Jamie Dodd `91 and Chris Dunn `90 were suitemates, teammates, and friends during their time at Brevard College. Luckily, the bonds they created at BC haven’t changed thirty-three years later due to a promise they have maintained one year before heading off for summer vacation.
The promise was to meet in Atlanta, GA, that summer to reconnect and run the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th. Little did they know that this promise would start a tradition: a tradition to travel somewhere together almost every year, even after their time as Brevard College students.
“I like to say that I won the lottery when we crossed paths and shared a suite. Dunn’s influence on me was significant,” stated Dodd. “Sharing a suite with Dunn gave me many great opportunities to learn from him. Like most college roommates, in the evenings we would have conversations about athletics, life, faith, academics, etc. Dunn shared many great nuggets for those who listened and that certainly included me.”
The original idea to meet up in the summer came from a conversation between the two in Ross Hall. Dodd remembers discussing Dunn’s travels from the summer before. Dunn loved to drive his Mustang with a Pinto engine, which he would call “Pintang.” He would take “Pintang” to all of his road races. Dodd recalls that he knew that their summer plans would work out perfectly because of Dunn’s love for travel.Their trip to Atlanta, GA, quickly snowballed into annual vacations together to reconnect after their time at BC. For thirty-plus years, Dodd and Dunn have traveled to various spots in North Carolina, Indiana, Boston, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Florida, among many others.
“We have done some incredible things across numerous states. And we stood with each other on our wedding days,” explained Dodd “We have also celebrated over the phone when our kids were born and celebrated a few birthdays together. For most of the last twenty years, Chris and I lived about 2000 miles apart. I lived in Eastern Virginia and he lived in Denver, CO, but we didn’t let that stop us from connecting and doing fun stuff. There have been some great laughs, and it all started with just an idea to connect for a holiday weekend and we ended up traveling all over the continent together.”
Dodd and Dunn’s most recent trip was in 2022 when they spent Thanksgiving together with their families in Orlando, FL. Since then, Dunn and his family have been traveling across North America in their RV home. They have been to all corners of the continent, and Dodd couldn’t be prouder of Dunn for continuing his passion for travel.
“I hope our story encourages other friends from Brevard College to reconnect when they can, and even travel together! We have the best memories because of this ‘promise’ and I’m excited to continue to make more,” explained Dodd.