featured

For fall break 2024, we opted for a staycation. There were a few reasons we chose to vacation at home instead of jetting off somewhere new for the week: The first half …

8 years ago I married this stud, formalizing our love and partnership, and so far we’ve enjoyed a beautiful, exciting and sometimes challenging beginning to this lifelong adventure called marriage! We don’t …

One of the ways that the pandemic has affected the way we think about travel is that we’re currently looking for ways to experience a place while actively avoiding people, which sucks… …

For the first time in 511 days, I went to an airport, boarded a plane, and flew to another city. I can’t think of a time in my adult life when I’ve …

Traveling can force you into compromising your food habits, especially the bad ones. Sometimes you have no choice but to choke down cold pea gazpacho so you don’t appear rude to your …

I meant to post this on Skyler’s birthday last month, but I just never got around to it. You know how it goes. So, a month later, I’m reflecting on the very …

Last month I turned 35…. And I quit my job.*  Tomorrow is my last day at the company that I helped build with my parents and the only job I’ve known for …

Exploring Music City’s Literary Gems: Nashville’s Best Bookstores As a Nashville resident and an avid bookworm, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering some delightful bookstores tucked away in our vibrant city. Whether …

Let me share with you a list of our favorite free or inexpensive things to do with kids in Playa del Carmen! I value working smarter, not harder. I also have to …

The Challenges and Joys of Slow Travel Slow travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. Give me time to settle in, to get a feel for the place, and to …

What is home exchange? Will I like swapping my house? You sleep in other people’s beds? And other burning questions you have about home exchange. We started home exchanging in 2016, and …

10 Surprising Underrated Lesser-Known Family-Friendly Destinations in the United States  Sometimes we end up visiting places we would not have intentionally sought out because we say yes to the unexpected, whether it’s …

Theme parks are my jam. Growing up in Florida, we were fortunate enough to be able to visit them often. Sea World. Busch Gardens. Adventure Island. Universal. Disney. Every year, we’d get …

As I was recently scanning in old documents, I found this short story that I wrote in the 5th grade titled “My Favorite Place.” Immediately, I figured that I must’ve written about …

After a year of not being able to GO anywhere or DO much outside of the house, we were all itching to go and do and not be at home. I needed …

After a month of sickness in the Schwannema household (pneumonia and HFM), several extra crazy weeks at work, and too many late nights and early mornings with the Mooch, the Husband and …

In case you missed any of our blog posts during our awesome six week Eurotrip adventure, you can catch up with this handy list! 🙂

We have now stayed in Playa del Carmen twice, for one month each time, and we have received a lot of random questions from friends, coworkers, and family. We asked a lot …

How do you sum up a city? How do you convey the sense of an entire place, made up of so many people and buildings and cultures? How do you explain how …

Chicago may be my new favorite city to visit. It’s a cheap, short flight to two different airports or an easy 7-8 hour drive from Nashville. It’s big (2.7 million) without being …