<\/p>\n

I am no one special.  I’m just a small town girl who has fallen DEEP for this great big world we live in.  Until my early adult years, I’d thought a “trip” was a drive over to the beach for a week, avoiding jelly fish stings, getting tan, and eating all the junk food we could find.  When my parents did<\/em> try to take us to do something new (Disney), my brother and I both pouted and wanted to go back to the beach and sit and play.  We had zero desire to move out of our “norm”.  <\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right after college, my husband, Brent, joined the Air Force, and this girl was forced to try new things.  While I won’t get into that story, I will say, it was the beginning of me learning to branch out, learning new cultures, learning new personalities, and really the beginning of me learning who “Laura” was.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fastforward to a few years in, when we got the chance of a lifetime.  We were able to hop onto an Air Force plane headed to Italy, for a week long European adventure.  The cost: $85 round trip, for the both of us. How in the world could we say no to that?!  We were still very early into Brent’s Air Force career and there was no way we could have afforded to take a big trip to Italy, otherwise.  We were barely any better off, at this point, than we were on our honeymoon when we took a microwave to Hawaii….but that’s a story for another day!  So, we knew we  had to take advantage of this! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We left our little baby girl, Savannah, home with her grandparents, drove to Baltimore to catch the flight, and we were off.  I cried for two or three days.  I told Brent several times that I couldn’t believe I had left her. I think my exact words at one point were, “Why did you make me come on this trip??”  What a terrible guy…”making” his wife go to the romantic Italian countryside for a week.  How dare he! Ha!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About mid week, I started noticing I was relaxing, using my calling card home just a little less, and really starting to watch the people around me.  As I mentioned, moving from the South to the West was a bit of a cultural shock for me, but seeing Italian live normal, every day lives, was a huge<\/em> shift for me.  There they were, just regular folks, doing what they do, making a living, feeding their families, and enjoying reallllllly long dinners.  My entire Italian adventure will have to wait for another post, but my point here was that this was the beginning of me deciding week long beach trips were NOT the only way I was going to “vacation”.  The world is too big, full of too many amazing people, to not<\/em> go see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, we didn’t immediately start traveling around the world like rockstars.  As you read, I had a baby, we were broke, and then we had another baby.  There wasn’t a ton of time or money to offer to fabulous trips, but the wanderlust desires never left me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We grew up a little, started making a little more money, so the idea of traveling did come up.  We did take a couple of more big trips over those years, which I will get to later, but it wasn’t until 2015, when everything changed for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, we were raising a 9 and 6 year old.  We had moved to Nashville, gotten out of the Air Force, gotten new jobs, and were coasting along.  Then, in two short months, after countless medical exams and doctors visits, boom…the diagnosis….MS.  Excuse me, what?  Brent has MS? You mean this tall drink of water that is as healthy as an ox? Are you sure?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep, they were sure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 As you can imagine, it was a gut punch.  Our outward worries were, “Will he be able to walk Savannah down the aisle one day?” or “Will I (he) still be able to play golf or take my kids on hikes?”  But, I think that was an inward turning point for me.  I may not have known it, then, but I can see it now.  Brent is doing really well.  We pray to God it stays that way.  But, we aren’t promised this.  Just like the diagnosis, our world could turn on a dime, and I am hell bent on us living this life to the fullest, before that happens.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not unique.  Our story is not special.  I think that is why I am so passionate about this travel thing and why I want as many ears to hear me as I can get to listen.  None of know how our days will end.  We all need to get up, live our lives, and leave nothing for later.  Later may never happen, or at least the way you want it to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So my wandering went into overdrive.  Our bank account didn’t really follow the same plans as my head did, so I started learning how in the world it would be possible for us to take as many trips as we could with the amount of money we had, and still be able to pay bills and save.  I started digging, researching, learning the tricks of the “trade”, bouncing ideas off fellow wanderlusters, so that we could make the most out of our trips with the least amount of money!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, here I am.  Seven years into it.  I’ve been asked so many times why I don’t do some sort of travel planning as a job.  My passion doesn’t lie there.  My passion is getting people to experience the same mind-blowing, heart-changing experiences I have.  When I post our trips, I want someone to see something in the photos that makes them say, “It’s our turn,” and go.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been encouraged, on multiple levels, to take whatever this<\/em> is to the next level.  I don’t even know what that looks like.  But getting my proverbial pen to paper seemed like a good start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think my goal here is simple: share my passion, answer questions, give sound advice, and tell my story through it.  I think one of the biggest things that doesn’t get communicated in traditional travel blogs is real life.  I try to do my best to add that to my narrative.  Life happens, mental health gets in the way, people get sick, one of us hates the place and one of us never wants to leave, we fight, we get lost, cars break down, gas stations are closed, and bags get lost.  But you know what you still take away from those hard moments?  The belly laughs that hit you in your core, the deep conversations when you’re forced off social media, patience, understanding,  a sense of accomplishment when you face those hurdles head on, and still get yourself moving down the road.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’ll take me some time to tell the stories that have led to this day, but my hope is, once I catch up, this will be a good place for me to journal our future trips and experiences, along with tips and tricks I find along the way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you’ll come along for the ride!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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