A Decade of Adventure

Today we celebrate 10 years together! A decade full of adventure and love! 🖤

Long before we got our start at blogging, we have been traveling all over together. Just months after we first started dating we took our first cross-country road trip together and then about nine eight years later we traveled across the Atlantic to elope.

So much has changed for us since our first trip together. We have got jobs and built amazing careers. And, most importantly, had to figure out how work-life balance would work for us. That’s why we started this blog… to share the importance of taking time away from demanding careers, to rest and reset, and come back to the office ready to take on the next challenge.

This decade has been so good to us. We’ve been able to see so much, experience so many cultures, and build an amazing relationship together. So without further ado, here are our favorite trips of the decade:

Mackinac Island, Michigan

This was our first trip together and we were in our early 20s and pretty much broke. Marc was getting ready to leave on another tour (more about that next) and we wanted to go do something in the short amount of time we had before he left for the entire summer. Mackinac Island was perfect for the quick trip.

We stayed in Mackinaw City and rode the ferry over in the morning to the island. Because we choose to go in early June, it was pretty quiet still and laid back. We rented bikes and rode around the island’s 8.4-mile motor-free ring road before adventuring into the middle of the island.

Back in the city, we hit up all they touristy shops and putt-putt golfed. The perfect itinerary for a long weekend on a budget.

Warped Tour

Okay so this one wasn’t all fun, Marc was working the summer of 2011 for The Wonder Years on Warped Tour and Katelyn flew out to meet up in California and stayed on the tour until it came back to Michigan. Weirdly, we didn’t take many photos during our time together on tour. Just the one on the beach in Cali.

It was full of long, monotonous days as the tour passed through Mountain View, California; Ventura, California, Bonner Springs, Kansas; and Noblesville, Indiana before getting back to Detroit, Michigan. Tiny bunks on the bus, early mornings, long days in the sun, and lots and lots of people. But it wasn’t all work… we did have two days off where we celebrated the 4th of July in Flagstaff, Arizona and hit up a water park in Amarillo, Texas. Once Warped came through Michigan, Katelyn stayed and Marc carried on for the duration of the summer.

As trying as it was, Marc touring brought us some amazing friendships with people from all over that we still cherish today.

Talk about a test of a new relationship!

Mullett Lake, Michigan

Every July we pack up with Katelyn’s family and a group (30!) of family friends and head to Mullett Lake in Northern Michigan. This is hands down always one of the best weeks of our year. With a large group of friends our age there is always something to do from boating and fishing to lawn games and bonfires. Some of our best memories are in this place. This year we’ll be celebrating our 30th year together.

Hocking Hills & Columbus, Ohio

We are both from Michigan and if you know anything about Michiganders, you know we’re not too fond of Ohio. So we didn’t particularly have high expectations when we set off for a weekend of hiking in Hocking Hills State Park near Columbus. We made a long-weekend trip out of it and it was more than we could have ever expected. One day we hope to carve out some time to go back and hopefully camp closer to the state park.

ST. PETE, FLORIDA

This was a bit of a spur of the moment trip where we didn’t really have much planned or expectations. We flew down to Florida on buddy passes and found a super good deal at a resort on the Gulf. Our main reason (as it usually is) was to go to an art museum, the Salvador Dalí Museum to be exact. Not only is the actual building an architectural marvel, but Dali is also one of Marc’s favorite artists. After that we spent some time exploring St. Pete and going to the beach. But during a drive to Taco Bus we saw a sign for a manatee excursion and we immediately signed up. It was an amazing morning where we took a pontoon boat into Crystal River where the manatees hibernate for the winter. Once in the river we suited up in wetsuits and floated face down on the surface as manatees swam by and came closer for belly scratches. They are such gentle and sweet creatures!

DENVER & WINTER PARK, COLORADO

After attending the 2014 NHL Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs here in Michigan, we knew we just had to make it out to Denver for the 2016 NHL Stadium Series outdoor game against the Colorado Avalanche. Neither of us had never been to Denver before so we were really looking forward to seeing as much of the area as possible before the game.

We flew out of Detroit, landing in Denver very late at night so we grabbed a cheap hotel room near the airport. The next morning we rented a car and drove up into the mountains to Winter Park where we went on a dog sledding excursion. After spending the day in the mountains we headed back down to Denver where we had rented a loft through Airbnb. Our loft’s front door was about a 100 yards from the entrance to Coors Field where the game was to be held in a few days. Perfect location!

The weather was uncharacteristic you warm while we were in town which made the walkable city even more enjoyable. We made sure to to stop by Voodoo Donuts, the Denver Art Museum, Clifford Still Museum, and the Denver Union Station. Finally we met up with some friends who had come into town too for the game and we headed to Coors where the Red Wings were victorious!

ICELAND (TWICE!)

In 2016 we made our first international trip together to Iceland. It was so much more than either of us could have expected. So beautiful, so serene, so perfect. We were there seven days and barely scratched the surface. So when we began talking about eloping in 2018, Iceland was a clear winner.

We’ve shared a lot about Iceland—from camping in Iceland to hiking glaciers and snorkeling in tectonic rifts—and we hope to share more in the future as we are planning to return again soon!

If you’re going to Iceland soon, check out our comprehensive travel guide.

BELIZE

Katelyn wanted to celebrate her 30th birthday somewhere that wasn’t the dreary, cold darkness that is Michigan in January. So we packed up and headed to Belize! We spent some time at a beach resort before moving a few hours inland into the jungle to see some of the ancient Mayan ruins. The trip was eye opening, we experienced a lot of different cultural and economic disparities while there and we definitely found ourselves in some interesting situations. Since we don’t typically like guided trips or all inclusive resorts, we really found our way into the cities and exploring what daily life was like for the locals. This trip was very much off the beaten path and definitely took us a lot of research to figure out how we were going to navigate a country that isn’t set up for tourism but it was an amazing trip… and we managed to leave without getting bit by a botfly (don’t Google it).

NYC

As a fine art museum lighting designer, its is weird that Marc hasn’t spent a lot of time in NYC museums. So we decided to really commit to some extensive museum time in the city. After walking more than 10 miles a day during a long-weekend in New York City, we managed to see SEVEN art museums in just three days. We also managed to squeeze in some time with friends who live locally before heading home. This was one of those trips where you really needed another day off to recover from the whirlwind.

Utah

Wow. Just amazing! This past spring we had to go out to Vegas for a wedding and we had some PTO to spare so we decided to turn it into a longer trip and drive over to Utah. Over the course of three days we ended up all over southern Utah hiking, exploring slot canyons, spending time in Kanab, and sand boarding the coral pink sand dunes. We definitely left thinking there was more to see and that Utah deserves another trip in the future.

That was our decade!

So where next? As we shared earlier this month, your guess is as good as ours. Stay tuned!