Up until I was 18 I had only been to 3 states that we had to fly to. I had been to Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota by car but going on vacations wasn’t a thing in my household. The winter after I graduated high school, I went down to Florida to visit Nick at his first duty station. That was my first time traveling solo and my oh my was it nerve wrecking. But it was so worth it!

Not much longer after that trip, Nick and I got married and 4 months late I moved down to Florida with him! That was my first time living somewhere other than home and it was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. I didn’t go off to college so this was the first had ever been off on my own (I mean, with my husband of course lol). 

My life changed drastically.

When I went to California for my 18th birthday, that was my first time ever seeing the ocean. While living in Florida, I didn’t even care to really go to the beach. Being from the Northern Midwest, I had only been exposed to lakes and rivers. Florida opened my eyes so much that I all I really want to do is travel and see the world! Now that we live in Maryland, I hope to explore the east coast before we leave.

Now for the bucket list part..

After getting more into photography and finding my idols, I have been able to see so many amazing places through their travels for weddings or conferences. 3 photographers that I look up to are Julie Paisley (website), Lauren Fair (website), and Hope Taylor (website). 

After seeing the places they have gone, my list of places to travel have quadrupled and I can’t wait to start checking them off!

My list:

Santorini, Greece

Paris, France

Italy

Switzerland (this is where my moms moms side of the family is from)

Vancouver, Canada

Iceland

Ireland

Germany

Other than seeing where fellow photographers are going, I am surrounded by the military. The hard part of the military is meeting people and then watching them leave when they get orders somewhere else. But the cool part is watching the travels and possibly visiting each other no matter where they or yourself go next.

So far, the states I have been to:

Minnesota (of course lol)

Florida

Maryland

Wisconsin

Iowa

North Dakota

Illinois

Ohio

New York

Pennsylvania

Virginia

Louisiana

Alabama

Arizona

California

Nevada

Missouri

Sadly, the only country I have been to is Mexico but that will change in August when I go to Canada for a very special wedding! I am beyond excited! You would think that being from Minnesota, just hours from the border, that I would have made it there but I didn’t get a passport until I was 20!

Just this year (2018), I will have been in Minnesota 5, possibly 6 times, Missouri, Florida, Arizona, Mexico, and Canada and I hope to add a trip to California at some point. It would be absolutely amazing if I could add a trip overseas but that is probably slim depending on if we are leaving Maryland at the end of the year!

I would love to hear from you on where your favorite vacation spots are! Comment below!! 🙂