Life by Jen

Last week I was researching some travel deals. I do this often with my morning coffee. Far better than reading the news I dare say. My husband asked me about my findings and we started talking flights. He laughed and commented how I come to life when I start talking about travel. It’s so true. I can say, without a doubt, that travel is my passion. It’s my happy place. Right from the start, I love the research and choosing a destination. I love researching new places that we haven’t been, whether that’s Europe or a town a few hours away. I love finding all of the must-dos and the must-sees. I love plotting out our itineraries in a good, old-fashioned spreadsheet. I love mapping out stops and diving into AirBnB listings. I love scouring Trip Advisor reviews. And, oh man, there is no rush quite like clicking “Book Now” on our flights. It’s the best.

Watching the little confirmation screen pop up after book is the best. From finding the perfect plane snacks and excitedly anticipating the airline food (even when it inevitably is actually gross) to walking the aisles of a foreign grocery store and learning new languages, there is nothing like it. Oh, and plane take-offs and landings. I’m like a five-year-old on that one. My dad worked with planes when I was a kid, and it not only brings me back to that, it gives me the same thrill of waiting for a roller coaster to start moving. Best thrill ever. There are, of course, moments when everything goes wrong, like delay flights with overtired, jetlagged kids, or checking into an Air BnB from hell, but we will keep doing it anyways.

We have been quite fortunate to be able to travel with our big family. Since our kids were small, we have always worked hard to include trips to new places in our lives. I could travel every single day of my life, but since that’s not practical with school, kids’ schedule, work, pets, and home, we compromise with a few great trips and year with some little side trips thrown in there.

As a family, France, England, Italy, California, and Hawaii have been the favourites, but my heart cannot wait to check off all of the places in the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die book on my bookshelf. There is no end of places I want to visit. So, I am going to document all of our favourite places as we go, places we get to see, deals we find, food we eat, and more.

I may inundate you with travel posts. I am sorry (ok, no, I’m not). From a recent trip through Montana to our last holiday to Paris and Rome, I’ll share my favourites, my least favourites, my lessons learned, my definitely have to do next times, and more. I love finding treasures and tips on our adventures. I love being inspired to plan trips, planning the trips, anticipating the trips, buying all of the things we need for those trips, going on the trips, and coming home and going through all the photos and videos from the trip. And then… turning around and figuring out the next trip.

One of my favourites is scouring the internet for inspiration for the next trip. Checking out the deals feels like sport. Catching a flight to Paris is amazing, but catching a flight to Paris on a deal feels next level. I hope I can share some of that with you too!

Thanks for sticking around!