At the time of this writing, my wife (Kristen) and I are in our early 40’s and our kids are Hope (11) and Autumn (5). I work in the Finance industry and have been at the same company for almost 20 years! Kristen is predominantly a stay at home mom but also continues to run her horse farm and is dabbling in baking for friends and family. She is a jack of all trades (especially with animals, cooking, and gardening) and she is most definitely the glue that holds our crazy crew together!
As a kid I rarely travelled outside of our home state (Maryland) and most trips were either day trips to amusement parks or annual trips to the nearest beach. My dad has always hated traveling; he would much rather stay home, watch TV, and relax without having to deal with packing, traffic, staying in an unfamiliar place….and just people in general. So this meant that it was normally my mom taking my sister and I on beach trips. Once us kids were old enough to help pay our own way we started venturing out on cruises and more elaborate vacations (camping trips to California and a trip to Ireland). As college ended and I started traveling more with Kristen we kept the same beach trips and cruises but also started taking more motorcycle trips (one to Key West, FL and another passed Niagara Falls and up to Bar Harbor, ME). Unfortunately it is tough to get out on the bike now that we have kids of our own, but eventually I hope to have additional blog posts of future motorcycle adventures! Since COVID and the pandemic in 2020 we also purchased a travel trailer (Rockwood MiniLite 2509S) and ventured up and down the East Coast in this as well.
In 2009 I started running, mostly as a way to lose weight and get back in shape, but also to relieve stress from my job and just have some “me” time. Since 2009 when I could not even run a 5k without walking, I have gone on to complete multiple marathons, ultra marathons, adventure races, overnight relays, triathlons and a Half Ironman. In 2021 Hope also participated in her first super sprint triathlon.
Throughout this blog I hope to cover some of the lessons we’ve learned travelling, before kids and post kids, how travel has changed for us over the years, adventures in camping, and how we plan for vacations. You will also see some posts about running and training and how this helps keep me sane.