, and he has made my life so much better for it.”
Their relationship today is defined by “friendship, a lot of mutual support, trust, respect and a whole lot of laughter,” as Nana puts it.
“I can’t think of anyone who makes me laugh more than he does,” she says.
Looking forward to the future
Today, Nana and Edouard are looking forward to a future together. They’re planning to get married next year – “we would love something in Spain, but nothing over the top - intimate weddings are the way forward and in my opinion, far more romantic,” says Nana.
Later down the line, the couple hope to live together in Spain. They also fantasize about exploring the globe together.
“That’s our dream,” says Nana. “We would be together all the time and travel a lot. For now, we take it one day at a time.”
“I’m looking forward to sharing our life together as we have started already,” says Edouard. “We have a lot to look forward to.”
Today, Nana and Edouard look back on the summer of 2018 and feel grateful for their first Ibiza meeting – but especially grateful for the work they’ve both put in to make their love story last.
“Chance can play a part, but not fully,” says Nana. “I went for it, and I called the guy – you’re always told you shouldn’t chase after a guy, but I picked up the phone and I called him, and that changed my life.”
“A phone call can change everything,” says Edouard, who says he’ll always be glad Nana wasn’t “afraid to take this risk.”
“You’ve got to follow your instinct, and you’ve got to follow your gut, and you’ve got to stay true to yourself,” adds Nana. “That paid off in the long term. And you know, even if it were all to be over tomorrow, I would never regret the experience that I’ve had. Not everybody has the chance to find true love in life, and I feel that we’ve been very privileged to have that. And so I would always tell anyone wondering whether to jump into love to go for it.”