6 Things I Learned During 3 Weeks of Traveling The U.S.

Happy Monday darling,

Yesterday morning Steven and I got back from our glorious 3 weeks of traveling! We spent the first few days in Minneapolis, Minnesota to spend time with my niece, then off to Columbus, Ohio for my best friends wedding, we hit up Dallas, Texas to hang out with a few friends we made via Instagram, and thought we'd finish off our trip with our family in Miami! What we didn't know was that we'd have a day in NYC due to a flight delay! It was a wonderful surprise!

This trip has been a dream come true! When I knew I had to fly back to Ohio for my best friends wedding, my biggest desire was for Steven to come with me. Because of his 9-5, we didn't know if it was going to be possible. It didn't take long to convince him to travel with me and as we planned our trip we kept adding locations we wanted to go to. Next time, we're planning on doing a trip to NYC, Chicago, Calgary, and LA! All the places we missed this time around. I think I'll add Portland & Seattle to the list!

Here are a few things that 3 weeks of travel taught me...

1. DREAMS DO COME TRUE
I want to be honest with you, last year was a financially hard year for Steven and I. I lived in the UK as a visitor for most of the year meaning I couldn't work. Living off of Steven's salary alone was tight but we made do. Last year, we couldn't have imagined taking a trip like this! We are so grateful that we could do it this year.

2. YOU CAN MAKE FRIENDS ANYWHERE
Most of you know how nutty I am about Instagram. Our whole trip to Dallas was based around it! Steve and I have never really desired to go to Dallas but after the charity he works for started their U.S. offices there we figured why not?!

We ended up leaving Dallas with a butt load of new friends and amazing memories. All it took was connecting with people via Instagram and they were more than happy to connect with us when we arrived!

3. BBQ IS GOOD!
Most of our time in Dallas was spent finding a good place to get BBQ. Living in England, we don't get these kinds of yummies! By far, my favorite place was Hard Eight BBQ!

4. UNEXPECTED SURPRISES CAN BE THE BEST SURPRISES

When we arrived at the Miami airport on Friday I was so annoyed that our flight had been delayed for over 2 hours. I was annoyed because it took away from the time I could have spent with my family. It took a long time to board everyone on the plane but once we made it to JFK we soon learned that we were going to spend a little under 24 hours in New York! We were stoked! This reminded me that sometimes crappy situations are really just making way for something good ahead!

5. PATIENCE IS KEY
Traveling with your spouse/partner is so much fun but it can require a lot of patience at times. My husband's a bit of a worrywart and I'm way too optimistic for my own good! I had to practice patience. Also, things don't always go your way when you're traveling, you've got to be flexible!

6. TRAVELING REFUELED MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JUICES

I'm a wanderlust babe! If I could spend my whole life traveling, I would. But the reality is that my husband loves his 9-5 and I love working on my business so we need a stable place to work from but that doesn't mean we can't work remotely! This trip was everything I needed to refuel my juices, inspire my creativity, and connect with exquisite people.

I didn't only need a vacation, I needed this trip so that I could keep going. We all need to refuel every once in a while. 

In the words of Grace Coddington, Creative Director at Vogue...

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN. KEEP WATCHINGBECAUSE WHATEVER YOU SEE CAN INSPIRE YOU.

I hope this summer you decided to go somewhere new, somewhere that will inspire you.

Here's to refueling and recharging!

xoxo,

Beth