Travel aficionados and dear friends: it’s been a minute. Just shy of two years worth of a minute, but who’s counting? A new family member, a domestic move, an international move, and . . . a worldwide pandemic, but hey, what can I say. We are back! And I hope you are all here for it.
Visiting St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine.
To recap the last 22 months in two sentences: our newest family member, Quinn, was born in Newport, Rhode Island in February 2019. After our wonderfully amazing year in New England, we moved to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2019 for one year, and just over three months ago, we made the big international move to Kyiv, Ukraine. Life has been one rollercoaster of phenomenal, incredulous, exhausting, hilarious, challenging, and eye-opening over the past year (as it has for every.single.one.of.us), but with the much-anticipated news of promising COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon, the return of somewhat normal life is within sight. Of course it will take time, but thank the Lord.
Our newest member to the family, Quinn Rhodes, born February 4, 2019
And you know what that means, right? Well, ok, it means SO, SO MUCH. But in the context of Rise and Explore, it means travel will be coming back online. Slowly and surely. Cautiously and calibrated. But, yes. We will be able to travel again.
A wise soul once said, “There’s no time like the present,” so we’re going to fire this adventure back up by giving you some amazing insight into:
Visiting Newport, Rhode Island (we did live there for a year, after all);
Traveling internationally during COVID-19 (just in case you are curious how it went for us);
Recommending best things to do in NYC at Christmas with elementary-age kiddos; and
Divulging our favorite luxurious family-friendly hotels of all time in a new column (I’m so excited for this one, you should be, too)!
So, rustle up those bucket lists, dust off those atlases, and get in planning mode. All of us need a vacation, right? You might as well start planning now. Here we go!
