ABOUT

It’s a very ordinary story, in fact.

One night, a little over fifteen years ago, Allan and I were sitting on the couch talking about our dreams and goals for the future.  One of Allan’s goals was to take a family vacation every year.

While growing up, most of his family vacations were close to home since his family was a farming family.  Still, they were treasured memories.  He wanted to make more of those types of memories with our own children.

My family was scattered across the United States, so road trips to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were part of my childhood.  My dad loved to explore and my mom was always up for an adventure.

My family camped in Idaho and Colorado.  We hiked in Yosemite and floated down the Merced River.  We walked around the square in downtown Granbury, Texas.  We visited the Grand Canyon.  We had Thanksgiving with my grandparents in the desert of Arizona.  We explored the capitol building in Washington, D.C.  We canoed across lakes and backpacked through the Sierra Nevadas.  We rode the train to British Columbia and across the United States from coast to coast.  I looked forward to each and every trip!

As a young couple just starting out, we didn’t have any crazy plans for full time travel, or luxury resorts.  We just wanted to see new places at a price that fit our pocketbook.

We got married.  We honeymooned in Maui (beautiful!).  We spent our days hiking volcanoes, snorkeling at Black Rock, and parasailing over the Kaanapali Coast.  The second year we went to Colorado for a family reunion (peaceful!) and explored French Polynesia (breathtaking!) on a ten-day cruise.

Then we starting having babies.  I’ve heard of people who travel with young kids, but honestly, it stressed me out.  My first child, Brandon, screamed every time we buckled him into his carseat.  He screamed when we buckled him into his stroller.  He screamed if he wasn’t sleeping in his own bed, in his own room, with the door shut.  We were making memories…just not the type I had envisioned.

One time we went camping.  In the middle of the night, Brandon woke up inconsolable.   When we could no longer tolerate the screaming, we left our tent, put him in his carseat and drove home.  Fortunately, we were only about an hour away from home.  The next morning, he was diagnosed with a double ear infection.  Ear infections and cold night air aren’t the great combination.  I started to fall out of love with camping.

Another time, we flew to Virginia.  Brandon ended up having yet another ear infection.  Let’s just say, that experience had me happy to not get on another plane with children for four years.

But eventually, those babies started to grow up, and our annual summer trips and weekend getaways quickly became some of the best moments of our life!

We continue to make family vacations a priority.

We haven’t visited all seven continents (and we might not ever, since Claire, our youngest, has a medical condition and needs to have access to quality hospitals for emergency treatments at times).

We don’t spend thousands of dollars.  Most of our big vacations are under $1,500.  We take vacations that fit our budget and our family.

And they are the vacations dreams are made of.  Vacations where we draw closer together as a family, we get to experience the beauty of God’s creation and the ingenuity of humans.

We get to experience a million magical moments that form a lifetime of memories.

I want your family to have amazing memories, too.  Regardless of challenges, regardless of limited vacation time, regardless of financial resources, travel can be part of your life!

That’s why I created this blog…to help you SEE MORE, SAVE MORE, and ENJOY MORE!

Pursue adventure.  Capture memories.