“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

A Russian Church, in Dutch Harbor, Alaska

My hotel, somewhere in Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Salvador Dali Museum, Spain

At the top of a Cathedral in Strassburg, Germany

Strassburg, Germany

One of my favorite lines from J.R.R. Tolkien is “Not all those who wander are lost.” I've always felt like a wanderer but I've rarely felt that I was lost.

When I graduated from High School one of the most import things on my mind was travel. I couldn't wait to buy my first plane ticket. I was ready to see the world and I wanted to go everywhere. My first trip on my own was to Houston, Texas, then Hawaii, then San Felipe, Mexico, then Mazatlan, next was Steamboat Springs, Colorado, then Washington, D.C., next was a Euro-rail trip (Germany and then France), then the next year I was in England, France, Germany, Italy, and then Spain and then I traveled to N.Y. City. Then, I took a break and got my Bachelor's degree, paused briefly after and then took myself to Alaska for 3 weeks. During many of these trips I tried to convince my friends to travel with me, I managed a few times to drag some on them along but travel for them was different and often difficult. My friends were looking for a vacation get-away but I always wanted something more.

After getting married and having kids, I had the opportunity to travel through my work around the U.S. That was great because I didn't pay for a thing and I was not away from my family long but I was able to spend time in Chicago, Houston, Denver, Atlanta and New York City. Then I headed for the Aleutian Islands in Alaska (scary plane ride with a lot of fisherman in a prop plane).

While I was married my husband and I traveled a few times across country with our kids (they have been in over half of the states) and I was also very lucky to have the chance to travel across the lower U.S. alone with my Dad a few years back... through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Alabama and then to Georgia. That was fun, especially when I made my dad find a 'Whole Foods' for me in downtown, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So this blog is dedicated to us travelers... and to future travel with my girls. I really hope to take them to Africa and New Zealand some day... and enough of the mowing the lawn (my metaphor for boring) and hanging out waiting for something to happen...

Go travel people... bring your kids, quit your job, sell your house... live

Stacey