I mean… I had to, right? After Detroit, James and I took the Windsor Tunnel to cross over into Canada and visited Niagara Falls.

After our first stop home, James and I ventured onto what we called The Second Leg of the Trip™. Not actually trademarked, it just feels like it should be. We went from Chicago to my aunt and uncle’s lovely cabin in Three Oaks, Michigan, then made our way east to Ann Arbor and Detroit.

The theme of this blog post is “time flies.” It feels like just yesterday we were embarking on the journey around the country. Now we’re done with our year of travel and we’re decompressing and reflecting on the past year.

Well friends, it’s been over a year of living on the road. I’m sad to say that it’s almost coming to an end… It’s been so fun looking back at photos from the past year. Time feels like an illusion. Almost an entire year ago we were in Raleigh, NC visiting our friends Nick and Natalie. It feels like yesterday.

I’ve been on the road for over a year now and have learned along the way what I’ve needed and which things I could probably do without. You’re basically living out of your car so you have to think about everything you’ll need but also try to save on space. Here’s my checklist!

Our next stop after Charleston remains one of my favorites. It was a very quick stop over on our way to our friends’ house in Raleigh.

After a lovely weekend with our friend Criss in Columbia, we made our way to Charleston. I had been to Charleston before but it was James’s first time there.

Following our short stint in Asheville, James and I made our way to Columbia, South Carolina to visit our friend Criss. We always seem to have the most fun when we have a friend to show us around.

The first thing I noticed about Asheville was how close it was to the mountains. You can see mountains from downtown, which is pretty fricken sweet. I can only imagine the day hikes at the Smoky Mountains. The second thing I noticed about Asheville was that it wasn’t very walkable.

Time to take you all the way back to May of 2022 to talk about our long weekend at Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Kind of like time traveling!

Hi friends and family! Happy 2023! Thank you for continuously being patient with me. I know that when I started this whole blog and email list you were probably expecting more frequent and interesting updates about where James and I are in our travels. We’re currently in Sedona, AZ, after spending 2 weeks at home for the holidays. It was relaxing and wonderful to spend time with family and friends.

This marks the part of the trip when we started to realize we need more time in each city. Atlanta is so big and there’s so much to see but we only stayed there for a few days from May 3-6.

After leaving Martha and Tom’s house in Florida (I cried), James and I headed to Hilton Head (see what I did there?). Since it’s right near Savannah, we decided to check it out (in hindsight, we backtracked a bit). Though, to be honest, it was never on our list of potential places to live (and still isn’t), just a fun place to vacay.

The second stop on our journey was Ponte Vedra, Florida, just outside of Jacksonville. Only a couple hours from Savannah, James’s Aunt Martha and Uncle Tom hosted us for a week.

The first stop on our trip after visiting our folks was Savannah, Georgia. I’m telling you, it is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to. Absolutely gorgeous. We had the privilege of vacationing with our friends Erin and Eric, who had been there before, and their daughter Evelyn, who was a first-timer like us. Erin is a planner, so we basically had our itinerary planned out for us. 😭 So amazing.

This blog post is inspired by my pal Claire Connelly who has been blogging about her breast cancer journey. Go check it out—she is hilarious and wrote a haiku blog post about her chemo treatment, which is much better than this one (and probably more correct poetically). While you’re there, check out the rest of her blog. She’s a creative genius.

Well, hello! James and I are currently in Asheville, NC. It’s been about a month since my last post. Turns out that balancing a 40-hour work week with driving, planning, actually seeing a city, and visiting with loved ones is harder than I thought. So I’m here to tell you that I didn’t die, I just haven’t prioritized blogging and sharing my life as much as I would have liked to. It’s called ~ * living in the moment * ~

Ope! Just like that, we’re on our way. After spending a week and a half with my parents in Franklin, James and I are now in Bloomington visiting his parents.

I’ve always wanted to take a year to travel. I’m a big believer in living life to its fullest, taking risks, and having no regrets. Life is short. There is no “perfect” time to follow your dreams.