I have always loved a good adventure big or small. Growing up I was blessed to get exposure to both ends of the spectrum. My mom and stepdad had a lake house where we would explore the woods, caves and all things water sports. My dad was a commercial airline pilot based in Phoenix; summers spent with him included flying all over North America. Before I was through middle school I had parasailed in Mexico, fished in Canada, snorkeled in Hawaii and skied the slopes of Banff. We flew to San Diego once just to have dinner (we wanted seafood) and flew home.
Ironically when I met my husband he had never been on a plane! My husband grew up road tripping and camping. He introduced me to the love of National Parks and the art of a road trip. We are based in Kansas City and mainly travel together with our two boys (12 & 14). We have blended our backgrounds to do a mix of local road tripping, outdoor adventures and at least one bigger vacation each year! We have also taken some great couples trips and I occasionally get away for a girls trip.
We are both engineers and my husband is an Eagle Scout. You will not find any blog posts here about a one-way ticket somewhere with no plan or preparation! I hate wasting precious vacation time trying to figure out what we are doing! Depending on the trip, I have at least a rough itinerary with “must dos” and make sure we are doing the preplanning to make it happen, especially when traveling with kids. We are not budget travelers, but we also don’t live the life of luxury! I set budgets for our trips and we pick and choose where we want to put our funds. We may splurge on a few things but sacrifice on others.
For me travel and adventure is more than just touring around, it is: getting away from the daily grind, building confidence, being active, having shared experiences with those I love, strengthening relationships, understanding the diversity in this world, appreciating the beauty of creation and appreciating what I have. These are the things that drive my adventures.