Hi, I'm Willow Belden and you're listening to Out There, the podcast that explores big questions through intimate stories in the outdoors.

This episode is sponsored by Ecosia, a search engine dedicated to planting trees.

When you do internet searches, a certain amount of ad revenue gets generated. And when you use ACOSIA, that ad revenue goes toward tree planting in areas

that are suffering from deforestation. It's an easy way to make a very real difference in the

environment without spending any extra time or money.

I just checked the stats, and they're actually pretty impressive.

In the four months since Ecosia started sponsoring the show, out there listeners have done enough searches to plant more than 700 trees.

To keep that momentum going and plant your first tree, head to Ecosia.co.co slash out.

Today's episode is a love story.

It's also about a question that many of us grapple with at some point in our lives.

Is it better to follow your heart or your head?

A lot of times when we're faced with difficult decisions, we have a pretty good sense of what we should do.

But just as often, there's that other half of us that wants to do the opposite,

that little voice that says we should just throw caution to the wind. We realize it's probably

a bad idea going against our own better judgment, and everyone around us also tells us it's a bad

idea. They tell us to make rational choices, to consider the consequences,

to avoid rushing into things hastily. But what happens when we ignore that advice? On this episode,

writer Grace Heens shares the story of a decision she made involving a relationship. It was a choice

that seemed like the epitome of bad judgment,

but that she went ahead with nonetheless.

Tom and I met at summer camp, which I always thought would be the exact kind of thing I would love telling people later in life.

I was 22, fresh out of college and in that fun and terrifying state of endless possibilities.

...