Hello exchange partners!
Our names are Abby Faires and Josh Dilts, and we both grew up about 15 minutes apart from one another, in the suburbs of a small city called Richmond, Virginia. Abby was actually born in Richmond, but Josh was born in Washington, D.C. He moved to Richmond with his family when he was 10 years old. Even though we grew up just a few minutes apart, we didn’t meet until after we finished high school, when Abby was 18 and Josh was 21.
Josh grew up with his mom, dad and his younger sister, Lindsay. Josh’s dad really loved to go camping and to spend time outdoors, and both of his parents loved traveling and visiting new places. Because of this, Josh spent a lot of time traveling around the United States with his family when he was younger. By the time he was 18, Josh had been to 40 out of the 50 states!
As a kid, Josh really didn’t like having to leave his friends to go traveling on all of his breaks from school, but as he got older, he realized how lucky he was to have seen so many places that many of his friends never had the opportunity to visit. He also realized that these experiences sparked his curiosity about new places and people, as well as his love of adventure. These are two important characteristics that have come to shape much of his life as an adult.
