Meet Our Family
Our Story
Hi, I’m Stacey. Welcome to our family’s travel blog, where we share our ongoing adventure to explore all 50 states of the USA. Early in our relationship, my husband, BP and I did our best to travel and experience as much as we could on our limited budget. Based out of Louisville, KY most of the destinations we visited together were on the east coast and within a limited radius around Kentucky. As time went on, we started making travel more and more of a priority, honeymooning in Ireland and being more intentional to plan trips that had elements of our favorite interests: hiking, big and small city exploration and history. When our twin daughters, Karsen & Reagan, came along we knew we wanted to continuously introduce them to new experiences and create memories traveling together as a family. By sharing our journey, our mission is to illustrate that visiting all 50 states and experiencing them as family is not only tangible, it creates lasting memories and strengthens bonds along the way.
Our Journey Begins
While it wasn’t unusual for us to explore new places during our annual family vacations, we didn’t officially embark on our quest until 2022. Karsen & Reagan, who were 6 years-old at the time, asked if we could see all 50 states together. My husband, BP, & I immediately responded “Yes!” and the adventure began. At that time, we had seen 11 states together, but had not gone any further west than Kansas. We pulled up the picture to the right, showed the girls which states we had been to thus far, and gave them the opportunity to choose our next state. Together, enticed by the bears and mountains, they chose Montana. This trip really set the stage for all of our adventures going forward and introduced us to a new favorite interest: National Parks.
Our How
My husband and I both work full-time and our daughters are in school and involved in a number of extracurricular activities. Because of this, the number of days/weeks we have available for travel is limited, but we are dedicated to and passionate about completing the 50 state challenge. While we would love to hop in an RV and drive from sea to shining sea or plan multi-week excursions, those aren’t realistic options for us. Instead, we take advantage of long weekends, make the most of time off from work, and often plan trips that allow us to explore multiple states. Building itineraries together, we all take part in the trip planning process and always leave room for serendipity!
BP
Superdad, manages data implementation for a living, dabbles in home brewing for fun
Stacey
Mom 24/7, data nerd by day, travel blogger by night, lover of late ’90s/early ’00s nostalgia
Karsen
Future zookeeper, always cracking jokes, wise beyond her years
Reagan
Little performer, big daredevil, has a heart as big as her personality
“Collect Moments, Not Things”
-Karen Salmansohn