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Packing for Plenty

Minnesota and world wide family travel

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Travel timeline

Steff in Marienplatz Munich Germany

Traveling is one of those things that most people love to do. I think it’s a lot of fun hearing about other’s travels either through tips and recommendations, or listening to their mishaps because travel is not always perfect! If you arrived here from our meet us page and are interested in learning more about where we’ve been and our love of travel keep reading for some of our favorite memories! You can also check out everywhere we’ve been using the fun map on our destinations page.

June 2009

A month after I (Steff) graduated college I did one of the scariest things ever and took my very first international trip and it was SOLO! Virtual fist bump! I want to hear all about your first solo trip in the comments below!

Canada was really where I got my feet wet with traveling. I spent the summer participating in whale research off a teeny tiny island in British Columbia and it was seriously so beautiful. This was such a pivotal time in my life and I think exploring another country on my own caused immense growth and independence. I remember being clueless about flying in general, much less to an international destination. As I was getting my gate check bag I asked one of the workers where I could find my checked bag and he said: “You’ll see it”. Wait, what? Please, sir, help me, I don’t know what I’m doing!

I swore under my breath as I walked away, nearly on the verge of tears. I’m pretty sure I muttered “I am never traveling again” HAHAHA. Oh, boy #dramaqueen. Ultimately I did find my bag and yes, it was pretty easy. Airports can be so intimidating if you aren’t familiar with them though!

whales in British Columbia Canada

May 2011

Ate so many beignets and toured old plantations in New Orleans, Louisiana. My mom’s family live down in the area so I’ve been ten thousand times, but I’ve only done one sort of proper New Orleans trip. However, I was like 7 weeks pregnant and couldn’t do the typical NOLA activity: drink.

New Orleans Louisiana

July 2011

This was a big month for me as I took my first trip across the pond to Europe! I decided to book a group coach tour with the thought that it would be a great way for me to see as much as possible with as little effort needed on my part. Get on the bus in London and have someone babysit me until I flew home. Works for me.

I stood under Big Ben, saw Westminster Abbey, and rode the tube!

Westminster Abbey London England

Double fisted kriek, saw Mannequin Pis, and people watched in the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium.

Grand Place Brussels, Belgium

Ate my weight in pretzels and brats, tried my best to pronounce 24 letter words, and toured castles in Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle Germany

Stood in the middle of a busy square and contemplated how cool my life is while staring out into the countryside of Austria. 

Innsbruck Austria

Rode a cable car up a mountain in Switzerland and said “I’m gonna buy that house” for literally every place I saw.

Village on the lake in Switzerland

Stood under the Eiffel Tower, and meandered farmer’s markets wishing I lived in France instead of Switzerland.

French farmer's market

August 2011

Traveled to Italy and saw the immense beauty that is the Amalfi Coast.

Positano Italy

September 2011  

Moved across the country from Texas to upstate New York.

Letchworth State Park New York

May 2012

Wandered my way down the Las Vegas Strip for the second time.

July 2012

Hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and had my first elk burger.

Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

June 2013

Explored the lighthouses of Maine, visited Acadia National Park, ate my weight in blueberries and lobster.

Bar Harbor Maine

September 2015

Heard my first call to prayer, tried and fell in love with lokma, explored mosques, churches, and cisterns in Istanbul, Turkey. And rode the ferry back and forth between Europe and Asia because HOW COOL!

View of Istanbul Turkey from Galata Tower

December 2015

Moved across the country for the second time…this time it was to Minnesota.

Spoon and Cherry at Walker Sculpture Center Minneapolis Minnesota

January 2016

Was practically detained by border patrol and questioned by 3 agents as to why I was visiting Nova Scotia in the dead of winter. Apparently, “because I want to” isn’t a good answer, but “the flights are cheap” is a marginally better one. Canada is always a pain in the ass for me to enter. Why? Who knows, I’ve never done anything wrong to Canada.

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia

February 2016

Snorkeled with the manatees in Florida and spent the night in the nastiest place I’ve ever been. Took a road trip down to Key West, explored Everglades National Park, and drank mojitos and contemplated why someone would buy invisible fish.

snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River Florida

March 2016

Flew in a helicopter over the beautiful Na’Pali coast and Waimea Canyon Kauai.

Napali Coast Kauai

September 2016

Traveled to Germany for the second time for my best friend’s wedding and returned to my favorite German city of Rothenberg.

Rotenburg ob der tauber Germany

October 2016

Bent over backward to receive the gift of gab in Ireland.

Steff kissing the Blarney Stone Ireland

February 2017

Took my first trip with my then boyfriend! We laid on the beach and drank cocktails, climbed Mayan Ruins, jumped 25 feet off a cliff into a cenote, and had the WORLDS. GREATEST. TACOS in Rivera Maya, Mexico.

Playa Del Carmen Mexico

September 2017

We traveled to Morocco and rode a camel through the desert, spent two-nights glamping under the stars of the Sahara, ate a camel burger (not the guy below) tried my hand at bartering, and wandered the dizzying, chaotic, spaghetti-like alleyways of Marrakech.

Camels in the Sahara Desert Morocco

October 2017

Got stuck in Portugal for 24 hours thanks to the ever brilliant and reliable American Airlines. But we turned a shit experience into one of the best ever!

Once we knew we weren’t going anywhere we hit the ground running to explore what we could of the beautiful Lisbon. My favorite part was walking around at dusk, the streets were incredibly beautiful. Alfama is unreal, too.

Lisbon Portugal at dusk

November 2017

Revisited my old stomping grounds with Pete. We had incredible food – pies, BBQ, Tex-Mex, margaritas and had a great time exploring some of my old haunts.

Longhorn in Texas

March 2018

Visited Pete’s family in the north woods of Wisconsin. We tried cross-country skiing for the first time – he loved it, I absolutely despised it! Which was shocking to me, haha. I did promise him that I would try again next winter after some proper instruction. If it wasn’t winter, you’d see that was, in fact, a lake!

North Woods Wisconsin

May 2018

I flew to Boston for the first time for a work conference. I didn’t spend a ton of time exploring the area but did have a few hours to bum around and act like a tourist. Boston was always one of those places I wanted to visit but never did.

I happened to be there during tulip season and oh my goshhhhhh it’s so pretty! Boston is definitely on my to-do-again list, this time with Pete in tow!

Boston skyline, Boston Public Garden Massachusetts

About 3 days after returning home from Boston, I was off again! This time we were together and headed out to Las Vegas and then on to Utah for our wedding!

We flew to Vegas and got out as quickly as we could. Though, I did force Pete to take me to the Seven Magic Mountains. If y’all haven’t seen this, then it’s a MUST DO! It was originally slated as a 2-year art exhibition in the middle of the desert, but it’s been so wildly popular that it’s now permanent!

It’s a very easy drive, just head south out of Vegas for about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic. Bum around the area, take lots of photos, but please be respectful and don’t graffiti the rocks.

Seven magic mountains Las Vegas Nevada

From Vegas, we drove through the corner of Arizona and up to Springdale, Utah. We rented an adorable little suite/apartment right off the footpath into Zion National Park.

We spent several days hiking Angel’s Landing, the Narrows, the Riverwalk, Hidden Canyon, and the Emerald Pools to name a few. We also spent one day driving up to and hiking Bryce, which was incredible. Oh yeah, and then we got married!

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

July 2018

We took a quick weekend trip down to Chicago for Pete’s uncle’s 90th birthday!  Pete was actually born in Chicago and still has family living down there. I’d never been before so we figured we’d make a whole weekend out of it! We had beef sandwiches, wandered around Millenium Park, went up the Willis Tower, saw Navy Pier, and even had time for the Field Museum. 

Cloudgate Chicago Illinois
Missed opportunity to call this thing “Pinto”

September 2018

We headed back to Germany for one of the greatest days of my life – OKTOBERFEST! We spent some time in the German countryside with my best friend and her family, visited a pumpkin festival, and then hightailed it back to Munich to live it up for a few days. This was so much fun and I cannot wait to go back – maybe next year?!

October 2018

After leaving Germany we flew down to Dubrovnik Croatia and bummed around for 5 days exploring the city, GOT things, island hopping, and eating allllll the seafood. 

#legit

While in Dubrovnik we took a day trip over to Mostar, Bosnia. To say I loved it is a huge understatement. Mostar is an amazing city with some of the nicest people I have met anywhere in the world. 

December 2018

Back to New Orleans! This time with Pete in tow. We spent two nights in a hotel literally right off of Bourbon Street. It was both awesome and horrifying. We both decided that we don’t ever need to go back to Bourbon Street, but it was pretty fun…more fun for him – I was 8 weeks pregnant and New Orleans sober is only so much fun. The last night we spent outside of the Quarter in a much nicer area and went out to explore Frenchman Street.

May 2019

We celebrated our first anniversary and BABYMOON! out in California. I had never been to the West Coast and Pete had spent minimal time in California and always wanted to go back. I’m not sure what we were thinking going out to San Francisco at 7 months pregnant – those hills were NO joke. We spent a few days exploring San Francisco and then drove to Big Sur, which was my fav, obvi. It is incredibly beautiful down there and I can’t wait to go back when I’m in better hiking shape!

September 2019

We took a quick road trip with our 5-week old baby up to Northern Wisconsin – Minocqua! Pete has some family that live in that area and we figured that would be a good first trip for Ella. And we were right! She did great and we had a wonderful vacation hanging out at our lake house, watching the loons, canoeing, and fishing.

February 2020

Ella’s first flight! We love to travel in January or February because the Minnesota winters are downright miserable. We had this trip planned for last year, but upon discovering I was pregnant we decided to hold off a year. She was 6 months old, survived 3 flights, and about 15 hours of travel time to arrive in the beautiful islands of Exuma, Bahamas! While there she learned to crawl and popped her first two teeth. Such a fun vacation.

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I’m Stephanie, a travel obsessed, food loving baby girl and dog mom from beautiful Minnesota!

Here, you’ll find tips for traveling with a baby and curated guides for family friendly Minnesota and world wide adventures. I believe travel and exploration shouldn’t come to an end once you’re a parent.

Come along as we explore Minnesota, the Mid-West, and the world beyond…with a baby and sometimes, a dog, in tow!

Read more here…

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Our wedding day

Koutoubia Mosque Marrakech Morocco

12 brilliant tips to help you enjoy your time in Morocco

Tulum Mexico ruins

An exciting 4 day Playa Del Carmen itinerary

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