Hi, we’re Tom and Kristi. We are starting a new chapter in our lives and we would like to share it with you. We have always been able to explore and travel on family vacations and day trips. We have taken a lot of photos and have tons of memories. Unfortunately, we have a very small family. So, we have all these stories and memories we’d like to share but no one to share them with. We hope that you would enjoy following along with us.
We are living alone for the first time in over twenty years. Our son is a senior in a college which is over one thousand miles away. We are very close but we aren’t able to see him very much, just mostly major breaks. This is very hard but we know this is how it needs to be. Now, the changes that come with time have us here in Tennessee alone. It’s different than we imagined. It’s much quieter. Even though we’re very busy, I don’t think we’ve ever had so much time to think. Think about today, next week and year, etc.
Kristi and I have always loved being together. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing just as long as we’re together. When we were first married we would dream of working together and would constantly brainstorm ideas that would accomplish this. Until we could find something, my job took us all over the country. We loved this since we both like to travel and experience new places.
I worked a lot though and missed our son growing up in his early years. We sacrificed many ways so that Kristi could be a stay-at-home mom. We believed in this wholeheartedly.
Through much sacrifice and taking care of our family, we mostly put ourselves on the back burner. This is normal for families. What I think is not as normal is that we rarely had time together for just the two of us. Hardly ever. Occasionally we might have the opportunity to run errands by ourselves but this was about it.
Now, we’re empty nesters and it’s time for us to do something we’ve always dreamed of. We are going to travel more since that’s our deepest love. We’ve lived in Tennessee for fifteen years now and haven’t seen enough of what’s around us and so many more places.
I think we’re an ordinary couple for our age. We like to cook at home and try new recipes. Some of our favorites are found in the old church and community cookbooks we find at thrift stores. These bring back good family memories of the times when we were young.
We want to share our traveling experiences and favorite spots. If we go on a trail, will go on easy short trail hikes. There are an unbelievable amount of places to get out and see that are easily accessible. You don’t have to travel far away to have great experiences. Unique experiences are everywhere around you. Some may be right around the corner or an hour or two away for a nice day trip. There usually are enough fun experiences to make a day trip. Sometimes, we might map out some highlights in a general direction but we mostly pick a direction and just go. We like to stay off of the interstates as much as possible. We usually plan to use them up to a certain location then continue on state highways, back roads, and gravel roads. Some of our best memories are from deciding to take those little obscure roads that barely show up on a map. From these roads, we’re often reminded of the Talking Heads song “Road To Nowhere” so much that it’s kind of become our travel theme.
Many of our favorite memories and made from the unexpected experiences that we have come across.
Rock People In Northern Iceland
When we travel to Iceland, we always take the Ring Road, Highway 1, all the way around the island. It’s more difficult to experience Iceland’s true culture and beauty by just staying on the Golden Triangle route and the Reykjavik area. Many days we only saw a handful of cars throughout the day which made us feel we had the whole island to ourselves to explore.
Iceland Ring Road
There just aren’t many places where you can be all by yourself on a glacier and watch a herd of reindeer close by. No signs, no boundaries, no people, nothing man-made. It’s just you and nature. One of the strangest sounds I can ever remember hearing was nothing. Yes, nothing. We strained our ears trying to hear something. Not even birds. Just a little wind. When was the last time you didn’t hear anything? With most of our lives, there’s always some sort of noise.
Reindeer By An Iceland Glacier
How nice it was to enjoy the natural views with no distractions! We fought through the temptations to do things while there because we are so accustomed to always doing something. It’s difficult to totally stop being busy and just take in your surroundings without the urge to fidget. Trust me, I often have a short attention span. Try this sometime and let us know what you think.
Solitude At An Iceland Glacier
On one of the road trips we left Tennessee and were on our way to Colorado. We took the Interstate to Topeka then took all back roads through the rest of Kansas.
Kansas Backroads
I know this sounds silly but we were on our way through Greensburg to see the world’s largest hand-dug well. What we didn’t expect to see though was the town that was destroyed and flattened by a category five tornado a few weeks earlier on May 4th, 2007. Only two buildings were standing in the whole downtown. One was the bank and vault. Words cannot describe the different emotions tugging in our stomachs. Empathy for the people and their human and physical losses. Leonardo DiCaprio and Craig Piligian created a reality documentary called Greensburg about the townspeople and their struggles to rebuild their town. We felt we had a deeper connection to the town as we watched every week.
Another unique experience while traveling through Great Britain was when we stopped for a few days in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Newcastle is in the far Northeast of England on the North Sea. This was our second trip through the U.K. and the musician, Sting, who is from Newcastle, was finishing his musical “The Last Ship” at that time. We are big fans and we had already worn the CD out and knew the stories. Much of it is written about his life and the people of the shipyards of Newcastle. One of the primary industries of Newcastle was the shipyards. Many of the workers lived right beside the shipyard in row houses. As a giant ship was nearing completion it would tower over the houses and the neighborhood. We’ve seen pictures where the ships under construction were so big they made the houses look like toy houses. We enjoyed driving through this neighborhood of row houses and imagining the ships as they would stand over over the homes.
Many of Sting’s songs and lyrics mention life around the quay. We call a quay the docks or wharf. One song’s lyrics describe the fishing boats coming and going at the quay. This must have been inspired by his hometown of Newcastle Upon Tyne. One night we stood on the edge of the dock and watched each boat come in and unload their catch. Many boats arrived about the same time making it a very busy quay. We watched the boats under us as each crew processed and iced their fish in the tubs for the market. For a break, we ate fresh fish and chips from nearby. Later, about 11 pm, the trucks from the market would pull up one by one to the boats and wait for them to finish. The tubs of fresh fish were loaded onto trucks and then they were off to market. This was a unique experience standing on edge of the same dock that Sting knew and wrote about.
While road tripping through the Northeast in late Spring we stopped at Baxter State Park in Maine. We woke up and left early not knowing what we might see. Since there were no cars in the parking lot we thought they hadn’t opened yet for the season. It was a pleasant surprise when the visitor center door was open. The park ranger said we had perfect timing since today was the first day they opened for the season and we were the first visitors of the year. This only made getting up early more worth it. The snow had melted just enough to open the trails. It was a perfect day with the blue sky and sun. Cool enough for sweatshirt weather. As we walked the short trail alone we came across a beautiful lake with large rocks. We sat down and just took in the early morning peacefulness and quiet. Slowly, one by one, moose started coming out of the trees all around the lake. We sat quietly for over an hour just watching the moose and taking in the Mount Katahdin scenery.
Baxter State Park In Maine
These are times of personal reflection that we all need. We quietly decided to start walking back refreshed with new memories that will last a lifetime. A few minutes later we suddenly came across a moose just a few feet off the trail beside the lake. It was right there about ten yards beside us and at the edge of the lake. We stood and just watched carefully not to make any sudden movements. It didn’t seem to mind us watching him. He just chewed slowly standing still in one place. This is one of the most serene moments that we’ve experienced. As we stood there the silence was slowly interrupted by the sounds of many happy voices that were drawing nearer. They didn’t know what was ahead until we came into close view. This was a family that suddenly stopped to watch too. We shared this moment for a few more minutes and started back. We began coming across more and more people and noise on the trail and realized we had a truly special morning all alone in nature.
Moose In Baxter State Park
There is so much to see and do on roads less traveled. You never know what might pop up unexpectedly around the next curve or in a small town. The excitement starts when you make that turn onto the smaller highways and back roads. If you’re like us, curiosity keeps propelling you forward in search of discoveries. You just never know what you might find. We want you to see how easy it is to find fun, beautiful, interesting, and easily accessible places. Everyone can do this!
Iceland Ring Road
Small towns are fun. They have unique personalities and quirks. Whether it’s roadside attractions, quirky museums, fun festivals, unusual events, or a robust heritage. Many of our memories of certain small towns are remembered by something unique that stood out.
Getting out there and getting away from it all is what we often try to find. We search for great views with no distractions or those peaceful moments to slow down and reflect. One of our favorite places was Arches National Park in the dark. We were left all alone in total quietness to stare up into the stars. In our busy world, we just don’t get enough quiet and stillness. We will help you find these places too.
Driving Colorado Mountain Roads
We believe everyone should get out and have new experiences from exploring. These can be close to home or far away from home.
We like to travel on smaller highways, back rounds, and through small towns. This is how we experience the culture and people of the regions we’re visiting. Our favorite times are in the off or shoulder seasons for several reasons.
First, this is when it’s when most people don’t travel and we try to stay away from crowds as much as possible. Most of the time we are alone with hardly anyone else around. For the best experience go without the crowds and the extra expenses.
Second, why spend a large amount of your budget when you can see and do the same things for much cheaper. This way you still have extra in your budget so you can travel more than once for the same amount.
Look past your idea of what travelers look like. We want to show how everyone can see something new. You can do this! Come along with us on our travels!
Thanks for following along,
Tom, Kristi, and our two Shih Tzu’s Daisy and Madi
Daisy and Madi
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