
Looking back over the past eleven years and all the travel Jeff and I have done together, our road trips stand out as some of the most unforgettable experiences. I also love flying—hello Grenada, Europe, the U.S. Virgin Islands—and those trips have been special. Still, road trips have a uniquely intimate feeling for me. They’ve become bookmarks in our life together: each journey marking a different moment in our relationship and family life, especially since we’ve often brought our pets along.
One memorable example was our first cross-country trip four years ago when we moved to Seattle with our dog Luna and our cat Nuggs (who has since passed away—this was before Franz and Gertie joined us). We saw stretches of the country I’d never experienced before: the Rocky Mountains, Mount Rushmore, and so much more.
That trip also taught me a few practical things about Jeff and myself. Jeff discovered he really doesn’t enjoy narrow two-lane roads, and I learned how important it is for me to eat breakfast within an hour of waking if anyone around me wants a pleasant morning (kidding… sort of). Spending so many hours together in a car—14-hour days in a rolling box—surfaces details about each other that short weekend getaways often don’t. After seven years together, we still found new things to learn.
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