Last year, for 2024, we made a revolution to post weekly to our newly-founded travel blog. Other than Thanksgiving, we made a post every Thursday about one of our past trips that we have taken together, thus accomplishing this resolution.

In honor of the new year, we are celebrating our blog anniversary with a recap of our travel history and some of our past travel superlatives!

Travel History

2016
July/August: We took a West U.S. road trip through all 11 states west of South Dakota within the first year of our relationship. We spent about 2 weeks camping our way through several national parks and learned a lot about packing for travel on the road, especially with food. We did treat ourselves to a few night’s stays in hotels in Salt Lake City and Denver.

2017
June: We enjoyed our visits through Yellowstone and Glacier so much that we returned the next summer to spend a few extra days camping in each.

2018
March: After graduating, renting our first house together, and getting our first adult jobs, we wanted to make use of our “spring break” and took a wonderful little trip down to Omaha together!

August: Before the school year started up again, we took a road trip down to Texas with Samie’s sister, Alyssa, and her boyfriend at the time (now husband), Evan. We stayed a few nights near Austin before making our way through Corpus Christi before camping right on the beach of Padre Island!

2019
After getting engaged in November of 2018, we decided to take time off traveling in 2019 to save up for our wedding!

2020
August: Despite COVID thwarting our original plans, we had a beautiful backyard wedding in July and decided to take a “mini-moon” to Wisconsin Dells since we were unable to take our initially planned honeymoon.

2021
With COVID still impacting travel, we took another adventure break in hopes that international borders would open up the next summer, and we would be able to take our long-awaited honeymoon.

2022
June: Samie’s sister got engaged at the end of 2020 and planned for a 2022 wedding. We took yet another rain check on our honeymoon so that we could afford to travel to Los Angeles, where Evan and Alyssa live, to host a bridal shower for Alyssa and spend some time with some of our favorite newlyweds in this unexplored and exciting city!

2023
May/June: At last, almost all borders were reopened to visitors after the pandemic, and we finally got to take our much anticipated honeymoon! Although an extremely turbulent winter almost lead to a large hurdle for our departure, everything worked out. We started our adventure in Iceland since this was an affordable place to fly into where we spent a few days before hopping on a flight to Luke’s family lineage country of Norway. We were able to enjoy another day in Iceland on our return home, and it was all well worth the three-year wait!

November: In honor of Samie’s Golden Birthday, we were fortunate enough to be able to travel to San Francisco for a Golden Birthday at the Golden Gate Bridge at Golden Hour. It also worked our for a few members of Samie’s family to meet up with us in San Francisco to celebrate together!

2024
May: Our summer of travel kicked off with a trip to Washington D.C. to accompany the Aberdeen Central Marching Band for their invitation to march in the Memorial Day Parade. We took an overnight bus and had a jam-packed schedule in our nation’s great capital!

July: We found some incredibly affordable plane tickets to Nashville, so we decided to treat ourselves to an extra special early 4th anniversary enjoying the food and fun of Music City!

July: After realizing Winnipeg could be considered a “local” travel destination within our set parameters, we extended an invite to Luke’s family since we had already been able to enjoy several trips with Samie’s family. We took a quick drive north to enjoy the beautiful Canadian city and soak up some serious entertainment at an outdoor comedy festival that included our favorite comedian!

November: Unbelievably, Samie’s sister, Rebekah, turned 13 in November of this year while Samie turned 30 in November as well. This lead up to a joint celebration with a 13 Going on 30 theme in Los Angeles! We were also able to get there a few days early and enjoy an immense amount of beauty and some shopping in Joshua Tree National Park.

Travel Superlatives

Best Food
Luke: This is the hardest award for me to give out. I will single out a dinner we had recently in LA at HomeState Tacos. Tall cans of Modelo and life changing tacos. 10/10

Samie: Although we have a plethora of good options to choose from, the one that keeps coming to mind for me was the skoleboller we had during our stop in Flåm while on our Norway in a Nutshell tour. There’s nothing I love more than a delectable pastry!

Place We Want to Visit Again
Luke: There is a clear winner for me here. I could spend so much more time in Reykjavik, Iceland. The whole city was pleasantly walkable with charming details around every corner.

Samie: While very tempted to agree with Luke, I’m going to give my choice to Bergen, Norway. We only had one singular evening here, and it left me craving so much more! We spent most of our time exploring the Bryggen area, and it wasn’t until it was time to find our Airbnb that we made our way into the less touristy areas of the city, and I would love to actually delve into everything this lovely city has to offer.

Best Accommodation
Luke: Reykjavik has this trophy as well. Our first AirBnB was a perfect “home-base” as we would venture out into the city for a meal or experience.

Samie: I do think I’d have to agree with our first Reykjavik Airbnb as first choice for this one. However, to give another perspective, our Joshua Tree Airbnb was a very close second. The nighttime and sunrise views were ones to behold, and the amenities that included hammocks, a star gazing loft, an outdoor fire pit, and outdoor tubs were ones we greatly enjoyed taking advantage of.

Most Surprising
Luke: I was most surprised by how much I liked Joshua Tree National Park and the Yucca Valley area. I didn’t think I would find the desert as peaceful as I did.

Samie: For me, I was most surprised with how much I loved our trip to San Francisco. Yes, there is a little bias there, but with how large the city is and how loud and crazy it is often portrayed, I was expecting to face the crowds and big city-vibes that I tend to avoid when possible. However, we arrived into the Bay Area at the exact right time because everything was very calm and easy-going during our stay!

Favorite Activity
Luke: A favorite activity we can find almost everywhere is mini-golf. Always a good time and interesting seeing the different courses. (Wisconsin Dells, Nashville)

Samie: This one is the hardest choice for me because while I enjoy trying new foods, the activities and sights is the area that draws me to travel the most. We have such a prodigious amount of activities to choose from, including taking a boat into the waters of Iceland to go Puffin watching, touring Alcatraz prison, exploring the studio lot and reconstructed set of my favorite TV show FRIENDS, enjoying my newly acquired taste for jasmine tea in the Japanese Tea Garden, making faces at Bryan Cranston at the Memorial Day Parade. I could go on. However, I think I’d have to say my choice is the Norway in a Nutshell tour that we took because of how much we got to experience in the duration of 2 days. We saw waterfalls, sailed through fjords, clanked along in trains through stunning Norwegian landscapes and mountainsides. It was too much like a fairy tale to not take the top slot.

Favorite Trip of 2024
Luke: VERY hard decision. All four trips we took were rewarding for different reasons. Between professional development and quality time with family and new experience we had a full year. The combination of experiences, food, and accommodations makes Nashville my favorite trip of 2024.

Samie: I absolutely loved every trip and adventure we were fortunate enough to take this year, but if I had to pick a favorite, I’d have to say was Joshua Tree National Park. There’s something about peace and tranquility with your favorite person that is just hard to beat.