As a little girl, I was always fascinated with the idea of jet-setting away to exciting destinations in faraway lands.  As a young child, my dad would take me to the airport at night, just to watch the planes taxi down for takeoff amidst the background of runway’s shimmering blue lights.

Many of my weekends as a child were spent at a campground and RV park staying in everything from tents to travel trailers.  Then when I was eight years old, my family crossed the border to go out of the country for the first time for a visit Niagara Falls, Canada.  I was hooked on travel from that point on!

My first time traveling solo was a carefully planned trip by train to visit my sister in Boston when I was just thirteen.  My parents tucked me away safely on the Amtrak rail car with strict instructions not to get off until my stop listed on the ticket stub, where my sister and her family greeted me with huge smiles at the train station upon my arrival.  I thought I was big stuff!  Little did I know that this trip was just a trial run for what was to happen next. 

My first flight experience happened on a blustery, cold, snowy day in January when I was just seventeen.  I held a co-op job during my senior year of high school and by the luck of the draw, none of full-timers that I worked with were available for an incentive trip that the company had won.  By default, I was given an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii!  I went with three other people from the owners’ families that I had never met – and none of my own family!  I really was big stuff then!!

As an early teenager, my family had a motorboat that we would take out into the Indian River Bay near our home.  As an adult, I traded the relaxing enjoyment of a small boat for the thrilling excitement of a cruise ship, where I experienced my first adventure to another continent on a jungle excursion in the South American country of Venezuela!

As I settled into married life, we planned a big annual vacation to a different destination each year.  Our daughter quickly learned the anticipation, thrill and excitement of traveling, as we would take this annual trek on her last day of school each summer.  When she was just thirteen, we lost her father quite unexpectedly.  Determined to continue our family travel tradition, we moved our vacation time to coincide with the annual date of his passing, and her first flight and my first trip out of the country as a widow and single parent was a transatlantic, overnight flight to explore Italy!  “Go big or go home”, right?

Fast forward to my life today.  My love and traveling companion and I have made it our goal to visit all 50 U.S. states.  We are almost there!  Each destination that we visit has unique things to see and do, so our journey is always different.  This is the reason that I have decided to share my travels with you.

I invite you to travel with me as I relive the moments and memories throughout my life’s journey while seeing it through the lens of a tourist’s eye.  Each destination post will share some of the amazing, inspiring, and awesome sights and stories that I have been blessed with experiencing in my travels.  While my blog will chronicle and share my journeys with you, the blog content – well, “it’s about the destination!” 

Are your bags packed and ready to go? I hope you enjoy it!