Life happens.

For more than a year, I barely went anywhere. I didn’t take a real trip. I didn’t even make it to Florida to visit my mother.

My husband had a knee replacement, home was busy, and we had plenty to keep us occupied — including all the animals who apparently believe our entire lives should revolve around them.

So I stayed home.

For someone who loves to travel, that felt strange.

I wasn’t just missing the trips themselves. I was also missing the anticipation, the planning, the stories that come from going somewhere new, and even the ridiculous little things that go wrong along the way.

I didn’t even do a runDisney event.

That should tell you how serious this travel drought was.

When Travel Stops, So Does Some of the Inspiration

One thing I learned during that year at home is that it is much harder to write about travel when you aren’t actually traveling.

I could still remember old trips. I could still make plans. I could still scroll through photos and think about places I wanted to visit again.

But the spark was different.

Travel gives you new things to notice.

A hotel you loved. A restaurant you would never visit again. A road you accidentally took. A place that surprised you. Something that went completely wrong but became funny later.

When I stopped traveling, I lost some of that fresh inspiration too.

Then We Finally Left Home

At the end of September 2025, my husband and I finally broke the stay-at-home streak.

We traveled to North Carolina and then continued down to Florida.

It wasn’t some enormous bucket-list trip. That really wasn’t the point.

The important part was that I was going somewhere again.

After more than a year at home, even packing the car felt different.

I remembered how much I enjoy the movement of travel — heading down the road, stopping somewhere unfamiliar, finding food along the way, and knowing there is something different waiting at the end of the day.

It felt like a part of my life had switched back on.

Coming Back to Travel Feels Different

I don’t think I came back to travel exactly the same way I left it.

After being home so long, I’m less interested in traveling just to say I went somewhere.

I want trips that are fun, interesting, useful, ridiculous, memorable — or preferably some combination of all of those.

Sometimes that means Disney or Universal.

Sometimes it means a road trip, a race weekend, gem hunting, a state park, or stopping somewhere simply because it looked interesting.

I also know now that travel doesn’t have to be huge to count.

A short trip can still give you a story.

A weekend can still reset your brain.

Even getting back in the car after a long stretch at home can remind you why you loved traveling in the first place.

Minnie Trips Is Traveling Again Too

That trip also reminded me why I started sharing travel here.

I like the practical side of travel, but I also like the stories.

The things that go right.

The things that absolutely do not.

The places worth returning to and the ones where I can save you the trouble.

So yes, I’m traveling again.

And Minnie Trips is coming along with me.

There are more trips ahead, more places I want to see, and probably more than a few travel disasters waiting to become good stories later.

I’m okay with that.

I’m just happy to be going somewhere again.