Last summer I grew my first cut flower garden. And I remember thinking, “if I can just grow ONE flower I will view this season as a success.” I had high hopes but was prepared for failure (up to this point I had never grown anything in my LIFE), so you could imagine my excitement and joy when it turned into an abundance of blooms. Too many in fact, that I couldn’t keep up!

My inspiration began from a cut flower book I bought a few years back, featuring a beautiful cover with her dahlia harvest of oranges and pinks thrown over her shoulder in the field. I could have tried growing vegetables for Alex and I to eat – so practical! But I am guilty of first and foremost being a lover of curating beautiful things, and there was something about a cut flower garden and always having a fresh bouquet in the dining table that felt so joyful and romantic🤍

Little did I know how much I would also come to love the daily ritual and meditation that comes with gardening. It gave me a reason to be outdoors and to tend to something outside of the daily musings of life🌱 There is nothing more grounding than being literally in the dirt!

After the first couple weeks of anticipation post-planting, and worrying that all the heavy rains had killed their chance of survival, I began to see their little green stems emerge🤗 In July my first bloom arrived, “Linda’s Baby,” a peachy pink ball variety which felt very special and karmic to me. My mother’s name is Linda (she loves to garden), and fittingly, I was her first baby! They are my favorite variety to this day.🌸

As more blooms arrived I would bring my camera out, thinking surely this is the most beautiful stage it will be. And then kept being surprised by more and more blooms.

With a full garden, the joy only continued with being able to share it with others. The simple act of grabbing shears, a jar, and handpicking a bouquet for someone before I left for town. Or inviting people over to visit, walk through, and pick their own brought such a sense of connection and happiness to me. Just something small and beautiful I can pass into another human and home.

Looking back a year later, I’ve learned so much along the way! But to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I should even write up something like this for others to follow. I have the experience of just one season to collect and share these tips to you, and I still wonder if it was just first-timers luck! 🙂

However, I do feel like there’s SO much to learn going into your first cut flower garden and it’s easy to forget how much research goes into it all. So I’d love to share some of the information I learned from my first summer of trial/error, including things I would have done a little differently…in hopes to spare you some time and get you the basic tips and confidence to get growing your own dahlia garden, by this spring! 🙂

I’ll cover things like:

• Where I buy (and my favorite varieties)
• The importance of soil testing
• When and how to: plant, water, pinch, stake, cut
• Thoughts on fertilizing, and my “low fuss” gardening philosophy in general
• How to manage pests & disease in an earth-friendly way
• How to dig & store tubers for following year

Remember, everything I share is JUST based off my own experience. And some information I picked up along the way through online blogs or books. We all have different zones, weather, available light in our yards, and let’s not forget the biggest player in the game…soil! Each year will also be a little different in terms of weather, nutrients, etc so it’s important to understand the variables involved and always use your best judgement and apply all the information according to what you feel is best for you and your garden.

 

First things first, where to buy!?!

Tubers vs seed

There are so many places that sell dahlia tubers online. I started with tubers instead of seed, as this seemed to be what all my favorite dahlia growers did. And so a lot of this blog post is related to growing from tubers. There are many pros to starting with tubers, such as the aesthetic predictability (they will be identical to the specific variety of the parent plant, vs with seeds there’s a chance for diverse varieties and unpredictability), along with faster growth (in just a couple months you’ll have 4 foot tall flowering plants) vs starting from seed it will take a little longer. If you’re not on a tight budget, and want your flower garden to bloom sooner, or want specific look/varieties, then tubers are the way to go!

To be honest, I kind of just googled “dahlia tubers online” and found my favorites (most user-friendly, lots of varieties and helpful information) were Longfield Gardens and Eden’s Brother’s. I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket, so I picked about three dozen tubers between both (I also ordered through them again for this spring, along with Columbia River Dahlia which had great reviews but I can’t personally vouch for them quite yet). You definitely do not need this much starting off, really just a little 6×6 plot of 4 tubers would be enough to keep you happy in a small space (more on spacing to come)!

My favorite varieties

The ones that did the best in my garden were the ball and dinnerplate varieties, and it just so happens, these were also my favorite looks-wise!

For Dinnerplate varieties (the largest and fluffiest dahlia variety), I particular love the soft creamy ivory tones of the often sought after “Cafe Au Lait” featuring a rosy center, and conversely, the light rosy pink hues of “Breakout” featuring a yellow center.

But I think I will always have a soft spot for “Linda’s Baby,” a peachy pink Ball variety.

I like to have a variety within a garden of complementary shapes, textures, and colors as I feel it provides movement while staying cohesive – both in the garden and in a bouquet.

Last year I went with a pastel/ sherbet mix (with just a few merlot colored ones thrown in), but this year I’m doubling down on the sherbet look. I just love the pinks and peaches and creams! I’m also adding a few sherbet toned cosmos so we’ll see if those take. As much as I love dahlia and the variety they bring, sometimes you just need a few daintier pieces in a bouquet like cosmos or daisies, or maybe smaller ranunculus. But the dahlia have a way of always stealing the show 🙂

 

Testing your soil (yes, you should)

I know it seems like a task you could probably skip, but your garden truly is only as good as its soil. It’s important, especially as a first time grower, to get to know your soil and test what its made of! I bought this soil test on Amazon, and I LOVED how easy it was. Just pull samples from several areas in your garden, mix together to create ONE overall sample. Send it in, get results. And not only a breakdown of your soil, but clickable links to different fertilizers specific to your needs. So so helpful! Here’s a little screenshot of my results. As you can see, I was a little low on one of the 3 big essentials, nitrogen ( the other two being phosphorous and potassium) so adding a little nitrogen fertilizer was going to be super helpful to my dahlia in their initial growing stage (more on fertilization later)!

 

Dahlia Planting 101

Till the soil

If you don’t already have a garden bed, you’re going to want to dig one up and till (loosen) the soil about a foot down. This will not only make it much easier to plant, but will help with drainage, especially if you have thick clay soil like ours.

You could also use beds, however just be aware you may need to water more often. Since we already had a garden bed outlined from Alex’s grandma’s veggie garden, we decided to use that same plot of land for our dahlia.

Also, dahlia love lots of sun, so try and choose the sunniest spot!

Spacing / layout

Each dahlia tuber needs about 36″ / 3 feet side to side, so seeds should be planted roughly 18″ apart. But you could probably get by on 24″ / 2 feet if space is limited. Just remember that you’re going to want space to walk through and tend to plants, so don’t be like me and ignore “rows” and just plant them all over for an abundant look 🙂 Luckily, a few (okay more like *half* haha) didn’t make it to surface, so I ended up with some unintentional bare spots to be able to still access all the plants within my garden 🙂

When to plant

You should always check the weather before you plant and pick a day where there are some sunny days ahead. A healthy tuber should already have enough moisture to be able to bring the plant to surface. So if a ton of rain is in the forecast, that could overwhelm your tuber and possibly lead to root rot – especially if you have heavier clay soil like me. It is best to avoid wet times during this more vulnerable stage and plant when there’s some sunny days in foreseeable future, or just a lighter rain.

One thing that really saved me last spring, was going out to get an emergency tarp to put over my garden as soon as I heard of heavy rainfall / flash flood warnings during their first two weeks. It kept my flower garden area completely dry and dahlia from being flooded in their early vulnerable stage.

I mentioned only half made it to surface, and majority of these were the ones planted in my first round (first week of May, in zone 5a). After my first round, I realized I still had a lot of room in my garden so I ordered and planted more about three weeks later, but those struggled more to sprout. I’m not sure if it was the batch I bought, or because we had a really rainy June and perhaps my soil was too wet unlike the first round. The ones that did work out from our second round also took FOREVER to catch up to my first round in regards to height/blooms/appearance (for a lot of them, they didn’t peak until late September). So this year I intend to put everything in the ground as soon as these conditions are met:

• It is after the last frost date
• Soil has warmed up above 60 degrees
• Weather forecast shows a two week dry span (or just a light rain here/there) *if there’s one off day of heavy rain, consider a tarp
• Not too far into May, ideally

The window will likely be a little tight, but hopefully this year we can get them all in by the first week in May. Remember, the sooner you plant, the longer you’ll have them in your garden to enjoy them :)!

How to plant

Once you have your garden mapped out, it’s time to make some labels. I didn’t have anything fancy so I just used a sharpie marker and some plastic plant markers to stake into the ground. I laid them out in my garden to make sure everything looked good and the colors were arranged how I wanted them before I started to dig. I was going for a mixed color and variety effect. But another good reason to label, is so you know roughly where to expect the plant to emerge (and on the flip side, if it hasn’t emerged and what variety it is – so that you can pay attention to patterns or trends in your garden. For ex: the dinnerplate seemed to take longer to mature than my ball variety).

When you’re ready to dig, you’ll want to make sure there is a large enough hole to fully immerse your tuber, about 6″ deep. The top of the crown (where tuber meets stem) should be covered by no more than an inch of dirt, with the bulbs sitting at the base of the hole (part of my issue may have been that I planted them too deep, with about 1-2″ of dirt above the TOP of crown vs start of crown). There’s usually some excess dirt that comes from the bag it came in, and I like to put that dirt in with it too (I like to think I’m helping it feel more at home, by not completely shocking it with all new dirt and saving a little from their last home :)) I’m not sure if this actually helps but I like to think it does! 🙂

 

How often you should water

As mentioned, the tubers have all the essentials to get the plant sprouted so you really don’t need to overthink this first phase too much, mainly just look out for heavy rainfall and perhaps protect your garden with a tarp. On the flipside, if experiencing a heavy drought during this period, you may want to give it a little drink.

After they have sprouted, you’ll want to make sure the dahlia are getting roughly an inch of rainfall each week. If not, you’ll want to go out every couple days and give it a good drink, but luckily mother nature seemed to give the perfect amount each week during May-July so my first few months of dahlia growing were relatively simple!

If you have clay soil, I do recommend getting a moisture meter, as it can be hard to tell sometimes what’s happening beneath the first few inches of surface. If you have sand soil, you will likely have to water a little more. When in doubt if you are overwatering, operate with less is more (you can typically tell if your plant needs a drink as their leaves will slightly droop).

When your plant becomes thicker and filled with florals, continue to ensure they are getting an inch of rainfall each week, perhaps more if it’s really hot. It’s best to water in early mornings, since evening waterings could promote fungal disease in more humid weather. Mornings allow time to dry out during the day’s sun and also help provide a cooling effect for your dahlia throughout the hot summer’s day, when the plant is more vulnerable.

The best method would be to have a drip irrigation system so the water can go straight to the base and roots in an efficient way (less runoff and water waste) – but not everyone has the time or patience to put that together! In the later months when it rained less, I used an overhead sprinkler. However it’s hard to know when an inch of water has been applied, so I like to place a flatter dish or bowl out in my garden, even though it’s not 100% accurate it can let you know roughly when an inch has been applied 🙂

 

Things to watch for as the plant grows (pre-flowers)

After you’ve planted everything, hooray! Welcome to the waiting game. It takes about two weeks until you’ll see the little stems start to emerge. I would avoid pulling any weeds or laying mulch or anything fancy and just let nature do it’s thing. Once you see the dahlia emerge, you’ll get a better idea of its radius, allowing you to continue to till (loosen the soil) around your plant to encourage better water drainage, pull surrounding weeds that may compete for nutrients, or lay mulch around the plant (but personally I held off on mulch until my plants were bigger and summer weeds were more of an ongoing issue).

Weeds (or is it??)

Reminder: the weeds also get the same amount of water each week 🙂 It was hard for me initially to tell what was a weed and what was a dahlia stem (haha, I NOW can easily tell the difference, but I definitely pulled a few ranunculus stems in my initial de-weeding days on accident. Hence why my flower garden became solely a dahlia garden)!

This is also why it’s helpful to put your plant markers close to where you actually planted them (unlike mine that were a foot away at times). It makes a huuuge difference when you’re inspecting 10 different green things emerging not yet knowing what a baby dahlia looks like. I did try iPhone’s image lookup tool straight from my camera roll, which sometimes helped, sometimes confused me more with its results. And to make it more confusing, I also wasn’t sure what was re-growing in the garden from life prior to us, since Alex’s grandma used it as a veggie garden. Luckily, once I identified one dahlia stem, it was super easy for me to identify the rest.

Helpful note: Dahlia stems will be thicker looking, almost like the start of a succulent. It will also be sturdy and hard to pull out like weeds. Here’s an image for reference:

Pinching

Once your main stem reaches 12-18 inches, you’ll want to “pinch it” (aka trimming the main stem). This is to help promote more side growth and multiple strong stems vs one very large tall stem = more stability (also more of a “full” round look). It’s going to feel counterintuitive, because you want your plants to grow! But I promise, that doing so will help the longevity and strength of your plant, and it will still grow very tall (as you’ll see, on average mine grew 3-4 feet tall and about 2-3 feet wide).

Just make sure not to wait TOO long to pinch. They grow really fast at this stage, and their main stem is actually hollow inside (ex: like a penne noodle). So by the time I went to pinch, majority of my main stems now revealed a significant sized hole down the stem, which is fine and mine still went on fine, but will be more susceptible to pest damage as they love to burrow and feed, which is not what we want to attract inside our main stem.

When pinching, you’ll want to count from the base 3-4 sets of stems from the center stem. Then cut the stem above the 3rd or 4th set like below.

Your first florals have arrived! Now what!?!

 

Clipping

Just like pinching the main stem, it’s going to feel REALLY wrong to cut your first flower. But the amazing thing about Dahlia, is the more you cut, the more they grow which makes them great for season-long summer/fall bouquets. Cutting promotes more growth as it actually sends a signal to the plant that it needs to now produce more. And wherever you cut, it will promote more side growth from that cut location. So it’s always good to cut stems as long as you can, so that more side growth is taking place near the base of the plant (keeping it strong and sturdy) and encouraging more long stems in replacement.

I was so impressed by how strong my initial stems were. This is indicative of a healthy plant. You’ll notice that the more into the season and the more you cut, the stems may end up becoming more frail and have less vase-life longevity (more on nutrients and fertilization later).

 

Staking

We can get some intense winds out in the country, and once my plants were over two feet tall they definitely were more susceptible to wind damage (tall plants = more surface area for wind to have its way with). I did sadly have to lose one of my better plants, and that was a clear sign to me to start staking. I just went to a garden center and got some wood stakes and green ties for the main center stem (nothing overly fancy, more of an “au naturale” simplistic look as opposed to netting or caging that I find kind of takes away from the beauty of a garden). I found one stake per plant was enough to solve the problem. I would not stake TOO early however, because I do think it’s good for the plant to develop some sort of tolerance and resilience to wind (it teaches the plant to become strong for survival). But definitely before they reach 3 feet. Use your best judgement here and if it looks like they’re moving around a little too much out there, play it safe and stake them 🙂

Mulching

As your pretty dahlia come in, you’ll probably decide now is a good time to add a layer of mulch. Not only will it look much nicer, but your weeds are probably getting a little harder to keep up with and a layer of mulch will definitely help tidy things up.

You can also use grass clippings from your yard, just make sure they are dry (best to wait about two weeks before applying to your garden). It’s not the prettiest, but it will help do the job.

We started with grass clippings since we had so much from the grass growth each week at the start of summer, but then as the flowers filled in I wanted something a little nicer looking (plus our grass clippings were starting to decompose a little too much). The mulch I chose was Miracle Gro’s organic which basically means it’s avoiding dyes. Yes the rich brown color will fade, but I was okay with that.

 

Thoughts on fertilization, my “less is more” approach

Because my soil test results showed I was already really high in phosphorous, I didn’t want to add MORE phosphorous as found in a general 10-10-10 fertilization. If you’re wondering the three numbers in a fertilizer represent the % of nitrogen(N)-phosphorous(P)-potassium(K). My results however, did show I was low on nitrogen, so introducing a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer in the beginning stages was something I thought would be helpful to my plants. I loved that my soil test kit results linked me directly to two recommended fertilizers to help my unique results, a 12-0-0 organic, and a 46-0-0 synthetic. I chose the slow-release organic recommendation, and a little goes a long way! I bought a 20 lb bag (not knowing how much I would use) and still have plentyyyy left for this coming season too 🙂 Probably just start with a 5 pound if it’s available online! If saving for future use, keep in mind granular fertilizers have a longer shelf life than liquid fertilizers and can last many years, but organic fertilizers may have shorter shelf lives. Check for clumping or hardening, or foul odor showing signs of mold growth.

When applying fertilizer, it’s good to do it before planting, otherwise along the perimeter of your plants (throughout growing season to provide a steady release of nitrogen throughout the growing season. For more detailed instructions, follow the directions of your specific fertilizer.

I really only applied fertilizer once, when my plants were large enough to be side dressed (since I didn’t apply the fertilizer in time for pre-planting). I probablyyyy should have applied one more time throughout the year, perhaps that would have prevented some of the malnutrition or fungal disease I was seeing?? (still don’t know for sure). But I felt like I would want to do another soil test rather than just *guessing* at what it needed.

I really like to do use a “less is more” approach, and if the plant is growing well, I guess I just let it go well. My thought process is much more relaxed or going off vibes/intuition. If it’s starting to show signs of malnutrition, then yes perhaps another soil test and fertilizer to see what it needs. I’m not saying this is always how I will do things, perhaps in the future I’ll take more of an active preventive fertilizing approach, but for now, while I’m still learning all the ropes, it seems like the less overwhelming path! And the results were *good enough* for me. I’m not in the floral business…yet 😉 BTW, shoutout to the florists, I now have soooo much extra appreciation for you! <3

 

How to manage pests & disease in an earth-friendly way

By far the most challenging part about growing a garden, it turns out, has nothing to do with “growing” (turns out when given the basic ingredients, nature likes to naturally do its thing). What is MOST challenging is managing all the pests that now want to feed off what you’re growing. Being a grower does come with some (not so fun) additional responsibility. You are essentially changing the biodiversity of your backyard, introducing new species of plants, and with it, a habitat for potential new species of animals, insects, etc. It’s important to know how to protect your plants, remove unwanted pests, all without harming the overall ecosystem. For information on the science behind gardening, I highly recommend this book!

 

Common dahlia pests

As soon as my flowers arrived, immediately so did the pests. The colorful flowers are like giant flags signaling them to come on over and check out the new restaurant in town. Japanese beetles (shown below) and Aphids (tiny lime green bugs) are the two most common dahlia pests, at least for my zone 5a.

Because I needed a quick fix (read: went into my backyard and was appalled by a Japanese beetle infestation that ruined all of our raspberry bushes, hostas, apple trees, and now were exploring my dahlia garden), I decided to ask around and got some Sevin’s powder and spray. While it is claims to be safe for pets and won’t harm plants or blooms…I didn’t LOVE the idea of using a harsher chemical in my yard or garden and possibly impacting desired bees/butterflies, etc. The “dust” also does look like dust, and leaves a powdery look over your plants. Not ideal. I also got the spray version that hooks up to a hose, and had to have Alex do it for me because I am very prone to eczema. So also didn’t love the thought of me tending to plants after a round of Sevin’s on them. The pros? It kills the pests on contact, so if you’re having a larger infestation problem…a harsher approach may be necessary at first to get the relief/results you want. And note to self: don’t get too busy during wedding season (or summer season), that you forget to go look and see *up close* what’s going on out there. Things can change within just a few days, as I found out the hard way!

After the initial round of Sevin’s (which did the job thankfully, and removed site of the beetles for the next two weeks), I knew I wanted a more earth-friendly solution moving forward. I was recommended Neem Max (neem oil which is plant-based) for organic gardening, which is a 4-1 insecticide, fungicide, miticide, and nematicide to help control aphids and other adult insects like Japanese Beetles. While it didn’t work as good as the Sevin’s, or perhaps I just didn’t apply well or frequently enough, I’m happy to try it again going into this next season. I think, as long as you catch the problem early before they get too out of hand, and apply more regularly, you’ll be better off than I was being too late to the game and having to resort to Sevin’s.

 

Things I will do differently for next year regarding pests

Because all the Japanese Beetles were such a nuisance to us this year, I researched a little more and learned that their life cycle actually starts as grubs within the ground which become beetles (blehhhk)! So I will be focusing on prevention, so that the grubs don’t grow in our lawn and BECOME beetles flying around and eating our plants and laying more eggs to repeat the cycle. All these things they don’t tell you when you buy a home and decide to garden, right?! Luckily a preventative earth-friendly solution exists, called Milky Spore. Here is the one I plan to apply to our soil this spring, after last frost, and once the soil is above 65 degrees. The best time to plant this however is fall, when they do most of their feeding. For best results, do two rounds in the spring and in the fall, and be patient, it may take a couple years to fully cycle through but they should get less and less.

I’m also starting a veggie garden (ahh can’t believe I’m adding more to the mix lol!) And learned about companion plants. Ex: marigold and dill can help deter unwanted bugs, but attract the good ones we want like bees & butterflies – YES YES YES. So I’m thinking I’ll plant these in between the dahlia (also I’m sure helps with weed growth too :)) win win!

I also recommend this handbook, not just for dahlia growing, but any kind of organic gardening. It’s a quick way to look up your specific plant and see what the common pests and diseases are and how to manage them in an earth-friendly way.

Please remember, I am only ONE year into all this…and just sharing what I have learned and my experiences. By all means do your own research and what you are comfortable with in your own garden (and let me know what worked for you!) 🙂

 

 

Common dahlia diseases

Leafy gall and crown gall are the most common dahlia diseases. Pests can also spread viruses to your plants, so it’s important to manage pests first, and watch for signs of virus or disease. Leafy gall will distort your leaves and shoots, while crown gall will result in tumors on stems or roots. Viruses caused by pests, or fungal infections may manifest in many ways, but some common things to look out for are yellow spotted leaves or veins, shorter flower stems, and droopiness/stunted growth. Unfortunately these also resemble symptoms of simple weather stress.

The only signs of potential disease I had last year were towards the end of my season (September) after a very humid month. I noticed some plants seemed stunted in growth, their petals would fall apart after being cut, and their stems were weak. I also noticed some yellow spots on their leaves. I wasn’t able to easily determine if it was malnutrition, old age, or a fungal disease without a little trial and error.

In case of virus or spreadable disease, I first clipped the plant so that it wouldn’t touch the others nearby (it’s also important to bleach your shears each time you move to a new plant). But I may have contaminated others because in a couple weeks I noticed it on a few other plants. At this point, I still wasn’t sure if it was disease, or malnutrition because interestingly, all the affected plants were my ball variety, and the nearby Dinnerplate variety seemed unscathed. So perhaps my ball variety were not taking well to the recent humid conditions.

Because it was the end of my planting season and less of a pressing issue, I treated for malnutrition first via Epsom salt in case it was low on magnesium, a common issue. I mixed two tablespoons of Epsom salt per gallon of water into a spray bottle and sprayed directly on the leaves for faster absorption. Epsom salt is great because along with magnesium and Sulphur, it also contains micronutrients and is essential for photosynthesis and absorbing the necessary nutrients. Some people even apply it once a month during growing season as it can help produce larger and more vibrant blooms. I probably could have done another soil test to pinpoint what was lacking in my soil, but it was already late in the season and by the time I would get the results it would not even be worth it. While one application this late into the season didn’t revive my plant, it seemed to keep the plant from further regressing and kept me from having to pull the dead bush.

It is important to say, that had I ruled out malnutrition and noticed that it WAS in fact a fungal disease, that it’s super important to fully and immediately remove the plant so it doesn’t spread to more plants in your garden. Again, because it was the end of my season, and it didn’t seem super obvious that it was a disease, I took a more relaxed approach (also ran out of time to keep my science project going due to our fall trip to Italy). But after the fall season was over, I did dig up and discard into the garbage any plants that were iffy to me, versus storing them for the following year. Which brings me to my last!

 

 

End of season & digging/storing tubers

Technically Dahlia are a perennial (meaning they will regrow year after year), however since Wisconsin is a colder climate they do not survive staying in the ground during the winter months. Therefore, if you want to save some money and use your same tubers for next year, you’ll have to dig them out and store them for the winter.

Now, there are a LOT of different ways to do this. And probably each of those ways was better than what I did LOL. To be honest, I was pretty low on time at the end of fall, we were wrapping up our wedding season and I had just come home from two weeks in Italy and was trying to play catch up. The labor of having to pull up all my dahlia out in the cold was…something I wasn’t super eager to do haha! But I would encourage you to do it on a nicer weathered day so you don’t have to rush out in the cold, and so that you have some daylight (sun drying time) left for you to properly wash (if you choose to do so) and let the sun dry them out a little bit.

I waited until last possible moment in November, before first frost, and dug them out trying to beat dusk (it took way longer than I thought and they grew way larger than I thought. I had a struggle even cutting the stems – they were now an inch and a half thick! Insane!!) I simply placed them in plastic grocery bags along with their dirt, not having time to carefully inspect or separate them from dirt and wash them. This kind of goes with my “less is more” approach because to me, it just seemed weird to wash the roots of a plant that is used to being – and thriving – in dirt? To me, as long as the dirt isn’t too soggy where it would cause root rot (like if your basement runs more humid and can’t properly dry out enough), or is too dry (should still try and have a little moisture over the winter)…then I think you’ll be good to go. Typically an old basement like mine is humid enough that it won’t dry them out too much. But if you’re concerned, either mist them once in a while or throw a damp paper towel in with the plant.

I have not checked on mine all winter and I’m kind of scared to…. ha!

I do however plan to wash and inspect them before planting this year. Making sure I’m not planting anything that looks iffy. Since I don’t really know what I’m doing yet, I plan to plant these in the back of my garden (it will be my trial year of storing & replanting), and as backup I did buy a lot of new tubers both old favorites and new varieties to explore for this coming season!

I will likely end up revising this once I go through the actual process, so check back later into the season when you’re ready to dig/store for more updated tips on this from me 🙂

Also at the end of the season, you’re going to want to replenish your soil with as much nutrients as possible, via raw organic matter. We always have tons of fallen leaves in our yard so we like to sprinkle them all over our garden to decompose into our soil over winter.

Fun fact: you can also “split” your tubers. I’m not exactly sure what this all entails (I know you have to look for the “eyes” which for some reason I really hate calling them eyes LOL) I likely won’t have capacity to learn this for this spring, plus I also want a trial run in my garden first to see if last year’s take in my garden this year. But if all goes well on their second season, I do plan to explore this for spring 2026! It’s a nice way to gift your proven winners to others! Family, friends, or maybe you want to run a little side tuber business :)!

Here’s a little glimpse into the end of our season (a mix of some super 8 screenshots +iphone pics (with filmy preset) + some from our backyard shoot with XOME Studio)

 

Final thoughts!

Whew! I know this probably feels like a lot. But I PROMISE taking it step by step and each day as it comes, it will all make sense in no time. And you’ll end the season just as I did, somehow acquiring more garden knowledge in one year than I knew was possible, and perhaps feeling a little bittersweet that the daily ritual has come to a close.

I wish I could express how much this first summer’s garden meant to me. Unlike photos that last generations, flowers of course are fleeting. But in the moment they are lively bursts of color and textures and joy nonetheless. Here’s a few favorites I handpicked and arranged in photo form💐—so I can always remember the joy of my first flower garden🌱 I hope that you will find the same joy, beauty, and passion as I did, and all just a step into your backyard.  xoMeghan

Did you find this article helpful, or are you planning on growing dahlia this year? Let me know in the comments, or share some tips of your own! Happy growing season! 🙂

 

Guys. I am FINALLY ready to recap our first *legit* international European trip. I say legit, because can we really count our van trip around Iceland as quintessential “European”?? Haha, just sliiightly different vibes. After getting our feet wet in international travel, choosing our *second* euro destination seemed like a no-brainer. After seeing countless inspiring photos from coasts to mountains and vineyard valleys, and hearing endless hype on the food, culture, architecture, etc, etc.. we were eager to make ITALY next on our list!

 

Itinerary

We decided (in true Meghan fashion) that we could not just stick to one region, and instead would try to see as much as we *comfortably* could in a 14 day trip (16 if you’re counting travel days, which we did a direct flight round-trip between Chicago & Rome). I understand how privileged we are to take this much time out of work schedules. We booked this trip just a couple months in advance when I realized I had two weekends in a row off weddings (which might have been intentional to save room for such a trip hehe…) and Alex has a flexible work schedule to be able to roll with the punches.

I think after the pandemic, we were running more on a scarcity mindset and feeling like this would be our ONE shot to see it all (in case we can’t travel again). So we wanted to try to see as much as we could in one big trip, versus a few smaller trips over the years. Of course, there is SO much to see in Italy that even spending two weeks there, you’re still never going to see it all. Yes, I am already planning my next trip back lol!

But, for our first trip, we wanted to experience that quintessential Italian culture (with tried and true classic areas like Tuscany where life in the country vineyards is slow paced), mixed with some buzzy hotspot hangouts (like Amalfi Coast and the colorful stacked town of Positano), and lastly, infuse some of our love of the mountains and nature and hiking! So we broke our trip into three different “parts.” All with it’s own Italian personality!

Part 1: Tuscany (5 nights)
1. Pienza / Val d’Orcia (1 night)
2. Siena (2 nights)
3. San Gimignano (1 night)
4. Florence (1 night)

Part 2: Dolomites (5 nights)
1. Alpe di Siusi (1 night)
2. Ortisei (2 nights)
3. Cortina d’Ampezzo (2 nights)

Part 3: Coastal Towns (4 nights)
1. Venice (half day)
2. Cinque Terre (2 nights)
3. Amalfi (1 night)
4. Positano (1 night)

It’s hard to know in advance what a comfortable pace will be. In hindsight, some areas we felt like maybe we could have done with a day or two less (like the Dolomites – I would have done with one less hotel and night), but other parts felt like we definitely needed more time to enjoy (like the Amalfi Coast, definitely need more than 2 nights especially given the journey to get there and back!)

Although it was so exciting to keep seeing new things, in all honesty by day 10 we were starting to feel so exhausted from all the logistics haha. Even if you’re having fun, the logistic stress of it all does creep up on you. And it definitely did end up draining our energy for our final – and MUCH anticipated location – the Amalfi Coast. (Not to be dramatic, but my body ACTUALLY gave out on me and I got physically ill there lol!) So if I were to do this whole trip again I would actually advise to skip Dolomites and save it for a special Lake Como & Dolomites combo trip, separately. Sticking to Tuscany and Amalfi Coast (with still the side stop in Venice) would have certainly still felt like a wonderful tour of Italy. We also would likely only have done 10 days, since that seemed to be the max amount our energy and bodies could take (also when you have doggies at home, you hate leaving them too long!)

 

Packing List

One thing you should know about me, I love packing LIGHT. Especially in Europe, where you are likely going to have to haul your luggage with you – everywhereee. On the trains, metros/buses, ferries, then walking narrow cobblestone streets (that are located outside the city center) to your hotel room…or up many flights of steps. Traveling lightly turned out to be one of the best decisions. Without it, we would have had to rely on a lot of private transfers, or pay extra baggage fees on public transportation, which adds up on time, money, and is yet ONE more logistic you have to plan for.

I have spoken with quite a few people who have gone to Italy – and they ALL recommend the advice to skip the larger luggage and stick with one carry-on and personal item. (For your personal item – I love this vegan leather anti-theft backpack and carry it with me everywhere I sightsee!)

We went in summer so packing everything into one carry-on each was a lot easier than packing for let’s just say, Iceland.

In my carry-on:

• A white linen dress (I’m laughing cause I ended up wearing this nearly EVERYDAY, it was the only thing that felt breezy and comfortable yet still looked timeless/classy while in the hot sun)
• Four linen shorts
• four tank tops
• a button up top
• A couple gowns for at night – TBH I packed a few colorful frilly dresses that I didn’t end up wearing because it was so stupidly hot & annoying in August. If you do pack evening dresses, choose something breezy and timeless that you’ll actually want to wear in the moment. And maybe stick to just one “for show” dress so they don’t overtake your suitcase!
• Sunglasses
• Born sandals (or any pair of sandals that look nice but can still walk in them all day. The Born sandals I wore were pillows for my feet & so amazing in every way, but sadly aren’t available anymore! These are similar, but I’m also eyeing up these for my next Italy trip this summer?)
• A pair of strappy heels (for fancier dinners – or for the pictures ;))
• Pair of white sneakers (for those heavy walking days)
• Two swimsuits
• Undergarments
• A couple laundry detergent sheets (for when you need a refresh!)
• Curling iron – that I don’t even think I used haha
• Makeup – minimal, small bag of essentials + travel toothbrushes, travel deodorant, body wash & face lotion
• Water bottle

 

In my personal item (the anti-theft bag linked above):

• Camera gear
• Phone chargers
• Ear plugs for on the plane
• 2 european plug adaptors
• Car charging port (we would be renting a car)
• AAA International License (if you’ll be driving/renting a car)
• Passport
• Travel/Pocket Wifi

 

Other:

To save room, we did not bring items we could easily purchase there, such as SPF/body lotion. I also did not bring my hairbrush but instead made do with a fold down comb. We used free shampoo/conditioner/soap from hotels (but I recommend having some sani-wipes or hand sanitizer for public transportation). We did also strap a neck pillow to our bag for our overnight flight although it did not help much and we are so terrible at sleeping on planes.

 

Final Notes before Getting Started

Book Regional Trains & Ferries in advance: While it is totally okay to save the inner-city transportation like buses, taxis, for while you’re actually traveling, it was a huge peace-of-mind having all of our major connecting transports between regions booked in advance. Anything too far to technically “walk it”, we booked in advance. It’s also nice to see what the schedule is before booking your daily activities, as you may only find an afternoon connection available.

• For trains, we mainly used the FRECCE trains through Trenitalia
• For our ferry from Naples to Amalfi Coast, we went through a third-party FerryHopper and boarded an “NLG Jet” (but any of the other main ferry brands will also do). We also booked a ferry between the different Amalfi Coast towns through TraVelMar.

 

Book Popular Restaurants & Activities in advance as well:

• Restaurants: As you know, Italians love to eat! And tourists also love to eat! Because many restaurants close around 2:30 and don’t open up again until 7:00pm, it’s important to plan your meals and schedules accordingly so you’re not left with “sorry, we have no availability” everywhere.
  
  We found lunch to be the most challenging time of day to find an opening without reservations since the restaurants are only open for a couple hours (and everyone wants to make sure they fill their bellies before having to wait again until 7:00 dinner!). Europeans also have longer lunch breaks, so they are able to sit and relax longer, making table turnover not so great. Always remember that everything is on European time that we Americans are not used to lol! So if you desire to sit down and rest a bit do make reservations each day of your trip for lunch (or, plan on eating plenty of gelato & sandwiches as you walk!) Although you won’t likely make it to all your reservations perfectly according to plan, it’s nice to have an option in place to fall back on once your hunger brain starts to set in.
  
  
• Tourist Activities: Definitely book popular tourist activities like Sistine Chapel/Vatican, Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery, etc in advance through their actual website, Viator, or GetYourGuide to receive “Skip the Line” priority (unless you want to spend 2-3 hours in line). But do be aware, there is still a tiny bit of a line (due to everyone else also buying “skip the line” tickets haha).
  
  
• Excursions or Beach Clubs: One of the best ways to see the coast is on the actual water. If booking a boat trip (or beach day) of any kind, and if you have more than one full day in the area, always book it for the *first* full day of your stay. That way, in case of bad weather, it can be rescheduled (hopefully free of charge) or you can receive a voucher to use within the week. That way you’ll still have time leftover in your stay to actually be able to reschedule it. We made the mistake of booking our private boat on the Amalfi Coast through Viator for our final day and the weather turned out to be really windy and choppy. We would have loved to reschedule, but unfortunately for us we waited until the last day so it was then or never! It was so beautiful the seasickness was still worth it 🙂

 

Consider the off-season: While we could have waited until the following April, we decided we didn’t want to prolong our travel goals any longer after already having lost some time due to COVID, so we used the only consecutive off-weekends available in August for an end-of-august into September trip. From Aug 22-Sep 6 to be exact.

We knew going in that August would be rough, since this is when Europeans have the entire month off. But we were hoping it would have settled down by end of August as teenagers/young adults/families get back in the School schedule. EEEP! We were still battling so many crowds. Mainly the popular tourist hotspots like Venice and Florence and trending coastal towns (that aren’t meant for big crowds) like Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast. There is so much room in the hills of Tuscany to spread out, that we didn’t feel the effects there. But definitely prepare yourself if hitting up cities and the coast, and consider waking up early to enjoy the day before the crowds!

This time, we will be going end of September into October, and after speaking with a few family/friends who went this exact time last year, the weather was still very hot (and swimmable) so I’m hoping we’ll get that nice weather with a little less crowds. But when in doubt, end of October-April is always a safe bet!

Whatsapp: I HIGHLY recommend downloading Whatsapp in advance and learn how to use it, as a lot of Italians / Airbnb or excursion hosts use this to communicate. We noticed this especially in the Amalfi Coast.

Cash on hand: While it’s not super necessary to have a TON of cash, it is important to have if staying at places like AIRBNBs that require a tourist tax up front (usually just 5 euro or less per person for the entire stay). It is also nice to have if you want to tip a waitstaff who went above and beyond (although not necessary to tip in Italy), or for a taxi driver, or if someone offers you limoncello shots on a ferry, and you think they are free when in fact they are not. It’s nice to have a little cash!

Language: Because this trip was planned only a couple months in advance, we regretfully didn’t have much time during our busy summer schedules to learn much of the language. I STRONGLY advise learning more of the basics than we did (like mainly restaurant lingo would have come in handy). While we did manage to survive with only knowing the basics like hello (“Buongiorno”), and thank you (“Grazie”), knowing a littttttle more would have made our trip more enjoyable and competent. Lowkey still a little scarred from attempting to order our first meal, coming off of an overnight flight on 27 hours no sleep, in a very local/authentic tiny town of Pienza. Literally just trying to just order a table for two and some water HAHA but instead resorting to a lot of sign language and puzzled looks. This is where our journey begins!

 

PART 1: Tuscany

 

PIENZA

After arriving in Rome, we immediately set off in our rental car for our Tuscan Airbnb in Pienza / Val d’Orcia region. Val D’Orcia is likely the area you imagine when you think of Tuscany, with all its picturesque rows of cypress trees, rolling hills, and various wineries and villas perched on the tops of them. We decided to skip Rome, assuming we’d be far too tired after the long overnight flight and no sleep to actually enjoy all that a big city involves. So we planned to hit it at the very end, just before our way home (Spoiler: this never happened, due to getting violently ill. We joke that I may be the only person ever to fly in and out of Rome without actually seeing the Colosseum, or any of it for that matter!)

I’m not sure if starting small –> large was a good or bad decision!?!? Good in the sense that Pienza was a much calmer environment for our tired minds. Bad in the sense that it’s authenticity and small town charm required much more language skills. Turns out our travel WIFI had not yet begun working yet?? Our rental car had some old school navigation system so we were able to find our way in the direction of Pienza. But once in Pienza, we wandered around rather aimlessly, without WIFI to look up information on things like: when the restaurant is open/closed and what kind of food it offers, how do you say “table for two,” and order a glass of water. What does this entire menu mean haha. We couldn’t even look up the directions to our Airbnb – major oops. Luckily, I had the address screenshotted in advance, I recommend saving important addresses somewhere on your phone in case you get disconnected from signal!

 

Our favorite memory: waking up at sunrise the next morning to catch this view of Belvedere all to ourselves (photo spot= Belvedere – SP146, bivio Alteta 52, 53027 San Quirico d’Orcia SI, Italy) **Also yes, their addresses are confusingly worded lol but just copy/paste to google maps and it should pull right up 🙂

Other tip: Don’t drive your rental car straight to your Airbnb address (if it’s in the city center LOL). The roads (can I even call it that??) became so narrow I thought our car wouldn’t fit through and our mirrors would hit the sides lol. Definitely park outside the city center, and walk. (Also, to avoid a $65 fine mailed to you several months later 🙂 Memories & laughs were kind of worth it though??) In other words, we did all the typical stupid American tourist mistakes. I am blaming us going on 27 hours no sleep for our carelessness and confusion lol.

 

 

SIENA

Situated an hour south of Florence, this medieval town with it’s charming main square is not to be missed! I now think of Siena as a mini version of Florence. Coming from the smaller town of Pienza, and not yet hitting Rome or Florence, this was our first time seeing Italian renaissance art and architecture and it felt like the perfect, approachable Italian town. I’d say if Florence seems a bit too big city, Siena will be much more your pace. It will still give you a similar experience in terms of Italian renaissance art and architecture, and a GORGEOUS square, just without everything that comes with a big city!

I highly recommend getting to the main square early and going inside the Duomo di Siena and getting access to the museums (do make sure you cover up or you’ll be given a lovely white toilet paper cover up thinger like me haha). Coming from Pienza it was our first actual “city-like” experience, and it was all the more charming because we arrived before 9am and before the world really woke up. We marveled at the duomo exterior before the lines formed, and went inside which was even more fascinating. Perhaps if you went to Florence first, it would be “a lot of the same” but since this was our first ever art/architecture experience we thoroughly enjoyed this experience!

The streets surrounding the main Piazza del Campo became lively as the day went on. Sooo many different shops and restaurants, I would need a week to explore it fully and give actual recommendations! However, the best pasta I had was in Siena, right on the square. Pecorino cheese is local to this region, and if you can find Cacio e Pepe (Pasta, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano) on a menu, definitely try it in this region as it will be the freshest!! PS: they also do a horse race here twice a year so make sure to look into those dates if you want to avoid (or see) that!

 

 

One thing that was high on my list for Tuscany was to find a quiet respite in an olive grove, preferably with a pool to soak in after a hot day of wandering. Luckily, there are TONS of villas/airbnbs to choose from. Seriously. Even with our last minute trip planning, it took many days just to decide on one. I found this Airbnb in the olive groves to be rather charming and so we stationed here for the next two days, while we enjoyed the town of Siena (an absolute favorite!!), and our pasta cooking class which turned out to be so so precious.

Tourist tax: It is normal for airbnb hosts to ask for your passport at check-in. Many times they will also need to take a photo, or have you scan a photo to send them. While it may seem a bit scammy at first (we were very hesitant, until I googled it lol), this is actually totally normal practice for them and has to do with collecting and paying tourist tax, and having to report any and all guests for tax purposes. Each stay also incurs a small tax (typically under 5 euro/pp), so do make sure to have a couple of small bills with you.

Pasta Cooking Class: One of our standout memories in Tuscany was a recommended Pasta cooking class. However this was not just your average cooking class within a back room of a restaurant or kitchen. This was an immersive afternoon experience, taking you into the fields to forage your herbs from the garden set in the beautiful countryside. After gathering the goods, we learned how to roll our own pasta in this authentic 1600s villa, then ate our (delicious) meal together and drank all the prosecco on the patio, cheered to our first limoncello shot, all in the company of a small group.

Together our group covered almost the entire USA, geographically speaking. Mother/daughter. Friends. Couples. Careers ranging from celebrity chefs to plastic surgeons haha. Everyone was so interesting and it was nice to break up our couple’s trip with some other human interaction (in English!) and comparing notes on each of our Italian adventures so far. Highly highly recommend the pasta cooking class by Lucrezia in this 1600’s villa. You can also choose the dinner version that includes an opera singer (say what?) which I will be trying out next time. (Shoutout to my photographer friend Kim for recommending this experience to me!)

 

 

SAN GIMIGNANO

Okay, San Gimignano just hits a little different. Highly highly recommend spending at least a half day in this old-world UNESCO World Heritage town perched on a hill of surrounding vineyards with famous gelato. I’ll save you the history lesson (google it – so fascinating!), but glancing up at the different towers you can’t help but imagine life years ago when families would actually compete to build the highest tower. Driving through the hills on a summer day, you’ll see the hazy skyline emerge in the distance and it makes it all the more whimsical knowing they are ancient towers that were built hundreds of years ago, as opposed to your modern-day skyscrapers.

As you walk the streets into the heart of the main piazzas, definitely check out these spots:

• Piazza del Duomo (square with cafes & a historic church)
  • We stayed RIGHT on the Piazza, with views looking down at the square. This was probably my favorite airbnb to date. Loved drinking wine in our room at night and glancing down at the terrace dwellers below, the town beginning to glow from street lamps and restaurants. Then walking a few steps down to join them. So romantic. It was so neat in fact, that Alex wouldn’t come to bed, and I have actual video footage him walking around the square at night just taking it all in.
• Piazza della Cisterna (grand square with a historic cistern/fountain)
  • Gelateria Dondoli (world renown gelato – a muuuuust)
    • This was my FIRST experience with gelato in Italy, and now I’m forever ruined
    • I believe I ordered the vanilla with saffron and pine nuts flavor by recommendation
• Via S. Matteo
  • This street in particular I remember being a nice nearby market street with different linen shops and galleries and pottery stores, as well as wine and cheese shops and convenient stores if you’re in need of something to stock your nearby hotel room. But I’m sure there’s more streets we didn’t get to!
• Restaurants
  • My personal advice for San Gimignano (and Italy in general) would be to either look up an amazing restaurant and make a well-in-advance reservation (if you’re a foodie), orrr if your vibe for the day is more about ambiance and wanting to enjoy the people watching, find a restaurant in one of the piazzas and watch it turn into night.
  • Because it is a popular tourist town, it is recommended to make dinner reservations at well sought after spots a month or more in advance (I know, crazy). And definitely within the week for any others. Alex and I were a little more go with the flow this trip on restaurant reservations and planning, so we didn’t have many lined up and probably missed a lot of amazing meals nearby. Buuut, it’s Italy. CAN you *actually* go wrong here haha. When in doubt, pizza.

 

FLORENCE

Because we (unintentionally) skipped Rome, I am so happy we got to experience at least a day in Florence. I have heard from a lot of people that Rome is a bit overwhelming (in size, layout), and underwhelming (in terms of overall vibe), but Florence is really the gem of the larger Italian cities. I have nothing to compare it to, so I really can’t speak on Rome (and I so so hope it’s not as underwhelming as people say!) But after spending only one night in Florence I can absolutely say I loved this city and can’t wait to go back and experience it more.

 

I will never forget our first time walking around the area from our hotel, and seeing the massive Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore peeping ahead of us on the narrow street. Seeing pictures just isn’t enough, the architecture here was just SO impressive.

We stayed just one night at Grand Hotel Cavour and I highly recommend this 4 star hotel for their rooftop bar views over Florence and the Duomo, clean rooms, a great brunch, in an excellent heart-of-city location. We took one of the nicest (and necessary) naps here upon check-in, also their bathrooms are huuuuge. Elegantly styled and spacious. Will actually be staying here two nights on our next girls trip I loved it so much.

My favorite memory was crossing the bridge over to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset (get here early to snag a bistro table and chairs up top. Warning it gets VERY VERY crowded with selfie takers lol). Followed by a romantic stroll at dusk through the Piazza della Signoria where we admired the Fountain of Neptune and watched the flag dancers parade to the beat of a brass band ensemble. Lastly, a night cap and aperitivo on our hotel rooftop. Ahh just the loveliest! Are we turning into city people finally?

One regret: We made the mistake of thinking the Statue of David (located inside the Accademia Gallery) was the iconic museum everyone told us we had to see. We were wandering around the David museum wondering where everything else was (LOL oh goodness). Until finally we realized Statue of David is totally separate from the world renown museum, which we learned is called the Uffizi Gallery. Anyways, I recommend doing both Accademia & Uffizi in the same day (Accademia being a quick side stop), and get your tickets well in advance of course 🙂 I will definitely be seeing all that was missed on my September return to Florence!

 

Part 2: Dolomites

As we said goodbye to the charming hills and towns of Tuscany, I was kind of sad to be leaving it already, but excited to see our long-awaited destination of the Dolomites.

The Dolomites (Italian Alps in northern part of Italy known for its jagged peaks), was actually the reason we put Italy at the top of our travel list. As a photographer, and mountain lover, I just couldn’t not go see this majestic landscape with my own eyes. It was a relatively under-the-radar location, typically you don’t think of this region on your first trip to Italy. But I was determined to make it work in our itinerary, so we carved out time to take a little drive up into the mountains for a few days, exploring various popular hiking towns. Venice was also on this route (just down from the mountains), and so we were able to check off one more bucket-list by venturing out this way.

 

ALPE DI SIUSI / SEISER ALM

 

The day of arrival was actually our 7 year Anniversary, and I don’t think I could have picked a more magical (and bougie) mountain setting for us. This entire town felt like it was made for two kinds of people: elite hikers/photographers/travel bloggers – the ones that have all the know on hiking gear and luxury brands. And the elite “non-hikers” lol (people who booked a secluded getaway through a travel advisor that recommended stationing them in this remotely beautiful location and probably arrived via private jet since virtually nothing else is around lol).

It was incredible. It felt….too beautiful to exist. No crowds or sounds of people. Modern fancy hotels and infinity pools dotted the area, but in a way that still blended into the landscape and Austro/Hungarian architecture. Views of mountains everywhere you looked. Italian cows and rolling hills and little shacks in the distance (some of which you can Airbnb). It was just SO DANG PERFECT.

We stayed at Hotel Rosa Eco Alpine Spa and it was hands down my favorite stay while in the Dolomites. That pool, all to ourselves. Just magic. There’s also an indoor pool and many other spa perks that I didn’t get to enjoy do to our limited time there 🙂 Lastly the five course meal (included in hotel room price). Somehow the best meal I may have ever had in Italy despite being nowhere near anything. It was perfection.

The next morning we woke up for sunrise to get some beautiful shots of the surrounding scenery. Just past a very small village called Compaccio (Compatsch), you will start to see the little shack community and this incredible picture-perfect view of various cabins situated in the foreground of the mountains. I do agree with other photo enthusiasts that it is a landscape photographers playground! The road to access this main viewpoint is only open to the public from 5-9 (hence the hiking). If you want to arrive at sunrise, or before 5, you’ll have to park in Compatsch and hike it (or get an expensive fine!) Or rent a hotel in this specific area, as the roads stay open to those that are hotel guests.

When we arrived for sunset, there was only one other photographer doing the same, which in August, I found to be super surprising since we were in one of the most picturesque locations in all the Dolomites! We did have a bit of cloud coverage so perhaps the other photographers slept in – something Alex would have loved to have done! 🙂

 

ORTISEI

 

We chose this town next for it’s location to Seceda (the epic location I saw that first brought my attention to the Dolomites, a peak featuring a grassy green plateau that jets out towards the sky (if you’re lucky you will get the perfect amount of cloud immersion so it looks like the “ends of the earth” or heaven, or both)! In order to get to Seceda, you have to take a very vertical gondola up (or hike it, which unless you’re a serious hiker I would not recommend haha). It was a pretty penny to make the round trip up, I want to say $70 for the both of us. And the last trip up departed at 4:00 or so (which I didn’t realize so soon, as I had planned to go up for sunset photos)! It was approaching 4:00, and I saw the weather forecast would be iffy during our entire stay, but it looked like we might get a little break in the sky if we went NOW. So up we went!

By the time we got up there (probably 20 minutes later), the clouds were now way more extreme than they looked down below. I worried we missed our window. Sure enough, nearly a minute later, dense rain clouds came in and we became entirely soaked within seconds and no end in sight. But I – Meghan – crazy photographer – having come all this way to Italy, rented a car up the mountains including this scary cable car just to see this vantage point had to wait it out. So while Alex hung back by the shelter to stay more dry (like a normal person), I like a crazy person ventured out to wait my perfect photo moment. In a white dress. WHY was I wearing this white dress ?? Please someone explain my thought process? I figured I wasn’t doing any hiking so no need to wear workout gear. Instead I’ll look cute for some photos with this **epic** scenery. But DEFINITELY no one else wearing dresses here and I officially felt like those “influencer in the wild” girls we roll our eyes at. EEEP HAHA. I like to think I’m not quite that bad 🙂

A good thirty or so minutes later, I’m still standing out in the rain. Patiently waiting. By myself. Because I am a photographer and we are psycho. I rarely give up, but I became veryyy close. I actually might have cried in the rain now that I remember and I *do NOT cry easily*! I just felt sooo defeated. I wouldn’t have even minded all the rain, had it not taken the ENTIRETY of the view with it. I debated going down and coming back tomorrow, but saw it would be cloudy and rainy too, and I definitely didn’t want to do this scary expensive gondola ride for a second time only to be met with the same cloud immersions. It had to be now!

I looked back a few times at Alex waving at me and shaking his head near the shelter, I decided to wait one more additional 5 minutes :). It seemed like the sky was getting a little lighter, and the rain lighter too. Alex began walking toward me. And in some sort of miracle, the green hills became more and more illuminated, until finally, the sun broke through and we could see the whole mountain range. It was stunning. It wasn’t the experience I had imagined, spending the day walking alongside the cliffs together, getting the perfect photos all the way up until sunset (we were rather unprepared for this journey up the mountain on short notice time and had no food or water). But at least I could say – I SAW IT. We held onto that moment in the sun for as long as we could (somehow became completely dry again, mountain air does wonders) until the adrenaline wore off, and we realized we were really, really tired and hangry haha.

Back down, the town of Ortisei was super cute and charming and walkable. Way more going on here than the previous isolated town with essentially no restaurants or anything besides hotels. But not QUITE as large (or spread out) out as the final town coming up next. Since most of our time was spent in nature, we didn’t do a ton of town exploration besides food so to be honest, all I remember was amazing pizza and limoncello spritz’s. We stayed at Hotel Digon which was lovely, especially the infinity pool and lawn area with a view of the town and like our previous hotel, the course meal was included in the room price. We would consider staying here again if revisiting Ortisei just for that pool view!

 

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO

 

Our final town in the Dolomites, and a great “base” location for many nearby scenic attractions and hikes. I’m not sure if it was our Airbnb that weirded me out (haha – I won’t even link it). Or the weather being unpredictable and mostly rainy, or that it was now approaching day 10 of constant travel. But mentally, I think we both hit a snag!

We still had one more big exploration day to check off in this area, and so we picked the sunniest of the two days, said a little weather prayer, and drove a couple hours over to Tre Cime di Lavaredo. This is a very popular hiking area, and I do recommend getting to the parking lot early because there is limited parking! Luckily, we got one of the last remaining spots (and we even arrived around 9:30am!).

Tip: Many will hike the long route around the three peaks of Tre Cime (linking this very extensively written trailhead article on it here), but few know about this back route called “Cadini Di Misurina” (which I find way cooler, and a great option for those shorter on time and energy, as it’s only 2 miles long!)

 

HIKE TO THE CADINI DI MISURINA VIEWPOINT

 

Like Tre Cime, this short hike also starts at Rifugio Auronzo (parking lot address= “Localita’ Forcella Longeres, 32041 Auronzo di Cadore BL, Italy”) . It takes about 90 minutes to complete the out and back trail, and takes you along the edge of the mountain to a stunning viewpoint Cadini di Misurina, an expanse of jagged pinnacles that easily separate itself from the rest of the Dolomites, and even inspired Lord of the Ring’s Gates of Mordor. I am surprised not more people know about this trail, as it is honestly the most impressive mountain view I have ever seen both in images and with my own eyes.

Like the following location in Seceda, we were met with cloud immersion right off the bat. I started to understand this is just the name of the game up here in the mountains, so I had a bit more patience. Sure enough, the clouds broke after we waited about 15 minutes and the view that was once entirely opaque grey showed us what it was hiding.

Unbelievable. There was also no one else around which made it even more special , as everyone else had kept following the trail further for the “main viewpoint” but honestly, we didn’t feel we needed to! Definitely our favorite memory in the Dolomites.

 

Afterwards, we hit up Lago di Braille which reminded me so much of Banff, Canada with it’s teal waters surrounded by picturesque mountains (again, if you have multiple days, I recommend getting here at sunrise for some clean shots of the lake and the adorable row boats all tied up before the water gets busy). The driving here is very stunning, not scary mountain driving, just nice and peaceful. I loved admiring every windowsill decorated with matching florals and picturing what color I would choose if I lived in such a home!

 

We had one final day left, so we spent the next rainy day driving around our town looking for some scenic spots, and finding more pizza in town (Alex I swear ate pizza the entire time!)

Our mountain-loving hearts were definitely full, and we were ready to see what was next on our Italian journey!

 

Part 3: Coastal Towns

Ever since laying my eyes on the colorful stacked hills of the Amalfi Coast, I had only dreamed of one day being able to experience and photograph it. I don’t think you can be a photographer and go to Italy and NOT make your way to the Amalfi Coast. It is just that gorgeous. Even on a cloudy day, it still takes your breath away.

While some say this part has become a little overcrowded with tourists (and it’s definitely true), as someone who finds joy in seeking out the most picturesque of places, to me the crowds just come with the territory and culture! Will you see a few more posing for the gram? Absolutely. But it’s also such a fascinating vibe and you can’t help but wonder, is there a celeb or two at one of those ritzy luxury resorts nearby?

For me, I just felt lucky to have seen and experienced it – and for have taken just a few photos! We decided to add in Cinque Terre as well, as we weren’t really sure which coastal town area we would like better – that or Amalfi Coast. Both offer colorful stacked villages, just on different scales. We figured we would get a small sample of both, and hopefully return again to our favorite of spots.

VENICE

Can you have a first trip to Italy without seeing Venice? We thought not. Luckily it was on the way down the mountains so we decided to drop off our rental car in Venice, give ourselves juuuust enough time to catch a gondola ride, before hitting the train to Cinque Terre. Please don’t come at me, yes I am wearing the white dress again. YES I did wash it… turns out I hated everything else I packed and just really REALLY liked this dress. I was going for daily comfort/looks okay and not thinking how ridiculous this would look as an entire trip portfolio LOLLOL

All I remember is weaving our way through the maze of what is Venice, trying to find the quickest way to the gondola port. Taking a quick 30 minute gondola ride through the canals (worth it!), crossing the grand canal and navigating the crazy packed Rialto Bridge area, dodging tourist groups and mazing our way back to the train station. All in 90 minutes time! Whew!

It was a fun little rush, but I definitely wish we had more time to enjoy Venice, in the early mornings or late nights without the crowds (off season would be amazzzzing here). If visiting again, which I hope I do!, I will definitely be looking into a hotel or rental home right on the canals. So dreamy.

CINQUE TERRE

I was very very excited about Cinque Terre. I have heard it’s more off-the beaten path compared to Amalfi Coast, and we always tend to prefer those areas best. In hindsight, I think it’s safe to say the secret is now out, as we saw giant ships dropping off massive loads of people by the hour. Making it sliiiightly more difficult to enjoy the small town vibes and very few available restaurants!

Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns, and from La Spezia you can get on a smaller train that will connect between all towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. There is also a hiking trail that connects the towns from above, which we so so wanted to do had it not been so dang hot (and our feet already so exhausted)!

MANAROLA

We chose to stay in Manarola, as I thought it had the prettiest viewpoint and was more of a quieter, family town. Versus the buzzier town of Vernazza, which also grabbed my attention due to it’s picturesque views. Of course our airbnb was all the way at the top, but luckily there was an amazing restaurant nearby for when we didn’t want to make the trek down.

In Manarola, I highly recommend putting in your name at Nessan Dorma, a seaside restaurant along the cliff with the best restaurant view I have ever experienced from the terrace looking over the town and water. We waited nearly two hours in the heat, all for some meat & cheese platters and drinks (get the delicious pink self-titled “Nessan Dorma” drinks which consists of Vodka, Batida de coco, Watermelon puree. smashed lime and brown sugar, Fresh mint. It absolutely hit the spot after a long hot wait). We luckily got a table right at the edge and it was entirely worth sweating it out for.

 

MONTEROSSO

The following day we attempted to do the hiking trail (short lived due to heat), and decided instead to take the town train over to the last town, Monterosso, to enjoy ourselves a gorgeous beach day at Monterosso Al Mare. I absolutely LOVED the orange and green striped umbrellas of this beach club, can you tell? You have to pay a little fee for a “lido” (umbrella + chairs) I want to say $30 euro and then it’s yours for the day. To me, it was worth it!

 

AMALFI

Okay, I know I keep saying “I couldn’t go to Italy without seeing….” but as I mentioned, Amalfi Coast is really one of those top top, WOW, hard-to-believe-is-real locations that I absolutely wanted to experience. Should we have given ourselves more time to do so? Yes. But my optimistic self thought that 2 days would be better than 0 days 🙂 We decided on 1 night in the town of Amalfi, and the last night in the very epic Positano.

SOOO we took the long train day down to Naples. And a taxi to the port (so short on time and almost missed the ferry. DO give yourself time in Naples, it is a big city!) Then the ferry to the town of Amalfi, and at last, our Airbnb fam greeted us to take us up to the home.

Our first night we were pretty exhausted from the day’s travels so just quietly enjoyed the view from our balcony. Eventually walked to the restaurant just below and had such a lovely dish of lemon pasta (highly recommend Lemon pasta in this area, as it is known for all its lemon groves!) Then went back up and watched some fireworks display, and listened to the distant sounds of the piano player from the restaurant. Ahhh….la dolce vita.

The next morning, I an early riser, enjoyed the little magazines and local books on the balcony, as I waited for Alex to wake up so we could begin our boat day!

 

POSITANO

Ahh Positano. It’s origin is lost between myth and history. The name “Positano” is said to mean Neptune, and linked to the legend of fugitive sailors that heard a voice saying “posa posa (put down put down” and they interpreted those words as being the will of the Virgin Mary to land. Now, it is a famous tourist resort town, where people from all over the world come to spend time at luxury hotels on the colorful cliff, relax on the many beach clubs, and be seen. 

“Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” – John Steinbeck

On our train ride to Amalfi Coast, I read the fittingly titled book “One Italian Summer.” An adorable mother/daughter-themed novel of grief, but finding oneself again (and finding her late mom in her youth) in Positano. The book romantically described the history of the town and all her mom’s favorite locals (which are actual places!): Hotel Poseidon, Chez Black, the Path of God’s, taking a boat ride to Capri. I just couldn’t wait to experience this much-anticipated, fancy colorfully stacked resort destination that inspired so many artists and film makers before me! PS: fast forward to this coming September, where I will make a return trip with my own mother (who equally enjoyed the book), and sister. I have never traveled with anyone on such a trip, other than my husband. So I am so excited for what our girls adventure will be like, and to experience such a place with them.

Anyways, I heard the best way to experience the beauty of Positano is from the water. So, since our check in wasn’t until 3pm and we had some time to kill, we decided to have ourselves a little boat day on the sparkling teal Mediterranean waters (jk, it was sooooo windy and cold and choppy, we almost cancelled!) Alex – not a big ocean guy – braved it out and piloted his first boat ever using this rental boat – along the Amalfi coast!! I mean….what a first of firsts to be had.

I’ll never forget the excitement staring along the coastline, wondering “is this it?” …”maybe just around this corner.” Admiring the grand hotels perched along the cliffs and other vertical communities along the way. I couldn’t fathom people actually live up there. My fear of heights could never allow!

At last, in the distance, it seemed like it could possibly be Positano? I told Alex to head inward, and the closer we got, the closer I realized…omg we actually made it. We are here. Positano!

We got as close as we could (Alex not the most comfortable navigator in choppy waters was worried he wouldn’t be able to meander through the boats!) and we just laid there on the front of the boat. Admiring the view. Admiring the other boats. Until the sea sickness started coming in. Believe it or not I never even dipped into the Mediterranean water – just too cold and windy to cross my mind.

With more clouds rolling in, we decided to cut our boat day short. Definitely would not be making it to Capri. But we were happy for the unique vantage point of Positano, in a way that I will surely remember forever.

We dropped off our boat back in Amalfi, grabbed our stored luggage, and took the Ferry back to Positano. Somehow it became so so sunny just in time for us to climb the 100 or so sets of stairs. I swear to god, they never ended. I am a patient, strong-willed person, and even I about 1/3 way through thought how ridiculous this was, and who would set up a town like this!

By the time we got to the top we were so exhausted, sweaty, we couldn’t even think straight. Then, after checking into our Airbnb (yes another one at the very top of town – turns out views come with a price), I frustratingly reread the directions from our host which said to **take the bus up**. LOL this is what travel brain does to you. I swear I can be so proactively detailed in planning, but lose half my IQ points while actually there in the moment. TIP: hire or have your hotel arrange a luggage porter on your arrival from the port. Note: there are no roads directly to the port so you can’t immediately get a taxi, you have to walk yourself up the beach and to the closest road (about 5-10 minutes past a lot of shops). By that point, you can take the bus up, or continue to walk the main roads up (gradual climb). But whatever you do, do NOT take the google maps walking directions up especially if on Hotel Poseidon level or above (google maps makes it look like just a road or two up from the beach – but there are many many steps up and levels in between these roads lol! You’ve been warned).

The view was definitely gorgeous from our hotel balcony. However, I was a little overwhelmed thinking about how hungry we are and now having to navigate all the steps…back down and around to the other side of town where we had our reservations (again, google maps make it all feel so close – my suggestion is to book restaurants closer to your hotel for ease of logistics, ie: left side vs right side)

The walk back up to our hotel suddenly didn’t seem so bad though m with a little alcohol in our system (and without the heat scorching our backs) and was so romantic seeing some of the boutiques and other restaurants all lit up at dusk. While trying very hard not to get hit by any cars on the narrow windy (and now dark) streets.

We made it. Our final night. And we were exhaaaausted. I wish I could say I slept well, but I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible stomach cramps. I’ll save the details, but let’s just say…spending the last 24 hours of our trip with a heavy travel day, while battling potential sun or food poisoning / exhaustion and dehydration / AND that time of month, in a foreign country and nonstop modes of public transportation. Luckily I kept things inside me the entire steps back down with our luggage, our ferry trips back to Naples, including an unexpected layover in Capri that added an extra hour waiting in line in a hot unforgiving sun, then the taxi ride to the train station, the train ride back to Rome, and finally, the taxi to our hotel.

 

BACK TO ROME

While in Rome, we spent the next 16 or so hours crammed in our tiny hotel room, located near the airport and not anything cool to walk to (so sorry to Alex). While I was in a delirious blur in between sleep and running to the bathroom, Alex making me eat bananas to help regain strength and retain water. Then, finally, the next morning, and last home stretch – waiting at the airport before our 9 hour flight home and 4 hour drive back to Appleton. I made it again without any embarrassing public incidences. WHEW. I now swear on bananas.

It honestly took me three weeks to fully recover from our two weeks in Italy. But I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I still truly wonder if I am the only person in the world who traveled to Italy, for multiple days vacation, who flew in and out of Rome, and never saw the Colosseum.

~~~~~~~

If you have made it this far, I hope you have enjoyed our little tour of Italy! And I hope my advice and lessons learned saves you from making similar silly mistakes – hehe! That is the best part of travel, it comes with good, bad, sometimes ugly. But it is the gained experience and lifelong memories that make it alllll invaluable.

 

FINE  (“THE END”)

 

 

 

 

Foreword

 

March 6, 2020

More than ever I find myself longing for the road and reminiscing our first road trip out west. Google maps voice as our only other companion. Gas stations to brush our teeth and a yeti cooler as our fridge. Sleeping in a van, every night (sometimes at truck stops when we couldn’t make it to to our destination). It was the closest quarters we have ever lived in, and the most consecutive time spent together since EVER.

But if I could make a movie out of my life and replay it over and over, it would be these 30 days. Him, the van, the laughs, cries, pure terror, moments we couldn’t stop giggling, the fights, deep convos, good tunes, incredible hikes, the views, the feeling of freedom, overcoming, growing, and coming back home forever changed.

If you could do one thing in this lifetime, I encourage you to travel unconventionally. Take a multi-day road trip to a place you’ve always wanted to go. Skip the plane, skip the hotels, & immerse yourself in nature. Put yourself out of your usual comfort zone & I promise you will be forever changed too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 23, 2018

I never thought I’d see this day, but we’re researching vans (and no, we’re not thinking kids just yet)! But rather we’ve been quite inspired by #vanlife and life on the road. We literally shout out “van!!” every time we drive past one, call us crazy but it’s going to be our little escape. Now that I’ll be entering full-time photography, and realllly only need to be in Wisconsin May – October, it leaves a whole lot of grey area to explore. We’re finally starting to make a few plans… can’t wait to share more with you as they develop!! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 8, 2018

A busy next month as I shoot two more weddings, leave my full time job, then pack up and immediately set off for a long road trip out west before full on wedding season begins in May! We’re buying a used conversion van and kinda just gonna wing it! We do have a few places on our list, including Zion National Park, seeing the sequoias and redwoods in California, Napa Valley, and driving the California coast. We’ll be people watching in Portland, and eventually heading up north through Washington and up to British Columbia. Then back down through Montana and Glacier National Park and the Badlands. Whew! We have never been out west before, and there is so much we could see! All you adventurers out there, what are your recs/advice and must-sees!

 

 

 

5 years ago

One thing feels very certain. There was life before the van, and then there is life *after* the van. But the van was really the defining point in my life where I truly started living it.

Although this was only five years ago, it feels like a completely other lifetime ago! So much has changed. We’ve changed. A lot for the best (haha look at our style choices – YIKES). But looking through these photos and digging up old journals, I feel so much SOUL and energy. I smile at my youth and the lightness and carefreeness of it all. The “whatever happens will happen!” and “Carpe diem” aspect of it all.

I find my younger self way cooler and inspiring. Down for whatevs. Making something extraordinary out of nothing. Free-spirited but at the same time beginning to seriously realize what was lacking in her life & taking intentional action to go and get it. She was a force and nothing could have stopped her. This wasn’t just a little vacay, but a long overdue awakening. And Alex. My sweet, still baby-cheeked Alex. At this time we were only married 1.5 years but life partners for nearly nine. Equally playful and inspired by possibilities, first time seeing the mountains. I speak of it like it was so long ago, seriously how is it possible we were THESE kids just five years ago. We learned a lot about each other on this trip, and looking back it feels like a coming of age for the both of us. And the start of a much deeper bond that would only further deepen the coming years. It’s wild to recollect everything that has happened in our lives since, and now proudly see the result of what I intuitively felt in this moment – that these doors we were opening would be just the beginning.

Of course no epic road trip is complete without it’s way of transportation. A large part of what made our trip special and nostalgic was “Freida the Van,” not quite the remodeled Mercedes sprinter that was all fixed up and pretty like the professional vanlifers on YouTube. Rather ours was a 98 Ford Econoline we bought for a good deal from my friend’s parents who didn’t have a need for her anymore and wanted to send her off on her next adventure. She was brown, carpeted, ugly — and we loved her immediately! We named her after my late, beloved childhood dog. Not a golden retreiver, but a German wirehaired pointer who upon the sight of her I also thought, “brown, moppy-haired, ugly” — yet loved her immediately. Alex took out the back seats and built a basic wooden panel bedframe in the back and we added a mattress. Bought a yeti cooler, and that was the end of our renovations! 😉 We were set to go, we just needed to wait a few more weeks until April.

 

 

April, come she will

Our departure date of April 9, 2018, came with so much meaning. It would not only be the day of us leaving on our trip, it would be my first day I began living my life — for me. We received news several months back that the company we were both working for was being sold and that all of its employees would be laid off, but they needed us to help merge the company until spring. It was a complete shock at the time, my friends and coworkers I adored working with were all in a frenzy. To make things worse, Alex had recently been hired on after 3 months as a temp (note to self: don’t put all eggs in one basket), so now it would be back to the drawing board for both of us. No one knew what they would do. I had never been a part of a mass layoff before, and it was incredibly heart breaking.

I remember that moment of panic, but I also remember it turning into this feeling of reassurance. A sense of “knowing” that this was likely a necessary ending and as difficult as it seemed – a blessing in disguise. All the past year, I had been working hard to build up a side wedding photography career. I completed a math degree in college, and after I realized I no longer wanted to pursue teaching once I graduated (my dream since I was a child) I felt a sort of identity crisis. I found myself as a commissions processor at a brokerage, which kept me occupied and paid while planning our wedding. But after the wedding day, and realizing I had the whole future ahead of me and here I was typing on a keyboard day after day. I felt this deep longing to get back to my creative side.

My side hustle quickly turned into something that proved it could be more than a side hustle, to the point I had to start turning clients away. I had more than enough clients for me to consider going full time, but I was just afraid to make the risky move. So when the news broke of my company’s closure, it was the clearest indication the time was now right to leave the career that was no longer serving me. It was the (abrupt) push I needed to go full time into entrepreneurship. And it would mean I could finally be granted time to travel, and see the world beyond Wisconsin. I was 28 and due to either being broke college students, or having a lack of PTO for both Alex and I, we had never traveled much of anywhere yet. But since we met in 2009, we had always dreamed of taking a road trip out west, so when we were given this unexpected chance, the sudden need to travel hit hard and it hit BIG. And so come April, with a month long open schedule until wedding season began, we decided we would make the most of it. We would finally do what we always dreamed of, and head west.

Are you ready? Without further ado — this was *us*! Spring 2018. Just learning photography & exploring out west. Baby faced. Carefree. And *lots* of questionable style! 😉

 

 

Getting There

 

Driving from Appleton and hitting the highway west was one of the most sensational feelings, we were on such a natural high and seeing the mountains for the first time together was exhilarating. Freida the Van didn’t play CD’s, just cassette tapes. So before our trip my dad stocked us up with some of his old classics. One that he was missing however was John Denver, a staple for every road trip. So we stopped and bought a CD and a converter. I wish I had a picture of this ridiculous 90’s contraption. But nothing is more suiting when finally approaching the Colorado mountains than listening to “Rocky Mountain High.”

As for the rest of our soundtrack, I recall lots of Amie Pure Prairie League along highways and Tom Petty in the red rocks. We were saving the soundtrack from our favorite movie, Into the Wild, until we reached Yellowstone. If you’ve never seen this *incredible* film, you must. And then go get yourself the soundtrack. In short, the songs are all by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and written for this film that told the story of an American wanderer Christopher McCandless, who after graduating as a top college student, decides to give up all his money and travel solo into Alaska. It’s a heartbreaking tale of the struggle between society and nature. We listened to this on repeat as we drove through America’s iconic and first National Park, admiring the natural beauty and geysers and wildlife. Knowing full well that we humans are the reason these lands need to be protected in the first place. Shoutout to good Teddy Roosevelt for protecting the most beautiful lands, and giving us all this gift to be able to experience it for just a $30 pass. Yellowstone would ultimately become the highlight of our trip (but more on that to come)! 😉

 

 

Zion National Park, Arizona

 

I was looking back through my emails to recall some of the details of our route, which made me realize I didn’t even make campsite reservations (shock, dismay, who is this girl) — with the exception of 2 Airbnb’s where we’d be cheating the van life for a night & have access to a nice hot shower & clean bed. One being this rad canvas tent just outside Zion. But everything else was completely unscripted — something I have certainly gotten away from in my recent travel years, with wanting to fully maximize every trip with well-thought out itineraries of all the best spots.

I’ve now learned the ins and outs of the western half of the states, and I gotta say, looking back I find myself shaking my head a few times at our route haha (like when I made Alex turn around in Zion just a mile in cause I was too scared of the scenic route, or not hitting Moab on the way down, or not riding the Cali coast once we made it San Fran. Don’t make the same mistake we did by thinking Highway 101 is the same thing as Highway 1. And then not notice until you were basically in Oregon and never hit the coast haha WOOPS). But when you wing things, it comes without research so it’s all part of the adventure. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, or you don’t get to see it all! But then you wouldn’t have a reason to go back and explore further now would you 😉

 

Red Rock Canyon Las Vegas, Nevada

April 13, 2018

Took a little detour to finally do some hiking! Red Rock Canyon just became our favorite part of the trip so far! Drove the Vegas strip now gearing up for another long drive and 50 degree temp drop as we approach the Sequoia forests. Gonna be a cooold night in the van 

 

 

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park

 

This was the part of our trip where the stress finally got to us. I still have nightmares from driving our old Freida van up these scary windy mountain roads into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. It was so terrifying in itself, add in a van that could hardly accelerate upwards and that would send you bouncing in your seats with any little road bump. I questioned my safety quite a few times with the no guardrails, and straight drops to our death. Alex began singing calmly as I kept my head down to prevent me from a full panic attack. I may have had my hand up a few times, ready to grab the wheel in case Alex somehow forgot to follow the road, something he didn’t particularly enjoy and an instinct I have since learned to control better 🙂 We were now certainly far away from flat land Wisconsin (why is everything in the west SOOO mountainous??) and I wasn’t expecting my total fear of mountain driving and heights to become such a damper to our trip. As you’ll notice from above I was quite relieved seeing the welcoming spring countryside and kissing the ground knowing we made it down alive.

It was also made worse with not being able to breathe once we made it to the top, due to elevation (and probably the stress).

The trees however, were INCREDIBLE. If we ever go back, I’m returning more in shape, and in a low seated car where my imagination can’t get the best of me out the passenger window 🙂

 

Napa Valley, California

 

It felt very good to have a dull, boring drive again after the recent stressors. And fully indulge in Napa Valley, treating ourselves to wine and a mud bath (although this experience was a bit strange TBH lol, we laugh about it now). Also had to laugh at what Alex was wearing at the fancy winery and cheese pairing. They gave us a private room for this, which at the time made us feel so special but now am realizing we probably smelled like hippies and were hiding us. LOL My present self is cringing :):):)

Anyway, we got an appropriate shower after the mud bath and were feeling oh so nice, clean, and restored.

 

 

We Made it to the Coast!

 

These photos bring me pure joy. We officially made it to the coast in Freida the van! It wasn’t quite the warm Cali beach we were anticipating (for some reason I assumed all of Cali was surfers and sunbathers??) We were at the very northern part of Cali in April, so the water was pretty cold, certainly no swimming for us. But regardless, we felt very accomplished and ready for the second leg of our trip!

 

 

Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park

 

Despite the beauty of the sequoias and redwoods, we kept having a bit of bad luck in them. The vibes were a bit off when we parked for camp. It had been over a week now and homesickness was starting to creep in for us both. It felt tragic to be in such a beautiful place and wanting it to feel as profound as it looked. It was here that I realized that no matter how excited you are for travel, no matter how badly you’ve wanted this trip, that when you plan a 30 day trip with yourself or another person it’s wishful thinking you’ll both be at your best and living it up every minute of it, especially when you’re constantly changing your environment and the little stresses add up. I was feeling so much pressure to make this trip everything I had dreamed. And guilt that it wasn’t always going as planned. We still had 2/3 to go and I was now starting to doubt myself entirely.

If I could go back and tell myself in this moment one thing, it would be that perfection is an illusion, life isn’t going to be black and white, and that the most beautiful, growing moments lie in the mess.

 

 

Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

April 26, 2018

On Day 10 we escaped van-life for a day. It’s been almost two years now since we said “I do” and while this month-long road trip was meant to be our belated honeymoon, it feels a lot more like just a much-needed celebration of life!! The closing of a chapter, and the closing on a life that we felt was too predictably safe and left us wondering “what if?” What if we are not living how we are supposed to be living? What if we are meant for a different kind of life. More adventure, more time together, more actual living. This new stage is uncertain, involves a lot of crossing fingers and just winging it, hoping for the best but understanding it won’t always be the best. Winging it is definitely not always glamorous (we slept at a truck stop last night and brushed our teeth in a gas station). I am not sure where this new full-timing girlboss life will all take me, where we will decide to live when we return, or where we will even sleep tonight. But I am certain of two things, one being that the sun will rise and the other being I get to continue to do life by this guy’s side. And that’s pretty incredible. Document your life in all of its stages. Print your memories & frame them as a reminder of where you once were. These photos are such a treasure and am so happy to have met up with the talented Stefanie Bendt along this crazy journey. So many more photos of this trip to come, but for now I’ll sign back off and enjoy it

 

 

Cannon & Arcadia Beach, OR

 

Cannon Beach was definitely a place we could have stayed longer. It felt like a quintessential beach town, with cute inviting shops and a quaint feel. We received a recommendation from my aunt and uncle who used to live in Oregon to head to nearby Arcadia beach at low tied to hunt for seashells and sand dollars. We were surprised to find an entire rock with little creatures glued all over it including pink and purple starfish! Next up, Washington!

 

Riffe Lake Overlook, Washington

 

We stopped at a few overlooks on the way to our next Airbnb in Washington. I was kind of regretting booking it, because we were having fun making little discoveries along the way and an upcoming reservation meant we had to be more observing of time. When I realized we’d be passing by Mt Rainier, I decided to look up places with the best views and came across a bed and breakfast log cabin on a quiet lake. My two uncles climbed Mt Rainier back in their day, navigating snow, ice and nearly suffocating to death after falling in a hidden crevice. It was an inspiring story and accomplishment, and unfortunately my uncle had recently passed right before our trip.

I had to miss his funeral to shoot a wedding and missed the proper grieving, so this location felt necessary to take a pause and say my goodbye. When we arrived we could see some of the mountain, but it was too dark and cloudy to get a full and clear view. So we woke up early the next morning, sat by the dock, and patiently waited for the clouds to pass, but they never fully did. It was hard for me to give up that the sun was never going to show for us afterall, and Alex had to encourage me to continue onward.

We realized we hadn’t even gone for a hike yet, so we continued to our Airbnb and found any waterfall hike we could find to clear our heads and immerse into nature (thankfully, there were LOTS to choose from).

 

Mineral Lake Lodge, Mt Rainier, Washington

 

 

Tye Haus, Skykomish, Washington

April 23, 2018

**Update** Two weeks on the road, and Washington will be the furthest north we will go. Our initial plan was to continue on to Banff in British Columbia. But since almost all Washington trailheads are still closed from winter we have decided to head back South where we won’t be as limited. Really winging it at this point! But we do still plan on heading to Yellowstone, Bear Country, and Black Hills before arriving home. We will be home around May 6, halfway done still so much to see! Keep the recommendations coming! 

 

Return to Cannon Beach, OR

 

Once we hit snow in Washington and realized we weren’t ready to do mountain driving in Freida in snow, we now suddenly had all sorts of time (still half of our trip!) left to fully improvise. We decided to stick to what we knew, and revisit a nearby favorite that we wished we had more time at originally, Cannon Beach!

The second time around we were able to catch it in the hazy mid day sun (I love how the lighting here always hits a little different, despite the same big rock). We found an incredible trail to take in the full scene from above. It seemed the growing pains were over and we were finally settling in and getting the hang of this whole vanlife thing. PS: tried my first oyster shooter, and I’m not sure how this is an actual menu option people pay money for?!?! Please if you enjoy this – I need a full explanation!

The next few places are little spots along route to Yellowstone, which would be our final big bucket list stop along the way!

 

Hood River to Pendleton, OR to Idaho

 

Bruneau Sand Dunes, Idaho

 

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Little did we know, we would be winging it into Yellowstone National Park on their opening week. Had it been any other week, campsites would likely have been full all throughout the rest of the year. But luckily for us, we hit the sweet spot where it was just opening up again and so we scored the last available campsite. Sometimes a little twist of fate happens, and I like to think this was one of those moments. It easily became the highlight of our trip, including many hitchhiking buffalo, perfectly timed Old Faithful eruptions, and gorgeous scenic drives including a foggy morning sunrise drive that will forever be preserved in a special place in my memory. We were the only ones on the road, besides wildlife, and it felt like we had the entire park to ourselves just for one morning. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to go back because it was truly that special.

Pointer: don’t go in summer where you’ll be riding the line ride. Go early April just as the park is opening and you’ll likely score these sunrise drives all to yourselves.

On our last day, as we were leaving the park, we realized the only thing that kept our time in Yellowstone from being *full perfection* was that we didn’t experience a grizzly sighting. Then, we came upon many cars pulled over the side of the road. Yellowstone had wildlife everywhere, and I knew nothing would attract this kind of crowd and traffic stop to see something out in the woods if it wasn’t a bear. Lo and behold, bear. Gnawing on an antelope carcass. At the time we only had an 85mm lens, so Alex with his steadier hands crept closer than anyone else in the audience. I was kind of concerned, but the bear did not seem phased in the least.

I know I said perfection doesn’t exist, but if it did, it would be Yellowstone.

April 30, 2018

“Hiking in the backcountry of Yellowstone when you are not the top of the food chain…it puts your senses on a heightened level and that’s something that is pretty powerful. In this day and age we are such kings and queens of our worlds. Being in Yellowstone’s back country puts our egos back in their places. It reminds us that we are traveling in something else’s environment that could change our world.”

^Words of Ron Bubb, an interview in a Yellowstone magazine that I took off a rack at some Park and Ride along the way. Yellowstone truly felt like we were visitors stepping on someone else’s land. Unsure what’s looking down at us from those mountains, and unsure what’s happening below our very feet. The geysers, hot springs, wildlife, mountains. We’ve seen a lot on this road trip but Yellowstone was a place we felt down to our bones.

 

 

Custer State Park & Black Hills, South Dakota

 

 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

May 6, 2018

After 7400 miles of calling the road our home, the sunrise our alarm, living out of a van, popping in cassette tapes, gas station toothbrushing, spotty cell service, and google maps lady being our only other companion. Countless landscapes from red rocks, turquoise rivers, snow-capped mountains. Gorges, deserts, and palm trees to deep redwoods forests. After four weeks we are now back home in Wisconsin and re-adjusting to modern day life (you’d be so surprised how quickly you don’t miss binging Netflix while you’re gone). Looking back each day wasn’t perfect but it was always beautiful, because it was always a story only we were writing. It brings me to tears and I’m not even a crier. When we got home we joked that we’ll be those old grandparents repeating our “one time when your grandma and I took a van trip alllll out west…” followed by some exaggerated tale. And then we thought, maybe it won’t be “that one time” when we took a road trip. Maybe we already miss Freida the Van and tiny living and the adventure way more than we thought we would, so much so that we think we could do this permanently. Live mortgage-free. On the road nearly always (but with some land as a home-base). Maybe. It’s always followed by a maybe cause right now it’s too scary to say our dreams out loud without it. So we’ll just have to see.

Note: my inner gut doesn’t have this Maybe. Extra note: we’re already researching homes on wheels for sale 😉

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was something so whimsical and nostalgic and free-spirited about the van and it forever changed us. We would then go on and live on wheels for the next year to come. And even the coming years, still taking road trips on rented out campervans any time the need for the road would call again (like my 30th birthday trip around California in 2020, or when we took it overseas in Iceland in 2021, and then our final stab at it in Colorado in 2022). “Via van” seemed to be our preferred way to travel and remain kids despite both of us now entering our thirties. And while our backs are getting worse (somehow we’ve aged a LOT in the past 5 years, perhaps too much van life haha) and we now seek out more modern day comfort and amenities in our travels,

Still, nothing will ever be as remarkable or timeless, as playful and wild, or as nostalgic and coming of age, as one’s first time on the open road.

 

 

EPILOGUE (life after the van)

May 17, 2018

When you live in and out of a van for a month straight you get used to tiny space living and overall living with less. You’d think you would miss things like oh say, a TV, your own shower, a closet for clothes, etc. But not having these conveniences was surprisingly so liberating! It made us really separate what we desired to have from what we needed. And pretty soon we only desired to have what we needed. When we got back home we realized we didn’t feel as connected to nature, the present moment, and each other as we did while living on so little. We’ve been researching tiny home options since and are SO close to actually taking the leap and making this an everyday lifestyle going forth.
What do you think? Could you ever go tiny?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

June 6, 2018

More than ever Alex and I have been striving to think bigger and live with less. We’ve been so inspired by the #tinyhousemovement but it’s still so new of an idea, there’s not tons of resources out there yet to get you started. We want to live small, like really small. We want to use solar energy and leave as little trace as possible. We don’t want to take up space at a permanent dwelling and where there are restrictions that tell you how you must live. Can you believe that in some communities there are actually rules saying your house must be at least a certain size? So strange. Going tiny is not quite as easy as HGTV makes it look, there are quite a few hurdles like finding a way to finance it (we walked into a credit union Monday and got the crazy looks, what is it? A home? An RV? A shack on wheels?), finding places to park it legally, finding people who know how to build one, and just educating those we know so they can sort of understand why we are choosing this way of life. It’s not always followed with words of encouragement. It’s mostly skepticism and doubt and getting a good laugh out of people cause we’re crazy – reactions we’ve learned to expect so we are careful with who we show excitement about it towards. It’s gonna take a little patience but we are committed to this. I think this movement is gaining interest because others out there feel it too, that more stuff doesn’t equal more happiness and there is a freeing aspect of just letting it all go. It’s not only a happier way of life for us, but we’ve come to realize it’s just fricken smart. 
Happy #worldenvironmentday and don’t ever stop believing there’s not a better way or a smarter way or that you can’t switch things up.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 1, 2018

Well we are back at square one . We went from being just a few days away from buying our #tinyhome and starting it’s build journey to being told it wouldn’t be happening at all. We made it SO far in this process, we found our perfect build company and layout, got the approval and go ahead from our bank, started the design talk with builders, got the purchase agreement and were finally leaking the news to friends and family as we just waited for our bank to sign off on the agreement.

Turns out that even though our tiny home was RVIA certified, we couldn’t get an RV loan to finance our tiny home due to its uniqueness and tiny homes not being acknowledged by NADA. In other words, they couldn’t put a value on it so we couldn’t get financed. We spent months working towards this and thought we were finally there only to be told a gut wrenching “no.” Guys, I’m not good at being told no!

We are still very determined to live this type of lifestyle, and while the tiny home we picked out would have been absolutely perfect and we are crushed we have to rethink this whole plan, we realize that the most important thing is not WHAT we’re living in but HOW we’re living. If it means settling for a traditional RV that banks currently recognize, then so be it! But you better believe I’ll be gutting it and fixing it up to a modern farmhouse 

Also… I am now a strong advocate for the #tinyhousemovement and making financing a tiny home actually doable. It really just needs to be it’s own loan category, and with how popular this lifestyle is becoming its so sad it can’t be easy for first-time homebuyers to make the leap to go tiny. So in short, we’re still going tiny by this coming November, buuuut it’s going to look a little different and require a lot more tools to make it into our dream space  Shopping for RV’s today, wish us luck!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our first home has wheels!

August 27, 2018

Nine years ago we were shy and awkwardly swinging on a porch bench, getting to know each other and sharing our life aspirations.

We were always those kids with crazy ideas and big dreams, who knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d have to grow up. Do the adult things. These past 9 years we talked often about what it would be like to ACTUALLY live the way we wanted. A life of travel and waking up wherever and deciding each new day how we’d like to spend it together. Was it wrong to think this life was unattainable?

We still feel like these same kids (and I hope we always do). But today our dreams become pretty real. No, buying a camper as our first home wasn’t an exact part of the dream  but being able to live how we want? A life that feeds our soul? Definitely.

Today we are celebrating our 2 year #weddinganniversary and 9 years together by purchasing our first home (aka 21’ camper) and taking it out on its first adventure We haven’t even SEEN our home in person yet, so we are over here mentally preparing ourselves. We are a little nervous! What if we actually hate it?!?! Trying to picture what living under 168 sq feet will be like is easier said than done, but in just a few hours we will finally get a glimpse of this new reality of ours.

Before we introduce our home to the world we’ll be heading up to the upper peninsula of Michigan and just taking a moment for us. But we can’t wait to share this exciting new chapter with you all, so very soon!!

 

February 14, 2019

When we initially broke the news of our new living situation to friends/family we were often asked, “How can you live with someone 24/7 in such a small space?! Won’t you get sick of eachother?” We only had 750 square feet most of our 8 years apartment living together but we were about to shrink it down to 150. But after spending a month road tripping in a van? We figured we could do it. Hey, this would be a major upgrade!

We’ve been living this way a couple months now – full time entrepreneurs on the road – and I will say, it’s amazing being able to actually spend your days and hours with your husband. Just a nod and a smile away. But there’s also definitely no personal space. So if you like even 10% time alone, this lifestyle might not be for you. No rooms to hide in when you argue. No friends to turn to when you need girl time (they’re all back home). Just the two of you, your mini shelter, and the road. It forces you to talk through things and actively be married…like all the time. And that’s why I love it.

Living tiny has brought us closer (literally) and although it may be unconventional, I would choose this life again and again in every lifetime. Also, we made sure there were two TV’s 

 

 

February 28, 2020

Sometimes when the sun rises or sets, the snow will highlight blues and purples and pinks. And for a second I am back in southern California. Driving through the Joshua Tree with Alex. Running along the sand with Cash. I picture the mountain hikes and the coyotes at night. And the stars when we were in the far-out desert. It’s funny how a Wisconsin winter scene can take me there. Polar opposites. Yet both have this same whimsical essence *✧･ﾟ:*

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for taking the time to get to know the most meaningful side to me and my story. I hope you’ve enjoyed our journey.

And if there ever comes a point in your path where you feel a little lost from yourself, or the life you imagined, don’t walk further away. Don’t settle. Listen closer. Run towards.

See where your heart takes you, it will never lead you astray.

 

 

 

In 2021 we:

• loved the doggies
• went on two trips
• worked every other second

 

The end.

No but for real 2021 was a year of actual exhaustion . Looking back it’s such a blur of working 60+ hour work weeks, while simultaneously doing my best to take advantage of this downtime our world’s been given and prioritize some personal items. I’m trying to make this not sound like such a downer haha but TBH….I’m tired, emotionally and spiritually. Good news is that the season of wedding reschedules is over (hooray!), our other work obligations seem much more manageable and healthier heading into the new year. 2022 seems like it’ll finally be the end of the emotional rollercoaster whirlwind that was 2020 & 2021. A return to normalcy 🙂

But through the grind, were able to say goodbye to so many things that were holding us back. Making up in our 30s for what we did in our 20s. We’re SO thrilled to now be in a healthy position to start looking at homes this year, which we will begin the process next month. It took us forever to even figure out if we will be sticking to our Wisconsin roots or venturing off to the dreamy California, but we **finally** got some clarity (you’ll have to keep reading to find out!)

All the hard work in 2021 seems to be paying off. I can feel myself taking a deep sigh of relief. Some years are glamorous, and some years are those in-between, get in the zone and focus on your responsibilities type of years. After the past few glamorous years of travel, this year of staying put was SO necessary. And as someone who likes to always add adventure and new things and thrills, I’m very proud I finally put myself in check, and prioritized the hard things first.

Iceland

When we did have a break, we took full advantage! This year we finally crossed off our first international trip, to Iceland! To put mildly, it was INCREDIBLE. Hands down our favorite of all our travels thus far, and honestly there is too much I could say about Iceland to fit into this recap. So if you want the full breakdown, check out the 10 Days around Iceland blog where I dive into things like “Why Iceland?”, our packing list (did everything with no checked bags, also didn’t bring any of my professional cameras -eep! Can ya tell?). I include our 10-day Itinerary, why we choose to vancamp vs hotels, so many photos, and some of our most commonly asked questions. If you’re planning a trip to Iceland or have it on your list, definitely check it out. Otherwise here were some highlights of our trip!

Wedding Season

We returned to the height of our wedding season in July which brought us all over the state, from Milwaukee to Eau Claire to Up North. We even got to photograph a wedding just 10 minutes away from our house – so rare!

We always love a good road trip, and this year our drives to/from weddings became extra important. Our schedules were so busy in summer and fall that oftentimes the only time Alex and I could breathe and reconnect with one another was on these drives. 90’s jock jams anyone?

It’s already been two months since our last November wedding and I’m already missing the high and connection and purpose it brings. I know a lot of people won’t relate to this feeling, but as a wedding photographer, nothing beats arriving at the venue on a wedding day, walking in and greeting the beaming couple. We get to forget about our own lives and for that day, all our energy is refocused into capturing the JOY of another’s! No matter what is going on in our lives, weddings always feel like a mental release. There is truly no better energy to be a part of every weekend. This year, I think everyone was just so happy to finally reach this day and see extended family and long distance friends again, the energy was extra contagious!

Looking ahead, I am excited for a well-balanced 2022 season. I’ve found I truly love sticking to 10-15 weddings each summer because I can focus so much more on each couple with much more intention, so we continued with that mindset into 2022. We are now currently booking into 2023 and have some incredible venues and even a destination out to the East coast on the books! We are so excited to continue doing what we love and can’t wait to meet and work with all of you!

And of course, a very special thank you to all 2021 couples. It’s been quite the ride for some of you! We are so thankful to have been let into your special days, every couple blew us away with their kindness, grace, and warmth. I wish I could share so many details of each but this would get verrrrry long! So I’ll stick to just highlighting each couple 🙂 Cheers to another beautiful year of weddings! We all made it through the past two years of reschedules and everyone was happily married! Yay! Here’s a look back:

 

We also photographed some engagement sessions, lifestyle sessions, maternity photos, and a surprise proposal!

SWEET SUMMERTIME

In between weddings and editing, were so many backyard hangs. Grilling hamburgers, throwing the ball around in the yard, and getting out on the water as much as we could!

F I V E  Years Married!

We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary in August by renting an airbnb in our favorite spot in all of Wisconsin. I almost don’t want to say cause it’s our secret spot!! If you’ve never been to the driftless area of Vernon County and you love rolling hills, you need to go! Ontario specifically holds a lot of meaning for us, so many memories of camping and Kickapoo River canoe trips! This is Amish country, so if you like having lots of things to do just be aware that this is more a place to seek out if you want some peace and quiet and nature. The rolling hills are so surprising, it reminds us of being in Tennessee. After a weekend of fully unplugging, it made us seriously want to live out on the country. We are always happier with less and less choices brings more peace and simplicity. We bought food at the only grocery store in town, and made all our meals. We watched the sun set and lightning storms and the sun rise. We hiked and kayaked and watched on top the hill the amish return home below us after a long day’s work. Cows moo’d and it never felt so…..soothing LOL. So typical Wisconsin, how could we ever leave this state?

 

2021 CULTURE

It wouldn’t be a 2021 year recap without mentioning alllll the other things that made up the year: NFT’s and Crypto becoming mainstream, Netflix shows like Squid Games & Bridgerton bringing in millions of views, conversations on mental health and normalizing therapy were at an all time high, the first same-sex dance couple were paired on Dancing with The Stars, Brittney is free!!, Chris Harrison exits Bachelor Franchise after defending racial insensitivity (as a long time Bachelor viewer this was HUGE), the realness of Cancel Culture, the Capital riot and Biden is president, continued polarization and The Social Dilemma documentary continuing to bring social media issues to light. The government finally confirms UFO’s are real and no one reacts lolol, burnt out workers, everyone (EVERYONE) is short staffed, workplaces reinventing the new workplace normal. The production and delivery of vaccines and boosters and reopening borders for travel, Jeff Bezos space flights begin, weather is more extreme and California is on fire….

Which leads me to our…

Cali Road Trip: From Vegas to Tahoe, Along Scenic Hwy 395

We just so happened to plan a trip through Cali along their current fire zone. It was a brilliant idea! To be fair, we had no idea when planning how badly the current fires would actually effect our trip. The month leading up, we knew there were some seriously bad fires just south of Lake Tahoe that did end up dying out thank goodness. There were still awful fires taking place further south in Sequoia National Park, but being that Cali is a large and long state, we truly didn’t think that we would be affected all the way up north. Turns out, when there is wind, we were way wrong.

California Fires are no joke, and although this trip was not quite at all what we had planned (for reasons I won’t mention like getting smoked out of Mammoth Lakes area where we planned to spend 3 days, poor visibility in Lake Tahoe, cancelling Yosemite due to air quality conditions – AGAIN lol some day we will get here, and lastly, having no good hiking air or visibility of the Sierra Nevada mountains the entire drive home – this was the main reason we chose this particular 395 highway road trip). For someone who is faint of heart and always thinks they’re going to die, this turned out to not be the best choice of location lol. If you’re trying to visit this California mountain area, it may be best to do so in June when fire season is less in full-swing.

After our first two nights in Vegas (one to sleep after a late flight, and 2nd night enjoying the night life), we were excited to hit the road. First up, Death Valley National Park just outside Vegas. We *finally checked this one off our bucket list* after being near this area so many times. If you are are on a road trip, and it’ll be faster to drive through it, definitely do it because although the connection in the park sucks, and the name of the place sounds frightening, it definitely offers some interesting landscape and views. Would it be a place I’d seek out more than a couple hours? Mmmm. Probably not. If you’re into photography definitely wait til sunrise or sunset. We traveled midday in the hot sun and the colors in Artist’s Palette definitely weren’t as vivid (normally it looks like pastel chalk covered the mountains).

As mentioned, there’s NO connection or radio stations whatsoever for four hours or more, so you’ll have to sing songs for like 4 hours, and then 4 hours more as you travel on the 395. This is a very desolate area so make sure your gas tank is full and you bring plenty of water in case of a breakdown. Especially at the end of the main road through the park, there is a lot of uphill climbing, and after spending 4 hours in one of the hottest places on earth, we definitely can understand why cars break down. There’s even a 15 minute section where they advise you to turn off air conditioning to avoid overheating. We took in the views and were very happy to make it out (alive) and with no car problems!

We drove along the gorgeous 395, with the Sierra Nevada mountain views waving to you along the left, and passed by the charming small towns. Stop in Lone Pine and check out the Alabama Hills if you have time. These rocks remind me of Joshua Tree and there are some picturesque views of Mt Whitney! We also highly recommend checking out some hiking around Big Pine, as seen in 2020’s Cali road trip. We were short on time so we kept going.

As we were finally approaching our first main location, Mammoth Lakes, we realized the mountains were looking really hazy. We kept traveling up the mountain, and the light between the trees was so eerie as the sun was setting. Almost like a heavy glowing fog in between the trees. I wish I would have stepped out for a picture. When we got to the top of the hill at our resort, the air was now thick and gray. No one was there except for one parked car, a complete ghost town. Out of curiosity, we covered our mouths from the smoke filled air and walked into the lodge entrance (half expecting it to be closed). The front desk man was busy answering calls on whether or not they were closing due to fires, and assuring people that he wasn’t sure, (LOL), and as far as he knows, they’re open. I wanted to leave due to my gut instinct, but we had spent $$ on this nicer resort lodge so we checked into our room, thinking maybe we’re just from Wisconsin and this is Cali-normal.

After 15 minutes kicking our feet up in bed, we realized our noses and eyes were actually stinging. Okay….probbbbably not healthy lol. So we looked up the air quality online and saw the chart below. We were at 172 – the highest on the chart for the entire area of California and definitely not healthy, and nothing freaks me out more than not being able to breathe. It was too late to fully leave the Mammoth Lakes area, I certainly didn’t want to drive in the mountains in the dark to reach Tahoe. But at the very least, we decided to go back down the mountain where the air quality was much less intense and I felt I could sleep the night.

 

The next morning, we lucked out with the air being good enough to get a morning view of Convict Lake followed by a little hot springs soak. There are so many hot springs in this area we would have loved to explore them all! We continued up to Lake Tahoe where we were optimistic air would be clearer. I forgot how beautiful the drive into Tahoe is, it felt so good to be back especially after the place almost burned a month prior. We checked into our hotel and decided to listen to some live music and grab a bite to eat at our favorite Base Camp pizza. The musician felt connected to Alex’s dancing enthusiasm lolol and after the show, he came up to talk to us.

We got into talking about the area and how we were considering moving here. And he basically told us how terrible the fires and evacuation process has been on him. He laughed and said rather seriously, we should sit tight in Wisco cause soon everyone will be relocating to us in the midwest. I left this conversation realizing this dream of living in California, would always stay a dream. The entire past couple years since visiting California for the first time, I dreamed of moving out here. And during quarantine when everyone was relocating and able to work from home, we actually were truly considering it. So much so that this vacation was actually half us deciding where (which mountain towns) we might want to live. There’s just not a ton of mountain hiking in Wisconsin LOL, and being such lovers of hiking and mountains it made sense to move to them. But it finally all clicked after this conversation from this local.

As beautiful as my California dream was, my gut instinct was telling me this is not where we want to invest or be right now, or even long term. I came to the realization I could not live in a place that I didn’t feel safe majority of the time. I’d much rather live where the clean air and water is. After months and months of long talks and agony over wanting to make up our minds, the smoke ironically gave me clarity. Wisconsin now felt more appealing than ever. We can always just visit Cali on vacays and it’ll be all the more reason to appreciate the mountain hikes when we are able!

So our mountain trip through Cali Hwy 395 filled with alpine lakes hikes and hot spring soaks suddenly was cut very short and turned into us bumming around Vegas not knowing what to do for the last 5 days of our trip (ps: turns out, one night on the Vegas strip is **definitely enough**). But it felt good to finally have this clarity and peace of mind so in a way this trip served a huge purpose. And we were still so happy to get some time away and in the mountains. We got to explore new hot springs along the 395 and revisited some our favorite Vegas hikes. I think we’re ready to hang up the Cali towel for a little while, but eventually we’d love to come back for a second try when there is less fire risk and check off more hot springs & hiking trails we had initially planned!

Closing out the Year

The rest of October/November was spent in a work/editing haze, wrapping up the wedding season and sending off so many galleries. Putting in the most hours ever worked **in my life** juggling meeting demands at my other job. But in early November we got lucky with beautiful weather for a much needed girls overnight getaway in the Dells. Spa, shopping, restaurants, hiking. A perfect 24 hour escape!

 

At last, December. It’s actually so funny to compare this year in review to last year’s, the effort given in Christmas 2020 was AT AN ALL TIME HIGH lol. Instead, this year I spent my time in recovery mode, focusing on personal projects that I love, like sending out client gifts, and finally going through our vacay photos and putting together our Iceland blog. We had a great time getting together with the full immediate fam this year in-person thanks to no positive COVID tests. I got dressed up for something other than a wedding for the first time all year, and spent New Year’s Eve grocery shopping with Alex for the perfect cheeses in preparation to stay in to watch the ball drop over a steak dinner and charcuterie board 🙂

Looking ahead to 2022

We are excited for a much more balanced schedule. And less vacations (woah did I say that). As amazing as road trips are, doing two 10-days road trips in the same summer/fall season was a lot to plan out. For 2022, I think our biggest priority will be on buying a house and making sure we have everything set for that!

Now of course we can’t go a full year without travel, so we did score some $100 round trip flight deals from Appleton to Denver for early June, where we plan to do another 10-day road trip (insert cry emoji….we just can’t get enough road trips!). While in Colorado, we’ll be seeing my fav band Lord Huron at Red Rocks Amphitheater, a venue that has been high up on my bucket list  am so stoked! Not sure what else we’ll do in Colorado as it isn’t fully mapped out yet, but we would love to do some hikes around Aspen and see what that fuss is all about! As well as Colorado Springs/Garden of the Gods, and the town of Ouray to try out UTV’ing for the first time. Overall, just take in the mountain views and hot springs. Hopefully being June there won’t be any fires in this area. We plan to do this by van again, since we have a voucher for Escape Campervans after we cancelled our trip to the Tetons in exchange for Iceland (are you sick of our van travels through mountains yet)? Maybe someday we’ll sit on a beach on a tropical vacation LOL.

As far as goals…we’ll have a bit more tangible goals for 2022 after this coming weekend. I rented a winter’s getaway retreat airbnb in the woods for Alex and I to just be still. I always love this quiet time after the new year. There’s less distractions and I have much more capacity to think clearly and creatively. So we’ll be doing a necessary lil detox from 2021, get some pampered massages at Sundara (which we have never been to before!! So excited), and use the stillness to brainstorm and listen to what we truly need right now, and from this coming year.

If I had to choose a word for 2022, it would be: Connection

Did anyone else feel a bit disconnected this year? It feels like 95% of my waking hours were spent working from home, so I guess it’s easy to see why lol. I spent so much of this year behind a computer screen, that at times, it felt my only connection to the outside world was listening to podcasts.. while at work LOL.

This was the year that therapy and mental health became normalized. It seemed everyone was using this downtime to really put in the work and challenge and grow themselves. I spent my workdays listening to so many podcasts on self-growth and life coaching this year that I’m a littttttle burnt out haha! But this was a goal of mine going into 2021, to further this exploration into thine self, and I will say, the hours put into listening to these types of conversations every single day (shout out to Jay Shetty’s On Purpose) have definitely helped tremendously over the course of a year. I was able to recognize and address some unhealthy patterns and realize that I do not always need to be *doing*fixing*planning* something. I can simply just be.

 

The biggest mental health takeaways this year:

A few stood out from the rest, so I wanted to share them in case anyone needs a lil dose of self-growth heading into this new year!

• You do not always need a plan. (MEEEEE MEE ME). It’s okay to sit back and just experience what comes.
• Your life is only as good as your mindset. If you’re not happy, change your mindset.
• Get inspired by your own story, your own vibe, YOU are all the inspiration you will ever need.
• Pay attention to what you feel like after spending time with someone. It’ll tell you everything you need to know.
• You are not responsible for other people’s happiness. Release this pressure.
• Just because you carry it well doesn’t mean it’s not heavy. Let it go.
• You don’t have a soul, you are a soul and you have a body. (I don’t know how to explain my feelings about this one without going super deep, but basically…this one helped me finally release the pressure of physical perfection most woman like me have. I realized the soul is just so much more profound than the body. Like, if you really think of it, the body is really just an outer shell, a platform that allows our soul to be in the physical world. I’m not saying don’t take care of your body and be healthy, but definitely don’t measure your worth or let anyone else measure your worth based on this outer shell).
• Setting a boundary is not being rude, sharing your feelings is not being dramatic, having needs or holding others accountable and having expectations is not being difficult.
• Don’t forget to drink water and get some sunlight. Because you’re basically a house plant with more complicated emotions.
• Just Be (thanking Alex for reminding me of this one when I need it most) 🙂

 

So many lessons learned this year, and I’m happy to have done self-reflective work, but now I am ready to expand outward again. At the end of the day, all I know is I am not my fullest, happiest self when I am in isolation 95% of the time. Is anyone? I want to build more connection with other people and things around me and outside my four walls.  I understand that I am who and what I surround myself with whether it’s the TV shows I watch, the podcasts I listen to, the people I follow, or the company I choose. I think the world can all agree we’re a little burnt out and we just want some peace, happiness, joy again. I’d love to start finding the connection and community again. Whether that’s getting back to sharing my purpose/ voice through my photography business, moving to a new area, finding new hobbies and meeting new friends, volunteering or helping out in a cause we believe in to make an even greater impact and connection to the world we live in.

So long 2021. You exhausted me and challenged me. But I’m ready to take these lessons with me in 22′. Cheers to everyone for making it this far! You are here. You are alive! Let’s hope for a lighter, more connected year!

 

Thank you all for following along with me another year!

As always, stay adventurous – Meghan

Over the past few years we have traveled to many places, but Iceland was actually our first **international** trip. Of all the places we could choose, the initial question many people asked us was “why Iceland?” Coming from living in Wisconsin where we hibernate from the cold over half of the year, why would we want to use our precious summer vacay going back into the cold and ice? Well now that Iceland has become a bit more of a popular destination, people now seem to know that it is actually not all ice, but a plethora of lime green moss atop black sand and waterfall after waterfall. Iceland comes alive in the summer months and shows off so many colors from the blue glacier lagoons to the red lava erupting volcanos, and lime green canyons that will make you feel like you’re on another planet entirely. And best yet? You will likely never experience nature this untouched, raw, and in it’s natural state. We love our national parks, and Iceland felt like one large national park – fully protected and cared for by its people!

Iceland didn’t even become on our radar until I joined the photography community five years ago. It seemed every photographer was heading out to Iceland to capture this stunning scenery! And being avid nature lovers and noootttt so much into big cities, we thought our first time being in a strange new country with a high density of people sounded a bit overwhelming for us. So we chose Iceland where we knew the focus would remain on raw nature (which is always our top priority), and where we knew there would be accommodating, friendly, English-speaking locals. Every Iceland review we read of prior travelers was outstanding and what really sold the deal was knowing we could travel around the entire island in just the right amount of vacay time (7-10 days). All in our favorite mode of transportation – a converted campervan!

Heaven is real, and it’s only a 6 hour flight.

It’s actually crazy when you compare how close in proximity Iceland is to the US with the few amount US travelers that have actually gone and visited. We couldn’t believe only a 6 hour flight (5 hour flight outbound from Chicago) to this nearly untouched magical piece of earth, and the flights were extremely reasonable $$. Originally, we booked this trip pre-pandemic for $600 round trip back in January 2020 (just a month before our plans went to shit and the world shut down haha). I was all excited to spend my 30th birthday soaking in the Blue Lagoon and we faithfully waited allllll the way up until that very month June 2020 before calling the trip off due to still ongoing COVID travel restrictions. It was a huge bummer…but one we saw coming for months in advance and luckily had a really amazing backup trip planned road tripping through Cali instead.

Going into 2021, we honestly still didn’t think Iceland was going to happen. People were still working from home. It seemed this pandemic was never going to end. But then, with the release of vaccines it seemed there mayyyy just be a glimmer of hope! In April 2021, Iceland was one of 3 countries to open their doors to Americans. We saw an article that if you book before end of April, you’d score $400 round trip tickets. Already having our whole itinerary planned out + vouchers from cancelled bookings ready to go, and two weeks blocked off end of June for our Grand Tetons National Park trip, it was a no-brainer. We cancelled our trip to the Tetons (sorry Tetons!!) and took this chance to finally see Iceland. After a year of hunkering down with no travel, we were pinching ourselves that this was finally MAYBE happening!!! (So long as we passed our PCR Covid tests!)

Packing List

We’ve had lots of interest about this trip. Why the van? What was our itinerary? Packing list? What our favorite spots were? Etc, etc.

So my basic outline will be as follows:

1. Packing List – I’ll share what we each brought (we didn’t check any bags! Very minimal)
2. Itinerary – Many have been asking for this breakdown, it is finally here! The main chunk of this blog post will be sharing our trip in consecutive order (with location names that are hard to pronounce!)
3. Q/A – at the very end, I’ll be sharing my answers to all your burning Iceland questions! This was my favorite part to write because it truly breaks down our thoughts on Iceland and it’s culture. Great things to know if you’re planning a trip to Iceland one day!

So let’s start with the Packing List. Being that we were going to be living out of a van for 10 days, we knew we’d have to keep our packing list pretty minimal…otherwise things get cluttered FAST. This was a great challenge because we had to pack for all 4 seasons + footwear for all 4 seasons + drone/cameras/laptops/go pro equipment. I still am not sure how we made this happen. It’s important to know that we traveled end of June into first week of July. This is the warmest time of year for Iceland, but you should still expect temps to be 50 degrees on average and drop even lower during midnight sun. We boarded the plane with 2 carry-ons, 2 personal items (backpacks), and did not do any checked bags.

• My carryon Bag: 5-6 sports bras/cami tops, 5 athletic long sleeves, 2 sweaters that were nice enough to function as hiking sweaters OR going out to eat sweaters, 5-6 leggings, 2 swimsuits, 1 raincoat shell, 1 puffy jacket, 1 fleece.
• Alex carryon Bag: same except for not the sports bras/ camis :P, and instead of sweaters he packed a couple Eddie Bauer henleys (waffle textured long sleeves) that look nice enough for eating at restaurants & can function as hiking base layers
• Backpack 1: small mirrorless camera + two lenses/DJI mini drone/GoPro/chargers/memory cards & all other electronic accessories/laptop
• Backpack 2: any leftover boots/jackets that couldn’t fit into our carryons, face cleanser, deodorant, toothbrushes, minimal makeup bag, this charging port I bought on Amazon which was recommended & ended up being super handy for keeping all our electronics & phones charged while being in a van 10 days

WHAT WE DIDN’T BRING: my professional cameras (EEEP!) They are just so large and bulky, and I was worried if I brought my full gear that the entire trip would be me being in “photography” mode vs real life mode. We also didn’t bring any t-shirts (tank tops and long sleeves are easier to layer), toiletries, shampoo, “getting ready” essentials, flip flops. We knew we could buy all that stuff there in travel sized bottles for cheap and it’d save lots of room.

In hindsight, I think we were pretty spot on with our packing list. I ended up wearing every single clothing item packed, without having to repeat and wear dirty clothes. We personally didn’t need the fleece or puffy jacket, it was really nice while we were there and 55 and sunny in Iceland feels like 75 and Sunny in Wisconsin. So if you’re planning a trip mid-summer mayyybe go easy on the jackets. It’s just hard, because you never know with Iceland weather what kind of luck you’re going to have.

TIP: INVEST IN A GO PRO! The GoPro we ended up using a LOT, especially at the lagoons since it is waterproof and I didn’t want to ruin my phone in the water. We got some really cool timelapse videos with it and overall just had lots of fun getting to know the Gro Pro. I tried being a film maker for an eventual Iceland vlog, but after seeing our very amateur (and shaky) video clips I’ll be keeping this one to ourselves LOL. We also used it for photos since it has a wider frame than my camera, so I had fun with some wide framed shots! We could have done without the drone, we only tried using it once and almost lost it mid-flight, which then turned us off from wanting to use it again. If you are skilled in drone piloting, unlike us, definitely bring one cause this place is absolutely EPIC for it.

MY ONLY (SOMEWHAT BIGGIE) REGRET after coming home and editing through the photos, was not bringing at least one of my professional cameras. I always go back-and-forth with wanting to be present during our travels vs making it “all about photos.” If I were traveling by myself, I’d definitely be out there, full photography gear, driving around and diving deep into it all. But when you’re traveling with your husband, you want to live in the real world and experience each present moment together. There was just something freeing about the idea of leaving it all behind and just simply BEING (plus saving space, not having to deal with a checked bag, or haul around bulky gear everywhere I went). I knew that no matter what photo I took, if I was actually present in the moments, that they would live on far more beautifully in my mind than any photo. So as much as the photographer in me sometimes wishes I had my best gear in hand, at the end of the day…does a slightly more beautiful photo matter when the one in your mind matters most?

10 DAY ITINERARY

Do I need 10 days? How many days would you recommend?

For going around the entire island, 10 days felt perfect. Without having to deal with quarantining day 1 and backtracking to the city 3 days prior to our departure to get another covid test, we probably would have been content with 7 days.

However, I’ve been telling so many people that if they ever wanted to take just an extended weekend, Iceland is also a wonderful choice because of the shorter flight and because there is so much you can quickly see in a short amount of time. In 4 days, you could fly in and Day 1 enjoy Sky Lagoon and downtown Reykjavik boutiques and restaurants/night life. Day 2 & 3 rent a car and drive less than 2 hours on the Ring road to see the many attractions from waterfalls to glacier lagoons all in-a-row on the south part of the island (seriously, this is all VERY easy driving and accessible sightseeing. If you’re not a very adventurous person but can appreciate looking at nature, just know that every attraction is right off the main road, no hiking required). There’s also lots of nice hotels, airbnbs, and restaurants here making it an ideal spot for tourists. On your last day, drive back into town and visit the active volcano or soak in the Blue Lagoon before departure!

Clockwise vs Counterclockwise

Starting from Kefllavik, we decided to drive clockwise around the island. I recommend doing it this way as it eases you into the Iceland experience, leaving the most popular tourist attractions for the very end. Because the south has so many iconic attractions in such a small section, your mind can easily get used to the stimulation of one epic location to the next to the next. Literally 10 epic locations in one day. Versus the rest of the island requires a bit more driving and anticipation and slower enjoyment. So I think if we had gone counterclockwise, it could have made the rest of our trip SEEM more lackluster (even though it is not and I’m very very happy we did the whole island!) It basically comes down to, do you want to eat dessert first? Or start with the appetizer?

Van camp vs Hotels

I do want to stop real quick to say why we chose the van instead of hotels, because this upfront decision will ultimately determine the overall type of experience you’ll be having on the island.

Iceland is small (smaller than the state of Wisconsin)! But being that the entire center of the island (known as “the highlands”) are mostly volcanic activity and require a 4×4 vehicle along some pretty rough roads, many people stick to the main easy-to-drive road that circles the island called “The Ring Road.” So although it’s a small island,  this makes everything a litttttle harder to get to and feel more spread out, because you can’t cut through the middle. If you are planning on only seeing the popular southern part of the island, perhaps getting a hotel or booking some trendy airbnb’s would be the way to go! There are loooots of sleek modern tiny homes to choose from in this area, although be aware they are usually in a “community” setting next to other tiny homes. So if you’re looking for something more remote, Google Earth the location and scout the satellite images prior to booking.

On the flipside, if your plan is to get the **full Icelandic experience**, and to be able to explore the entire island and all its glory in 7-10 days time, then I would **strongly** recommend traveling by van. It’s actually pretty popular to tour the island this way and there are many van companies to choose from. We chose Happy Campers due to their fun colors and it just sounds…happy! Everything in Iceland seems to be bold colors, the houses in fishing villages, the lime green mountains that blanket the country, people in red puffer jackets or bright yellow raincoats. These vans just seemed to match the aesthetic and made us feel happy and “homey” away from home. Their website also has the most incredible Q/A info and so I knew they’d be a reputable company and we’d be in great hands. We were very impressed by their customer service and how accommodating they were during COVID mess. They gave us 50% off our total price if we chose to reschedule vs cancel…so we were able to score a hella good deal!

Anyways, if you aren’t bothered sharing small quarters with your traveling partner, or aren’t bothered sleeping in a car by yourself if you’re traveling solo, then van no question is the way to go. Either way, I promise you the experience and memories will be WORTH IT (when did you ever have a lifechanging experience in a hotel? Just saying). The best memories Alex and I have are all on van road trips we’ve taken. It forces you to be a part of an experience more than hotels ever will. Plus these vans come with built in WIFI so you never have to worry about getting lost, not having connection. Google maps works just fine in Iceland by the way. Also built in sink, mini fridge, kitchen equipment + storage, fold down couch that turns into a bed (was actually suuuuper comfy!) And nice natural light & scenic views outside your window at all times 🙂 We never felt unsafe in Iceland. It’s such a welcoming island community and VERY vancamp friendly.

Hotels on the other hand would have majorly slowed us down with the check-in, check-out times. Especially during the “midnight sun” (the sun doesn’t actually set in the summer months) you’re going to want to take advantage of the extra sight-seeing time you’re given and have the flexibility to find places to sleep on the fly. No matter how much you plan this itinerary out in advance, Iceland weather is unpredictable and plans will change constantly. You may realize you have more time to sightsee this day, or maybe you didn’t get as far as you wanted this day. You definitely want some wiggle room and don’t want to regret having to drive 3 more hours to reach your hotel you booked. It was incredibly easy to find camping along the ring road & it’s all super affordable. I wanna say we spent only $30 our entire trip on camping- WOW! Also just a head’s up, Iceland is a bit more expensive to visit when it comes to food/hotels, one more reason to choose van.

Day 1: Arrival, Quarantine Nap, Pickup Van, Get the Essentials, Explore Reykjavik (Southwest region)

We departed Chicago on a midnight flight. Too amped to sleep, we watched movies and a glorious sunrise instead. Five hours later we were being greeted by Iceland’s purple lupines and a baron flat landscape. Once we arrived at KEF airport, we were guided to our covid test, and then we called our van rental company to come pick us up (free service)!

After picking up our van and getting our groceries + essentials we decided to venture to the Capital of Iceland, Reykjavik to explore their downtown area and the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church. You can go inside and pay a small fee to go all the way to the top for the best view of the town, which I wish we would have done because it would have made for a great vantage point of all the colorful housing and cultural charm which was unlike anything we have seen here in America!

Afterwards, we drove back south to the airport and eastward into Grundavik to see the active volcano nearby. Unfortunately due to fog and poor visibility we could not hike it and so decided to revisit this at the end of our trip. We’d be coming back to this area anyway for a dip in the famous Blue Lagoon (which we had booked for the last day of our stay & I recommend booking in advance due to the popularity)! We crossed our fingers we’d get to see the volcano the second time around, and fell asleep after still feeling groggy from the different schedule!

Day 2: Snaefellsnes Peninsula (Northwest Region)

The official start of the journey! Drive 3 hours to Londrangar Cliffs and the Harbor at Arnarstapi. Explore. **Most of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula attractions are located off of Ring Road and gravel roads are required. Gravel insurance on your rental vehicle is recommended! This made for a bumpy start of our road trip, but the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. We learned that whenever you venture off the Ring Road, you can expect a little more adventure.

The fog during this drive (in one of the most desolate parts of Iceland) made it feel all the more eerie. We watched as the city of Reykjavik faded into a now baron landscape of lime green moss and old lava fields that looked like mint chocolate chip icecream! When we arrived at both Londrangar Cliffs and shortly after, the harbor at Arnarstapi, we were the only tourists there. There is a small visitors parking lot at both locations. Don’t miss getting a glimpse of the harbor before walking the trail to Gatklettur Rock Formation nearby. There are several stone “bridges” as you can walk over and they are all relatively close to the parking lot. Don’t do what we did and walk two hours looking for it!

Drive 20 mins to Búðakirkja Black Church. It’s pitch black paint job along with its isolation make it a unique photo attraction site.

Drive 35 mins to the iconic Kirkjufell Mountain, the iconic wizard-shaped mountain surrounded by waterfalls and rainbows. The sun finally popped and it was truly breathtaking.

We ended our day at Grundarfjordur Camping ground nearby. It was REALLY hard to want to fall asleep when the sun was finally shining, but we knew we had to stick to our sleep schedule and catch a good “night’s” sleep.

Day 3: Husavik (North Region)

Drive 7 hours to Husavik, but along the way stop at Godafoss. (You will quickly learn that names ending in “foss” = waterfall). We groggily woke up in the midnight sun to begin our venture north. It was another very desolate drive which was beautiful but being so exhausted it all felt like a blur in hindsight. All I remember was lots of techno music, sheep, and more lime green landscape. We saw mayyybe two cars the entire 7 hour drive. And no towns except for sporadic homes here and there. It made me wonder what this kind of lifestyle all entails and if these people ever get lonely or if they are much happier this way. We were so happy when we finally reached Godafoss so we could nap again. Once we woke, we stretched our legs and saw our first of the many northern tourist attractions! It was a little nice seeing some people (and public bathrooms) again!

Book a whale watching tour in Husavik.

Husavik is considered the whale watching capital of Europe, and during summer months many whale touring companies will boast 100% success in catching a sighting. It’s also such a picturesque and quaint colorful fishing village. You may recognize it from the movie “Eurovision” starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, which is definitely worth a watch when you need some comedic relief.

Since we had never seen any large ocean mammals before we decided to test our odds! We booked with Gentle Giants and decided on the GG2 tour: Puffins & Big Whales combo. We started with a ride out to Puffin Island which was very interesting seeing Iceland’s iconic bird flying all over and diving into the water – they were very quick and impossible to take photos of! Then a group of dolphins were swimming along our boat and Alex got some awesome video footage of a dolphin swimming right up against the boat. And then last but not least, we cruised over to the other side of the bay (which by the way THIS WAS ALL SO SCENIC AND BEAUTIFUL) and spotted our first whale, a humpback. We were all admiring from afar, and then we noticed more and more surfacing. We were in a pod of 6 whales, which the guide said was extremely rare as they are typically solo animals. They were surfacing all around us and ini the video I’m just repeating “woah…..oh my god…..woah….” like five times over. We were simply blown. It was truly epic and I highly recommend. Even if you don’t see any whales, the experience on the water was so refreshing and breathtaking!

After freezing out on the water, we went for an evening soak in the soothing geothermal waters of the Myvatn Nature Baths.

We naturally wanted to sleep after this, as it was approaching “night time” but technically we had just woken up not too long ago. So we kept exploring the Lake Myvtan area, specifically Krafla geothermal area and the Viti Crater.

Other cool things to explore:

• Town of Akureyri – Known as the “capital of the North” Akureyri is a charming town with plenty of shops and museums. Enjoy the area before hitting the road again to Lake Mvatn area
• Lake Myvatn area: Namskard, Skutustadagigar Pseudocraters (would be cool for a drone shot), Dimmuborgir Lava Field, Grjotagja Hot Spring Cave (go during mid-day otherwise won’t be able to see into the cave thus defeats the purpose of its crazy blue waters) If need a place to stay, Camping Myvatn has great reviews and is very close to everything.
• Asbyrgi Canyon (giant horse shoe shaped depression, rich in folklore with forest in the middle

We ended the day at Dettifoss parking lot to sleep. We were very tired at this point and you’re probably not supposed to sleep “overnight” in the parking lot, but we were too tired to keep driving. We decided to rest our minds and wait until morning to explore.

Day 4: Stuðlagil Canyon + Lots of Driving (North to Southeast Region)

We woke at Dettifoss to the most glorious sunrise I have EVER witnessed. Had we slept even 15 minutes longer, the lighting wouldn’t have been the same. Unfortunately due to recent rain, the main trail that takes you up close and personal to the waterfall was closed off, and although it did look accessible we wanted to be respectful to the “closed” sign. So we admired from up top and took in the sunrise glow. Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland and 2nd most powerful waterfall in Europe and we had it ALL to ourselves. It was unreal and definitely a highlight of our trip, next time we return we will definitely walk all the way up to the edge!

Next we drove 1 hour 45 mins to check out Stuðlagil Canyon, the Basalt Column Canyon in Jökuldalur valley. **Note: THE ROAD IS VERY UNPAVED AND ALONG AN EDGE. Was the most stressful drive we did on our trip, we also missed the turn (its easy to miss) and ended up in a parking lot on the wrong side of the river that still gave view of the canyon from above, but you couldn’t walk down to it and cross the river like the trail we were supposed to take, and the viewpoint seen in the majority travel pictures you see. If you find it on Alltrails app, know that the directions are correct, even though it seems incorrect. You actually DO turn left into the most random, privately owned farm area to park.

Once looped back up with the Ring Road, it took us past this eastern town of Egillstadur, and decided to try out Askur Pizzeria for dinner. (SOO GOOD, order the #1 with wild goose meat!)

After a delicious eat, we drove 45 mins along a beautiful route to see the Hallormsstaðaskógur Forest which if I remember correctly was the only lake along the Ring Road and is a gorgeous area to take photos in the purple lupines! Note: these are an invasive species to Iceland. Although we didn’t pick any wildflowers, this is the one time picking yourself a bouquet is probably OK! 😉

Other cool things to explore :

• Drive 1 hr to the cute little Rainbow Road Town of Seyðisfjörður came highly recommended as best in all of Iceland by multiple peeps. Camp at Seydisfjordur campsite if need to nap. It was a bit out of our way for what we wanted to see next, so we decided to pass.

We ended by driving an additional 4 hours through the jagged fjords in the hazy east coast until we reached our final sleeping destination at Stokksnes, the incredible black sand beach that, with the right conditions, perfectly reflects the peaks of the Vestrahorn Mountains. This came highly recommended by many travelers as their favorite “off the beaten” path spot, so we knew we had to check it out. You can park in the Stokksnes parking lot and then walk to the beach. Or if you go in the bakery you can pay a small “camp” fee to vancamp in their parking lot and also get access past the private gate, which allows access to drive down a road that gets you way closer to the water. Recommend! The owners of the parking lot are also super nice. It was actually my birthday when we woke and when we went in to get coffee the lady gave me a free muffin treat 🙂 So sweet!

Day 5: My birthday! Filled with so many favorite sights! (Southeast to Midsouth region).

After a bite to eat at the cafe it was time to explore Stokksnes! This became one of my favorite spots from the entire trip! We were there around 7am on a Wednesday and had it almost to ourselves (just one other couple off in the distance). The weather was ridiculously windy and cold so unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy for very long as sand was getting in our eyes. The reflection was also very minimal due to the tide being very low. Nevertheless it was still a super cool and worth seeing. I’ve truly never seen any landscape like it. I just wanted to be able to hop from one dune to the next to the next.

We then drove an hour 15 to hike Mulagljufur canyon which took about 2 hours out and back. This was another spot recommended off the beaten path. At first we weren’t sure we were in the right spot (again, trust your Alltrails app!), but eventually you reach a secluded parking lot with tons of other hikers gearing up.

The hike itself was moderate in terms of difficulty, so long as you can handle a steady climb. It looks like it would take a journey to get to this below viewpoint, but based on what we’ve done in Glacier National Park, this was not even in the same ballpark. In fact, we didn’t really do any extreme hikes our entire time in Iceland. Everything was very easy to get to, many times just a 2 minute walk right off the main road. So if you think going to Iceland means involves lots of effort to get the views, it is surprisingly not at all! This whole Iceland trip was the most easiest sight seeing we’ve ever had to do, and by far the most diverse scenery! It’s what allows you to see so much in such a short amount of time.

Afterwards we kept along the main road, now approaching the height of the tourist area – the midsouth. We were crossing a bridge and out of nowhere came this out-of-this-world land of blue. I told Alex to pull over cause we need to stop, little did I know it was the well-known Jökulsárlón / Diamond beach area. This was the first major tourist attraction of the popular southern region, and I instantly understood why. HOLY BLEEP it was incredible. The icebergs, the shapes and colors trickling down the glacier floating into the sea will take your breath away. On the other side of Ring Road, you can walk down to the Diamond Beach, where the icebergs wash up on the black shore like glistening diamonds. My regret is not walking all the way to the water, it was a huge stretch of sand and from what our eyes could tell, there wasn’t many for us to see during summer, but we should have walked all the way to the ocean to check. I guess we’ll just have to return! Also we didn’t see any, but keep an eye out for the seals that call the lagoon and beach home.

We continued on, passing through another purple mountain majesty field of lupines, til we 1 hour late arrived at  Fjadrargljufur Canyon. This was the desktop on my phone and much anticipated location for a looong time. I imagined it being an adventure and long hike to get to, and super remote. When in reality it was a quick 5 minute walk off the main road LOL.

We were getting exhausted so we made the final trek to Skogafoss area to camp (which is really just a parking lot area). When we pulled in, we were thrilled to see the most prime parking lot with the unblocked view of the waterfall was available to us! We could watch it out our bedroom window as we fell asleep and morning when we rose. Everyone parked was already sleeping so we got out and walked up to the fall. This is one of the most photographed spots in Iceland, the way you can walk right up to the base of the waterfall is very unique. I wanted to stay and admire until dawn, it was so special to have this place all to ourselves, but Alex was super tired from driving (don’t blame him!) so we walked back to the van to sing happy birthday, I made a wish,  blew out the candles to my cupcake and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the waterfall’s power.

Other cool things to explore (this area has a LOT, we definitely want to come back and explore the midsouth more):

Svartifoss Waterfall (this fall tumbles down unique basalt columns, which inspired the design of Rekjavik’s Hallgrimskiirkja church).

Skaftafell area of Vatnajökull National Park. Camp within the National Park $4 a night at Skaftafell Camping – HIGHLY rated. Gorgeous view of glaciers. We would have done this but it wasn’t time to sleep yet, and we wanted to keep making progress on our route.

Book the Glacier Explorer tour by Arctic Adventures. Lasts 5.5 hours. We originally booked this tour which would have been awesome to hike on top of a glacier! But we didn’t want to lose an entire day to it. We already felt like we were crossing off so many sites on our original list due to being a littttle too optimistic with how much we’d be able to see in one day. If we didn’t have to backtrack to Reykjavik for our COVID test two days prior to departure, it would have allowed us more time to stick to our original plans. But we wanted to keep making progress in our route. Another reason for us to return! 🙂 Also, if you’re in this area in the wintertime, it would be a MUST to do an Ice Cave tour.

Þakgil campsite for the night! We were highly highly hiiiighly recommended to camp here…it’s in the middle of this mossy green canyon. It’s off the main road about 45 minutes, but it’s not an F road so you don’t need a 4×4. Here’s a pretty good article on what the area is like! I was so bummed to cross this off the list, but it would have taken a day out of our itinerary and after now seeing that many of Iceland is mossy green, it didn’t feel AS necessary. Although still would have been cool to camp in this remote spot.

Day 6: Lots of Water fallin’! (Midsouth region)

We woke up to many more people walking up to the waterfall, now that it was normal sightseeing hours. We walked up again ourselves, this time got much closer (and wet!) It’s so crazy how powerfully loud the sound is crashing down against the ground, Alex got the closest out of anyone I saw and from the look on his face it was well worth it. I tried to get as close but I looked down and realized I was completely drenched. I yelled at Alex my camera was wet and we dashed back to our van. A refreshing way to start the day, that’s for sure!

After Skogafoss make sure to check out Kvernufoss. This one is hidden from the rest of the popular waterfalls on the South Coast, but is actually just located right behind Skogafoss. It is a beautiful short hike leading up to the fall, and make sure to walk all the way behind the fall for the best experience! Hot tip: **WALK** here after visiting Skógafoss so you don’t need to fuss about parking. The hike starts behind the Skógar museum and takes about 20-30 minutes. You can also park at the museum to be closer but will cost you a fee.

Drive to town of Vik & take pictures of Vik Church with Reynisfjara Black volcanic beach in background. I swear Iceland has more churches than people, and they all are so cute! Afterwards, head to the beach for a closeup of the dramatic rocks that jet out of the water. This is one of the most beautiful black sand beaches in the world.

After playing around with the cool basalt columns and boulders on the beach, grab a bite to eat in town and drive an hour west to catch the glorious colors of Seljalandsfoss Waterfall at sunset!

We both had such a natural high after seeing many amazing sights over the past two days, but we had to start making our way back to Reykjavik for our early AM Covid Test. However it did feel a little nice knowing tomorrow would be a slower pace, filled with shopping and the spa. We picked a camping spot just outside the city and said hi to even more horses!

Day 7: Backtrack to Reykjavik for Covid Test (Midsouth to Southwest Region)

Depending what restrictions are still ongoing when you travel to Iceland, you may need to get a COVID test to get back to the US. While we were traveling, this had to be done within 3 days of departure. So we chose Friday for our Sunday flight, knowing it could take up to 24 hours to get our results back. Like our initial COVID test upon entry, this only ended up taking 5 hours to get our results texted/emailed to us.

After our test, we spent some time in the city of Reykjavik exploring the various boutiques and fun cobblestone streets. DO BE AWARE that there are hardly any public bathrooms downtown. You basically have to eat at a restaurant or purchase something at a cafe if you need to go. They do have these weird coin-operated cylindrical “toilet booth” things (think of a telephone booth on the side of a street) that you can access, however expect the cleanliness of a porta-potty. Alex would not recommend lol. All other bathrooms we experienced in Iceland however were phenomenal and very sleek modern clean, just not downtown apparently!

Speaking of sleek & modern, we booked THEEEE BEST spa experience at Sky Lagoon. It’s a brand new facility in Reykjavik with an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, swim up bar, and very luxurious private changing rooms if you book the Sky pass (worth the extra penny). It also comes with the 7 step ritual which mixes hot and cold sensations for ultimate mind/body/soul rejuvenation – also a must during your visit. I’ll do a little compare/contrast of the 3 spas we visited down in the Q/A section at the end!

We stayed at the spa for a total of 3 hours, which I felt was the perfect amount. But we were now getting hangry. We picked up a Dominos pizza and went back to the same campsite as the night before to eat our za & drift off to sleep. Honestly, at this point our hearts were feeling very full and doing more sightseeing didn’t seem necessary??? Aside from the Volcano and Blue Lagoon. Those were musts to still see!

Day 8: The Golden Circle + Snorkeling (Southwest Region)

Our goal today was to finish up the last sights of the Golden Circle. We drove an hour back the way we came to a town we initially drove through called Selfoss, famous for their Icelandic hot dog stand Pylsuvagninn Selfossi – The Hot Dog Stand. We didn’t explore Iceland cuisine all that much (our van had a mini fridge for us to buy groceries and save on $$) but if you are visiting Iceland you have to try the traditional Icelandic Hot Dog. It’s made mostly from Icelandic lamb but also pork and beef and it’s usually served in a warm bun with white raw onion, crispy fried onion, sweet brown mustard, ketchup and remúlaði.

Were the food prices and such higher or similar to US? Are there any other Icelandic staples?

The restaurant prices I would say are more expensive, grocery store seemed pretty comparable slightly more. But you’re also paying for much higher quality local farm fresh food. It’s comparable to eating a nicer restaurant in the US ($15-23 an entree on average). We like to spend our money more on experiences than food, so besides the two restaurant trips, we kept our costs down by buying groceries and making sandwiches – thanks to our van for having a mini fridge that allowed us to do so!

Many things were also closed while we were awake (since we did most of our exploring during the midnight sun). But what we did try was all fantastic. Everything was very fresh and delicious. Their brick oven pizza was the best we’ve ever had – we only went out to eat twice and that’s what we got both times LOL. The tourist towns are still very “small town feel” but must be growing because there were so many brand new, modern architectural restaurants and hotels. Would have loved to have looked inside them!

We did not try their staple of fermented shark and a beer – from every traveler I heard we didn’t miss out on much lol!

Once our healthy 😉 breakfast was demolished we drove just 15 mins to Kerid Crater. I recommend taking the short walk down. You can walk all the way around the crater both above and below but we thought the view right off the main parking lot was really good so we saved our legs the effort.

There are other things to see along the Golden Circle, but we decided to drive 40 mins to Þingvellir National Park, where you can walk the valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. 

We booked a snorkeling tour of the Silfra Fissure, the only place in the universe where you can go snorkeling in between two continental plates. We can now say we floated between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are slowy drifting apart splitting Iceland in two at a rate of about 1 inch per year. We had never snorkeled before, and I will say that snorkeling in freezing water is NOT for the faint of heart. The amount of dry suits and the way we had to suction cup ourselves was intense LOL….very claustrophobic but hilarious and wish I had a photo of this! It took an hour just to get everything on!

With the air in your suits, it allows you to simply float, look down the clear glacial water 500 feet and enjoy! There were no fish, but exploring the blue lagoon and lime green grasses were such fascinating colors to witness in nature. If you’ve snorkeled before, you may not think it’s as cool as we did, but having never done it before it was a neat experience! Our guide was so calming and reassuring and had his underwater camera ready to take some awesome photos of our group of 6! Unfortunately he had to carry a person in our group who had a panic attack once in water, so there’s not much to share of this. But you can see what we were up to and check out more info here.

After this, it was about 7pm so we  made our way back to the airport area where Blue Lagoon/ Grindavik are located to do the much anticipated volcano hike followed by a final morning dip into the Blue Lagoon before our flight.

For the volcano, we wanted to make sure to hike closer to night time for the best views of glowing lava but DO be careful of nightly fog. We were supposed to hike this our FIRST night into our trip, but some intense fog and poor visibility kept us from doing so. That same night a man actually became separated from his wife in the fog and couldn’t find his way back, and luckily was found many hours later by a rescue team. Do not underestimate the fog here! In a place where there is actively flowing lava and hot magma, it becomes all the more necessary to know where you are stepping.

If it is windy, you may want to check the direction the air is blowing and make sure it won’t be blowing right at you on your hike. For us, the wind was blowing all the smoke from the fires making the air hard to breathe, especially with the steep climb uphill. Remember, the higher you go, the more smoke you’ll likely breathe in as smoke rises. Check weather forecast ahead of time to make sure it is safe to hike.

Lastly, keep in mind the hiking trails may change at any moment, so make sure to follow recent routes. Path A which took you closest unfortunately was recently closed when we went due to lava flow, so we had to do Path B which didn’t take you as close. Although I feel like we did Path C or D cause we saw pictures of other people who went the same time as us who were able to get muchhhh closer. Definitely should have looked into it more, but it was still cool to see from a distance and to get up close and personal with the black flowing lava fields!

Other things we missed:

• Haukadalur Geothermal Valley – home to the great Geysir—the original “geyser”. Its neighbor Strokkur erupts every ten minutes or so, sending boiling water up to 20 m (66 ft) high, and the area is dotted with bubbling hot springs and steaming fumaroles.
• Gullfoss – You can approach it right to its edge to observe its incredible scale and power. We were feeling good on our waterfalls so skipped this one, looks beautiful though.
• Krysuvik – another geothermal area near the Volcano that came recommended to us after our trip

Day 9: BLUE LAGOON & DEPARTURE BACK TO US

We woke up feeling good about last day. We felt we had seen a LOT in the last week and our travel hearts were feeling very full. We didn’t quite reach a point of feeling homesick, but another day and we probably would have! 9 days was just the right amount of time, and we were very excited to go home and see our puppies! One last stop at the iconic Blue Lagoon, then off to the airport we went!

We finished out our trip by saying goodbye to our Happy Campers van & watching one two many good movies on the plane. Our first international trip (and favorite trip ever taken) had come to an end. Bittersweet!

When we got together with friends and family and began telling the stories of our trip, the common theme was how incredible, low-fuss, streamlined, logistically easy this trip was. And we saw more scenery than we ever knew our eyes could see in one week’s time. With it being only a 5-6 hour flight, I was literally telling everyone they just simply must go!

We got very lucky being one of the first travelers back into the country so tourist numbers were way down from usual. That along with doing majority of our sightseeing during the midnight sun when most people were sleeping….at times we felt we had the whole island to ourselves. We feel truly lucky that this window opened up at the perfect time and we were able to experience Iceland in a way not many people can anymore now that it is increasing in popularity. Definitely go and see it for yourselves. It is a million times more magical than any of these photos will ever be! I still can’t believe I did this all without my professional camera gear in hand. Majority of these are Iphone actually! Which only goes to show how anyone can take images like this, because Iceland is truly incredible and it doesn’t take a lot to showcase it’s beauty.

And now to answer some of the most commonly asked questions we received!

Bless Bless (“bye bye”!)

If you’ve made it this far, thank you sooo much for being here! I hope you’ve found something helpful you can take away on your next trip to Iceland. And if you found any of this helpful, I’d love to hear in the comments below as well as any other questions you have! Thanks again & stay adventurous! – Meghan