It is no secret that I love to travel and always have a bucket list a mile deep so I love being able to look back at where I’ve been and what I did in the past year. While this year certainly wasn’t my most traveled what with work and moving, it included some of my best and most treasured trips.
Sharing my top 2015 travels in chronological order…
*More pictures on Instagram with #GHLtravels*
SONOMA/NAPA
The first big trip of the year was a bittersweet one: heading home to California for one last visit before my family sold our childhood home and moved out to the DC area. I shared more about that HERE, if you care to read and I also shared a video HERE. Despite the circumstances, it was the greatest visit ever and I enjoyed spending all that time with my sisters and my parents before my best friend came out to visit and then I loved being able to show her around my favorite spots.
I feel beyond lucky to have called this place home since I was just a kid, and regardless of where my family lives or where I live, it will always, always, be home.
Be on the lookout next week for my travel guide to Sonoma and next week for my travel guide to Napa!
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SAN FRANCISCO
While my best friend was in town visiting me in Sonoma, we ventured over to San Francisco one day and toured all around. The day started out as most SF days do, gloomy, overcast, and foggy but cleared up later in the day. We spent the day hitting up a few tourist spots like Lombard Street, shopping around Union Square, and driving around Golden Gate Park. We finished the day by meeting up with a few of my closest high school friends, which was just the cherry on top!
You can check out my travel guide to San Francisco HERE.
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OMAHA
Late in the spring, we headed up to Omaha for a friend’s wedding. We made sure to arrive well before the ceremony itself so that we could venture around town, exploring Old Town, checking out the College World Series stadium, and touring around the Creighton Campus.
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CHICAGO
After we moved up to South Bend in June and before the weather got warm enough to spend our weekends at the beaches around Lake Michigan, Matt and I ventured into Chicago for a fun little weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We ate a fancy meal at the Ralph Lauren Restuarant, shopped along Michigan Avenue, visited Navy Pier since I had never been, and then rented bikes and rode all through the city.
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NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday since I was a kid, and this year was one of the best. Since we were without family and friends, we decided to roadtrip up to Northern Michigan and pop into a few beach towns over the course of a few days. We didn’t know what to expect, and now say that Michigan is one of the most underrated states – each town was so beautiful and each one had its own special charm.
You can read more about our trip HERE.
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NEW YORK
Attending New York Fashion Week has been a dream of mine for years and this year I took the plunge and made it happen. Though it was a costly trip I am so glad that I did it as it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. I did it semi-solo, flying in by myself and touring around and attending meetings alone day one, before meeting up with a few bloggers I knew back in KC for the remainder of the trip, though a lot of the time we had separate schedules so we did our own thing.
I was able to attend two runway shows, two showrooms, and a few parties, while also grabbing dinner with one of my closest high school friends, finally meeting a ton of blog friends, and walking more miles than I could count pretending I was a true New Yorker.
The day I flew in happened to be September 11th which was really profound and seeing the towers memorialized in light from my favorite vantage point of Brooklyn Bridge Park was a feeling I will never forget.
You can read my NYFW itinerary HERE if you’re interested and be on the lookout for a travel guide to NYC later this year!
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KANSAS CITY
I guess trips back to Kansas City are now considered “travels” since it’s not our home base anymore! We came back twice since our move earlier this summer: once in the fall for our alma mater’s homecoming weekend, and for a week and a half over the Christmas holidays. It has been really fun coming back and appreciating the city and time with friends so much more than we used to.
One goal for the year is to write up a Kansas City travel guide so you can experience this gem of a city so be on the lookout for that!
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DALLAS
Earlier this month, Matt and I popped down to Dallas for a quick little weekend away. More details to come on why we were there later, but we had such a great time. We spent most of our time touring all the different districts and neighborhoods trying to get acquainted, but also enjoyed meeting a few new people, trying out a ton of amazing restaurants and bars, and relishing the incredible 70 degree weather in December!
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Up on the agenda for 2016 (hopefully!!!)… Dallas again, Amsterdam, Austin, New York (I can’t stay away) and a few more!
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More of 2015 in review:
