I continue to write a blog for many reasons even though sometimes I don’t really feel like it.
- Show friends and family where we are.
- Provide inspiration for others to see some of the cool places we have been.
- Descriptions for other travelers on travel helps for specific locations.
- Keep my brain working by providing an outlet for a retired guy to still do “work” and have a creative outlet
- Show off my photography skills
- Provide a diary of our retired life for ourselves.
This post is only going to be for #6. I haven’t posted the last 2 months while we have been home in Seattle and I don’t want to forget all the stuff that we did. I’m not going to post links to this on social media so most people won’t see it. It is just for us and those who accidentally click on it.
We spent just 2 months home this year (June and July) which fells like it has been way too short. We did a lot of things but it is hard to believe, that it is time to hit the road again. We want to see Finland and the Baltic countries and we thought that August would be the best time because we don’t like to get cold :>). I can’t say that we regret our schedule, but summer of 2027 might include some more Seattle time.
This summer was still full of a lot of fun things with the added excitement of the World Cup in town. It had lots of trips to the Stretch Island beach house, lots of bike rides, lots of city walks, a trip to LaConner with our kids, a trip to Vancouver with Paul and Kara. We hosted some Aussies during the World Cup and hosted several friends and family overnight including Ann, Michelle, and Haley and Rowan. We had a couple meetups with some of our nomad friends, which has become a regular occurrence for our Seattle summers. My mother broke her pelvis in early July, and we spent a lot of time visiting her and our family to understand the best future for my parents. Somehow it is time to think about our next trip and escape into travel again. We have guilt for leaving behind family, but we are so excited to see some new places this year. Our family is encouraging us to keep on going while we can. Life should not be wasted while we are still fairly healthy.
We have a busy itinerary over the next year with our fall trip until November and then a trip to Mexico in December that stretches into a much longer trip in New Zealand and Asia that won’t have us home again until May. Our map videos of where we going, should be on the blog side bar soon. Here are our best photos to remember summer of 2026!
Next stop- Helsinki, Finland!!!!