Month One Recap

Where We’ve Been

It’s been a serious whirlwind tour of the Midwest over the last month.  We covered 8 states (Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado), and visited countless family and friends.  Nearly every meal was spent catching up with a different person, and most nights we slept in a different place.  By the end we were feeling a bit exhausted, but so grateful we were able to see each and every one of those smiling faces.

The Highs

• Seeing everyone we miss throughout the year.  And even getting to photograph some of them.  (Like this adorable guy, these sweet neices, and all of this family.)  We already can’t wait to see you all again when we get back.
• Camping in Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin.  Unseasonably warm nights made this a super pleasant option for lodging without crashing in on family and friends every night.
• Trading our skills for two exceptional dinners at St. Louis restaurants, a week of free yoga classes, and a few free nights at a bed and breakfast in Missouri wine country.
• A Brewer’s game and brewery tours in Milwaukee, biking on the Capitol City Trail in Madison, dinner in Chicago’s Chinatown, enjoying cocktails boatside on Lake Michigan…just so many delightful little adventures.

The Lows

• John getting hit by a car while biking in St. Louis.  Fortunately he is fine, but his bike got roughed up to the tune of $400 in repairs.  The driver took off after hitting my hubby, leaving us with the bill.  What the what, crazy St. Louis driver.  Seriously.
• Camping in South Dakota.  It was just way too cold.  Especially when one of us was coming down with a cold.

Things I’ve Learned

If we did all of World Tour at this pace, I’d probably quit after the first month (ok, maybe six weeks.)  Moving around every night is exhausting, and turns life into an indistinguishable blur.  Thankfully, we’ve already planned for this and have no intentions of moving this quickly throughout the world.

I can also tell that I’ve already packed too much stuff.  I intentionally added more clothes to my bag than I will want for the international portion of our trip, but most of those extras seem superfluous.  It shouldn’t be too hard to pare my wardrobe down even further now that I know which clothes really work and what I don’t need.

What’s Up Next

We will be in Colorado for the first half of June.  My sister is getting married in Evergreen and then I have an event to photograph in Denver.  Following that, we’re headed to another wedding out in Cape Cod and a week on the beach!