Evelyn

I was born and raised in the Bronx New York.  I spent my days hanging out on the block playing hide and go seek.  Outside of Disneyland when I was eight, most of the travelling I did as a kid was spent in the backseat of my dad's various cars.  We took trips to the lake upstate, cape cod, state parks, and to various historical sites.  I fondly remember the trip we took to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as a trip to Washington DC and Virginia Beach. 

Outside of road trips to visit friends in college, and trips to the Jersey shore, my first real trip on my own out of the country was a cruise in 2001.  I was so excited I got my passport although I wouldn't need it.  The cruise took us to the Bahamas and Key West.  It was amazing and I think this was when I got a taste of the travel bug.

After graduation when I crossed over to corporate America I continued to take road trips.  One of my favorites was a road trip from New York to Florida.  My mind was blown on this trip as this was this Yankee's first time in the south.  

I was at a crossroads the year I was turning 30.  I was going to Las Vegas that year but I felt I had not traveled enough to be ok with turning 30.  I decided that I would stop talking about skydiving and actually make that happen.  I did and it was by far the most amazing thing I have experienced.  After that I decided that I would take a trip to Europe the next fall by myself on a Contiki Tour. 

The trip to Europe was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I was alone but I made some awesome friends on that trip.  Australians who drank me under the table, as well as South Africans, New Zealanders, Americans, and Brits. I had the most outrageous adventures.  Of course that is all I will say in order not to incriminate myself.  I can say that I experienced my first and only time getting kicked out of a beer hall on this trip.  

I have some catching up to do but I haven't looked back.  One of my goals is to make it to all 50 states. This summer I added 2 more making my total 26. I am more than Halfway there! 

Michele

Growing up in Kentucky, most vacations were spent Going 'back east' to Philadelphia where the rest of our family lived, to the Jersey Shore for summer vacation, or various places around Lexington for my soccer tournaments.

The first time I left the country was a quick border crossing into Canada, while in Michigan for a wedding, but my first real trip was to London and Ireland with my brother and sister-in-law right after I graduated from high school.  After that, I spent a summer as an intern in London during college and then moved to London for 3½ years in my twenties. That was when the travel bug really took over. It was the perfect location for tons of long weekend trips and I made friends who felt the same way I did - the need to take advantage of the time in London and travel as much as possible. In our flat, we had a map of Europe on the wall, and spent many a night debating which city would be our next destination.

After my time in London, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a six month leave of absence from work.  With my savings, I booked an around the world plane ticket and a four month trip.  It was an amazing trip, traveling, seeing new places, spending time with friends, and also learning to explore on my own. 

All in all, I have now been to 36 countries so far (37 if you count stepping over the line at the DMZ into North Korea). I have found that my list of places to visit never gets shorter; the more I travel, the more I learn about countless amazing places around the world. I just wish work didn't get in the way and there was more time for exploring!

When I'm not off on an adventure, I spend my days working in finance in the financial district in lower Manhattan.

And together we have a shared love of travel, adventure, and exploring.  We are great partners in crime (figuratively of course) and are able to laugh even when things don't go quite as planned.  Over the past three years, Evelyn has improved on her navigation abilities and Michele has learned to resist the urge to wander down too many dark alleys.  Road trips have become our specialty lately, as we've adapted our vacations around weddings, graduations, etc, but we've also visited Ireland, Korea, and Tokyo together.  Living in NYC, we never get bored, together we find fun things to do, neighborhoods to check out, and restaurants to try.