2025 Travel Recap

Our 2025 was filled with new adventures and lots of travel to spend time with loved ones, both domestic and abroad.

We started the year with road trips around the Mountain West to visit friends and family in Colorado and Utah and hike in new-to-us national parks in Utah and Nevada, including Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Great Basin.

In the spring, we traveled to Oceania for the first time and loved exploring our sixth continent – Australia – as well as New Zealand. From swimming in the Great Barrier Reef to tasting wine in Barossa Valley, from hiking to views of Franz Josef glacier to cruising the Milford Sound, from learning about Maori culture to spotting kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, glow worms, and gray-headed flying foxes in the wild – it was trip I will not soon forget.

We had a busy summer moving from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the Black Hills of South Dakota where we’re making new friends and getting to know this part of the country. We took road trips to Montana, North Dakota, and Manitoba, and we enjoyed hosting my parents as we experienced more of Rapid City and the surrounding area.

Autumn took us back to Europe for time in the outdoors and the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and fond memories. We started our time on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, driving the Wild Atlantic Way and spending time in Killarney National Park before celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Brian flying to Northern Ireland to ask me to be his girlfriend back in Coleraine and Port Rush. From Ireland, we flew to Germany to catch up with two sets of friends we’ve met on other adventures and enjoyed a short road trip through Austria, Liechtenstein (country 49!), and Switzerland.

We ended the year in the two places I still consider home – Washington and Ohio. I took my annual trip to see friends and former colleagues for a week in Seattle, and Brian and I drove to Ohio (my fifth trip back in 2025) to see friends and family for the holidays.

Despite all of the highs, this year had a significant low – my grandma passed away at the end of November. She was an incredible person, and I tried to capture some of her spirit and my fondest memories of her in this tribute post. The holidays weren’t the same without her, I already miss our phone calls, and I look forward to quietly ringing in the new year at home with Brian where I’m spending time with one of the childhood memory books she wrote for me.

My end of year reflections also include looking ahead to the new adventures we’ve planning for 2026 (Antarctica, Uruguay, the Dolomites, the Gulf Coast, girl trips, and more time in Seattle and Ohio, to name a few!). I am so grateful for the life we’ve built, and I look forward to making every day count.

I hope your 2026 is happy, healthy, and full of people, places, and moments that bring you joy. Happy New Year!