the state of the travel blog // the return of the lazy travelers

Once upon a time, there were two best friends who started a travel blog. They lived in a city that was much too intense, and held jobs that were much too unfulfilling. It’s possible they drank too much wine on way too many days of the week.

Together, they were pretty good at being in their mid-20s. You know, if you agree that your mid-20s are for having existential crises, being mildly carefree and irresponsible, and trying on lots of different selves to see which one fits best. (Note to those selves: frazzled fashion publicist wannabes were NOT the selves for us.)

Yes, this is the kind of quality photography you used to see around here.
RIP Blackberry cameras that we genuinely thought were suuh good.

Fast forward nearly a decade later, and those same best friends still live in cities! But, new cities. Separate cities, but each in quiet neighborhoods, with homes that are warm and cozy. The lights are out, most nights, by 10 PM. Their jobs are significantly more fulfilling (if not entirely unpaid, #momlife). In general, you might find them to be… responsible?! Don’t worry, there’s still wine.

All of this is to say: we started this blog at a very, very different time in our lives. When we downed a few bottles of wine and bought this URL, we had no idea of what we wanted it to become. Partially because we had just drank a lot of wine and were yelling at Ashley’s husband for not investing in our Irish pizza truck idea. This gives you a lot of hints as to how much wine there was. He didn’t really have any money to invest. We’re still mad about it, though.

our week in mykonos

For being Plan B, this blog has taken us farther than we ever thought possible (figuratively, sure, but mostly literally). For 7.5 years, it has been the best little side project. It’s been a distraction from real life when we needed it most, it’s fueled and funded trips to places we could only dream of visiting. This blog has been a creative outlet and one of our very best ways of keeping in touch — whether we’re living blocks or miles or oceans apart.

four days in the douro

But then, something started to shift. This thing called influencer culture took hold of the internet. Blogs went from being intimate accounts of people’s lives… to straight up advertorials… to just kind of, well, dying. People switched to instagram, to something called “microblogging,” to posting pics of their butts standing on mountaintops while holding products we’re not entirely sure they actually care about.

Even so, we haven’t stopped traveling. If you do follow us on Instagram, then you know that since our last blog post meagerly went up nearly a year ago, we’re still doing what we love. Last November, we reunited in London and hopped over to Paris for a few nights, to stay in the most incredible apartment. Carolyn ticked her 5th and 6th continents off the list with a joint work trip to Argentina and Antarctica (!!!). Ashley spent a long weekend in Rome, bonding with her husband and their toddler before a new lazy baby arrived on the scene in April. We had another London reunion, complete with the nerdiest day of our lives spent at the Harry Potter studios.

four days on kiawah island

And these are just a few of our 2018 adventures! Throughout the year, we’ve hopped (separately, sadly) around the US, to Denver and Vail and New Orleans and Maui and the Jersey Shore and Maine. Ashley and family spent the summer exploring old and new corners of the UK, from a long weekend in the Cotswolds to a week up on the Isle of Skye. Carolyn just got back from a weekend in Nashville, we have our next reunion in the books for the end of the year, and Ashley is heading back to Italy in just over two weeks.

friendsgiving in val d’isere

And so! We’re going to try and make a little comeback. We miss documenting our travels and sharing our findings at home and abroad. We miss the community we used to have here and online.

While we can’t guarantee we’ll write as regularly as we once did, we can guarantee we’ll do our best! We also are feeling out our options when it comes to sponsored content. In the past, any revenue we’ve made from the blog or social media has gone right back into our joint fund so we can travel together more easily.

As of now, we’ll continue to approach it this way. We’ll write about our travel experiences whether they’re sponsored or not.  Just like before, we’ll work with brands we like or would like to know more about. And as always, we’ll share our opinions openly and honestly. We may use affiliate links now and again, and any income will go straight to blog-related antics. Most importantly, we solemnly swear never to bombard your insta feed with hair bear gummies and weightloss tea and essential oils.

So, our little travelers. We’ve missed you wholeheartedly. If you’re still out there, are you ready to pick up where we left off?!

xoxo,

ashley & carolyn, aka: the romantic & the wino, always