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 my meet me page and are interested in learning more about where I’ve been and my love of travel keep reading for some of my favorite memories! You can also check out everywhere I’ve been using the fun map on my destinations page.
June 2009
A month after I 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!
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 yet to do a proper New Orleans trip. One of these days I’ll take Pete down there!
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!
Double fisted kriek, saw Mannequin Pis, and people watched in the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium.
Ate my weight in pretzels and brats, tried my best to pronounce 24 letter words, and toured castles in Germany.
Stood in the middle of a busy square and contemplated how cool my life is while staring out into the countryside of Austria.
Rode a cable car up a mountain in Switzerland and said “I’m gonna buy that house” for literally every place I saw.
Stood under the Eiffel Tower, and meandered farmer’s markets wishing I lived in France instead of Switzerland.
August 2011
Traveled to Italy and saw the immense beauty that is the Amalfi Coast.
September 2011
Moved across the country from Texas to upstate 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.
June 2013
Explored the lighthouses of Maine, visited Acadia National Park, ate my weight in blueberries and lobster.
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!
December 2015
Moved across the country for the second time…this time it was to 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 better one. Who knew. Canada is always a pain in the ass for me to enter. Why? Who knows, I’ve never done anything wrong to Canada.
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.
March 2016
Flew in a helicopter over the beautiful Na’Pali coast and Waimea Canyon 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.
October 2016
Bent over backward to receive the gift of gab in Ireland.
February 2017
Took my first trip with my then boyfriend! We laid on the beach and drank cocktails, climb Mayan Ruins, jumped 25 feet off a cliff into a cenote, and had the WORLDS. GREATEST. TACOS in Rivera Maya, 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.
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.
November 2017
Revisited my old stomping grounds with my then boyfriend. We had incredible food – pies, BBQ, Tex-Mex, margaritas and had a great time exploring some of my old haunts.
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!
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!
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 don’t graffiti the rocks. I saw one that had a heart and someone’s name – so stupid.
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!
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.
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 at 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.
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.
