Our Europe Adventure with the BUNSO Everyday Sling Bag

OCTOBER 22, 2025

Two days ago, Jason and I weren’t sure what the date was.

 

“Is our kidney anniversary today or tomorrow?”

 

We had to look at our Instagram post from 2016 to check what day we posted about “our” kidney transplant.

 

It was October 19, 2016, when we literally became one. Jason had been on dialysis for a year, and I had gotten tested for the heck of it. And turns out, we had the same blood type, and our antibodies were a match.

Spouses donating a kidney to their partner is not as uncommon as you may think. But a fun fact, wives donate more than husbands donate to their wives.

 

Maybe going through childbirth makes us less afraid of pain. 🙂

 

It was months of tests and consultations before I was approved to donate. And with God’s help, it was really a match made in heaven. 

 

My “man-sized left kidney” not only saved Jason’s life but gave him a new lease of life and gave him the energy to be the athlete he once was.

 

The last 9 years have been so blessed and medically uneventful that we lost track of the days, weeks, and years.

 

Before 2016, we lived our lives on a never-ending roller coaster ride, not knowing what would happen next. Jason had a heart transplant back in 2008 after years of being back and forth in the hospital, dealing with cardiomyopathy (enlargement of the heart).

 

But even after the transplant, he continued to experience side effects, which included 18” of his colon being removed, a hip replacement, and, most recently, surviving skin cancer.

 

So, knowing what we’ve been through brought so much more meaning to what we experienced this past summer, which to us was the best summer ever.

From Transplants to Triumphs

We took an amazing 10-day trip to  Europe. He was part of team USA at the World Transplant Games…it’s the closest thing to being part of the Olympics! Being a heart AND a kidney transplantee, Jason competed with other transplantees from all over the world. 

The opening ceremonies included us walking through the streets of Dresden, Germany, where the local folks came out to support and cheer! It was surreal and deeply moving. 
 

We met people from around the world who walked in our shoes, who had the same fears and challenges we had. We had found our tribe.

Jason came in 5th at the golf tournament out of 28 players around the world. Not bad, eh?

 

We spent 5 days in Germany for the Transplant Games and later traveled to Switzerland, then off to Amsterdam. We knew we would be taking trains from country to country and wanted to travel minimally.

 

I only traveled with one carry-on luggage, our BUNSO backpack, and of course, my BUNSO sling bag!

 

Yes, when we think of products, we are the first to use them, so we can experience how our customers experience them.

Travelling Light and Practical with BUNSO

When we were out and about, my BUNSO Everyday Sling Bag was the only bag I brought to Europe, no purse or big handbags, because we wanted to travel light and be practical.

 

I was able to hide my cash and passport securely without fear of them being stolen or falling out.

 

When Jason was doing his practice rounds, I explored Dresden on my own, figured out how to take public trains, and visited museums on my own.

Oftentimes, I would forget that I was carrying anything because I was hands-free at all times, when we’re walking, or jumping on trains, or seeing the amazing sites in Interlaken, Switzerland, as we live out our KDrama “Crash Landing On You” Moments!

 

Yup, we went to Switzerland based on where Captain Ri and Yoon Seri went. That Pierre scene where Captain Ri was playing a piano - yup, we paid 7 franks just to take these photos!

[Yoon Seri, took a boat, we took a boat ride, and the views were ah-ma-zing!!!]

But more than the views, this trip was a trip of a lifetime. A time for us to be able to reflect on what we’ve gone through in our 27 years of marriage, of constant ups and downs in life, and here we were breathing in the beautiful sights and the clean air of Switzerland.

 

It truly was a spiritual moment for us. To simply be. And to look up and to say “thank you” from our core.

 

Looking up from one of the highest views of Switzerland also meant looking back on how far we’ve come and how God’s blessings and mercy pulled us through. 

Conclusion

So we share all this to say that whatever you’re going through today, your story is not over. Whatever chapter you are in your life, your story is still being written. 

 

The same way our story was being written for nearly two decades before we got to where we are now.

 

A place of peace, a place of great health, as entrepreneurs and as parents of young adults.

 

Every chapter is worth remembering, worth feeling, however painful it may be…because one day, you’ll be able to look back from the top of the mountain and look down at the hills and valleys that you walked through and got strength from.

 

The view from the top is so much more beautiful when you know what you survived to get there. 

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