As we head toward 2020 people started posting about what they’ve accomplished in the last ten years. Honestly, it’s crazy and overwhelming to think about the past ten years. We’ve done big things like getting married and moving away from our hometown. We’ve done crazy things like jumping out of an airplane and buying a house (crazy expensive). We’ve done a whole lot of normal things like working, being lazy on the weekends, reading books and spoiling our dog.
We’ve intentionally prioritized travel. It helps that our friends live all over the United States. We’ve also added on to work trips. What’s that trendy new word – bleisure. Like what? Combining work travel and vacation is not a new thing. Anyways. But the real key is budgeting. We save a ton for travel. It makes these ten stories from the last ten years of travel possible.
It was so hard to pick just ten, but I can tell you about being a “DJ” at a bar in Mexico, driving the wrong way down the gaps of Dunloe and so many more the next time we chat.
2011: New York City, New York
Our time in New York City was coming to an end. Amber and I spent the last semester interning in the city with 16 other Baylor Students. It was an unbelievable experience that ignited my love for travel. At the time, I was planning on working in sports after college. I worked at CBS Sports in their PR department during March Madness. But that’s not the point of this story.
My parents visited me at the end of the semester. I was excited to show them the city I’d grown to love. We rented rowboats in Central Park. Amber and I had one boat and my parents the other. We started a friendly competition. It turns out Amber and I are not good at rowing boats. We rowed ourselves in circles. Of course, dying laughing.
2012: Siena, Italy
The Il Palio started in 1590. The modern-day version is a 90-second horse race around the town square. It’s a whole production. The participants dress in traditional garb. Each of the contrade (neighborhoods) have an animal symbol that adorns their streets, flags and more. I don’t remember who won, but I remember watching it in Siena from a restaurant with Paula. After the race was over, we walked out to the back patio with the most gorgeous view.
Side story: I flew to Europe by myself. I got off the plane, directed a taxi and made it to the Airbnb. I had a few hours to explore the city before my friend’s family got back from their day trip. It seems so normal now, but dang I’m proud of myself for figuring it out on my own in a foreign country. This trip started my love affair with Europe. I’ve been back at least four times since then.
2012: Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy
Dang, this trip to Italy has too many memories. Cinque Terre is quite possibly my favorite place in the world. (so far). We swam in the Ligurian Sea, hiked between the five towns and we drank wine. We drank cheap Italian wine before dinner. We drank house wine at the restaurant. We came back and drank more wine.
Side story about getting pickpocketed here.
2014: Puerto Rico
“We can walk on the beach tonight if you want.”
Jon had tried to coax me onto the beach for the last several nights, but I was stubborn. I didn’t want to get all sandy again. We were staying at a guest house in a room that we not so endearingly called the love shack. The room literally had colored glass windows for doors and a tiny padlock to lock it. Jon was pretty upset about it when we got there. I just shrugged it off. I got us into this mess and we just had to make the best of the situation.
A few days into the trip we went off to explore the old forts in San Juan. I handed Jon the lenses cap to my camera and made him pose at the entrance. He stopped paying attention to me for a spilt second. I started reaching my hands into his pockets to find the lenses cap. He grabbed my hand and yelled, “You can’t just go reaching into people’s pockets.” I shrugged it off because I did that to him all the time and slowly glanced down at his pocket. There was clearly a ring box.
I did the only logical thing. I turned around and walked into the fort. We wandered around the fort silently for a few minutes. I turned to Jon and said, “ We can walk on the beach tonight if you want.” He said no.
We looked over the ocean and Jon proposed. “Of Course”. Then I made us take photos for the next forever. We celebrated that evening with a bottle of red wine which we brought home with us. I was putting it out on display recently and noticed the vintage was from the year we started dating.
2014: Sonoma, California
“Vine Yards!” proclaimed after visiting a few vineyards in Sonoma. We enjoyed visiting San Francisco and Sonoma with my parents. This trip started a trend. We’ve now visited vineyards in France, Croatia, California and Canada.
2014: San Francisco, California
We ate at this little diner for breakfast in San Francisco. It was so good that we decided to go again the next day. It started our tradition of the “two-time” restaurant. I know there are so many wonderful places to eat, but when you find a gem it’s hard not to go again. It’s funny because these places aren’t typically fancy, but we think the food and atmosphere are fantastic. I’ve had two friends eat at our “two-time” restaurant in Galway, Ireland. It fills me with so much joy to share our favorite places with others even if they are halfway around the world.
2015: Switzerland
It’s no exaggeration to say I planned our honeymoon before our wedding. We ended up halfway up a mountain in Switzerland. Our lovely host suggested a hike where you walk down the mountain into Lauterbrunnen. The trail winds by houses on the way. At this one house, a black and white cat came out to greet us and then started to walk the trail. We made the typical Lion King joke as the cat stopped and stood on a rock as we passed by. “Everything the light touches is ours.”
A year later a Hungarian hiker posts a story on Reddit about getting hurt while hiking. A cat came to his rescue. I swear to goodness it’s the same cat.
2016: Costa Rica
We arrived at our Airbnb at night. It was so dark we couldn’t see an inch past the back patio. We heard this loud grunting like a wild boar was scavenging the forest. The next morning, we found out the “wild boar” was two pigs in a pen. The next day a dog and cat showed up at the Airbnb. The dog looked like my sister’s dog bean, so we named him Frijoles.
2017: Sweden
My friend bought a Volvo and I got a free trip to Europe. True story. It can be hard to travel with others, but Amber and I are perfect travel buddies. My favorite story about traveling together is taking a ferry from Gothenburg. We wanted to explore the archipelago islands off the coast. We showed up to the ferry terminal and hopped on the first one departing with no real plan on when or if It’d come back.
2019: Truffle Hunting in Croatia
Spoiler alert: Truffle hunting does not involve pigs. Jon had his share of truffles for a lifetime, but it was an awesome experience. Read the whole story here.
For the Next Ten Years
It’s again overwhelming and crazy to think about the next ten years. The potential is exhilarating and debilitating. There is no doubt we will make big moves, be our own kind of crazy and find joy and gratitude in normal, everyday things.
We plan to travel to more of the United States, specifically the National Parks. I’d like to add countries in South America and Asia to our places visited list. I love Europe too much to stay away for too long, so you know a trip or two there.
