Born and raised in northern Michigan, we moved away from our small hometown right after getting married in our early twenties. We soon started a family and frequently moved around the country, finally settling in Kentucky (for now!) Exploring our new locales where we moved to developed into a real love for travel and exploration, first for our new hometowns and then beyond.
Throughout the year, we seek out location-specific experiences, such as zip lining in Costa Rica or hot air ballooning in Napa Valley. Although most of our travel is as empty nester travel nowadays, we still enjoy family trips as schedules allow.
First and foremost, we love the USA, our home, and appreciate the varied landscapes from coast to coast. One of our goals in the USA is to visit all 63 of the U.S. National Parks. Currently, we sit at 26 national parks visited, over one-third of the way to our goal!
It’s no secret that we love Europe and we have visited the continent almost every year for the past decade. We love the history, the architecture, and the culture. Exploring Europe leaves us so fulfilled.
Our biggest travel goal is to visit all seven continents. So far, we have visited North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Besides visiting specific places we have some big adventures in mind! We plan to do the Tour du Mont Blanc in the next couple of years, a trek around Mont Blanc that takes you through three countries: France, Italy, and Switzerland. Within the US, hiking the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim remains at the top of our list.
Making travel goals and bucket lists is fun and exciting, especially as we start planning a trip. As long as we are able to travel, we will do so gratefully, immersing ourselves in the local culture and expanding our minds to view the world with a global lens.
The slideshow below shares some of our favorite travel adventures to date!
My favorite cities in the world are Sydney, Australia and London, England.
We once lived in London for a summer when the kids were little. Mike had a big work project there and the kids and I explored all corners of London!
I am half-German and half-American, with my mom being from Berlin and my dad from Detroit.
Our happy place is our family’s lake house in Michigan. Of all the trips we take each year, this is the one we look forward to the most!
One of my favorite things to do is organizing our home.
I swing by Starbucks a bit too often!
I prefer mountains and forests to the beach.
Two of our favorite things are hiking and wine, so many of our trips involve those two things. We love a great day hike followed by a visit to a winery or a tasting room!
