The week of the election was rough. For more reasons than just the election. I’m typically an optimist, my world is full of adventures and people madly in love and fluffy cats. I don’t have dark days, but that week, that week was dark. They announced the Women’s March on Washington and by November 15th the AirBnb for DC was booked and spirits were lifted. 

It was Vlad’s first time in DC, it was also the first time he voted in an American election. He was born in Kiev, Ukraine and came to the US in the mid-nineties during the fall of the Soviet Union with his Russian mother and grandmother. He and his family were refugees. So this meant a lot to him. Him, and others who have felt oppressed because of their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

There has been a lot of debate on social media over the last few days on whether or not this march was an effective form of activism. If protesting with signs and something like 4.8 million others is going to make a difference. Vlad’s in the kitchen doing the dishes still chanting and the entire internet is talking about it. Hundreds of thousands of marchers woke up this morning fired up for change. They signed up to volunteer, shared stories of their experience with their friends and family, and maybe smiled really big at a stranger today. And that is just the least of it. So yeah. I think it made a difference. 

I am not sure I can explain what it feels like to be standing in a sea of humans wearing pink pussy hats shouting messages of love and determination so I am hoping that these images can do it justice. Keep fighting my friends. 

It has been a whole month that we have been living in Savannah, Georgia. A lot of people ask why we chose to come down here, and there isn’t a great explanation other than we just like it. Savannah was one of the first road trips that Vlad and I had taken together two years ago. We had only been dating a couple of months. I was sitting on his couch scrolling through Instagram when an image of a tree covered magical road came up. That road was the entrance to the famous Wormsloe Plantation. I handed the phone to Vlad and said “Ooooo I wanna go there.” He said “Okay let’s go.” And two days later I was asleep in the passenger seat of his truck halfway to Georgia. 

Since then I have returned to Savannah a handful of times and the city always seems to greet me with the same romantic energy. After the van trip ended last spring we began discussing what our travel plans were going to be for the following winter. Staying in a new place appealed to us both, and we knew we wanted to be in warmer weather. I put an advertisement up on a wedding website for Savannah and within two weeks had six weddings booked. I texted Vlad, “Well, looks like we are moving to Savannah!” 

While we still have to bounce around a bit for work (back to Michigan, down to Key West, out to New Mexico + Arizona, NYC, and then again to Savannah), we are calling this place home for a solid three months. We were able to find a reasonable AirBnB about 20 minutes outside of the city on Tybee Island. So essentially we are living in a beach cottage just steps from the Atlantic Ocean. At night when I am sitting on the back porch I can listen to the waves crashing up on the shore, and on the days over 58 degrees (we are snowbirds now, our blood isn’t used to the cold) we walk for hours and ride bikes and kayak through the salt marshes. 

When we first arrived I felt a little lost and confused as to what I was supposed to be accomplishing. I think most wedding photographers go through this at the end of their season. We are so excited to get that last image edited and delivered but once we click send there is a brief wave of panic realizing we have to find something else to do now. It took me a couple of weeks to adjust. To get into the groove of cooking and yoga and reading countless books. Making new friends and getting the other side of business taken care of. Like taxes (ugh) and did you guys see the new brand launch! The holidays were tough, it was my first time ever being away from family, but I think it was necessary. Your heart softens in loneliness and you have the opportunity to fully appreciate all that you have been blessed with. 

Even though I am really excited to be down here, and really really enjoying this beautiful weather, I am feeling that longing to be home and realizing that Detroit is truly one of the best spots to be. Thankfully this work allows me to travel to new landscapes often, but the more time I spend away from home, the more I am starting to feel that I am ready to…whats the word? Settle. (Hear that parents!)

Here is a collection of small adventures we have had over the past month. And what is pretty cool is that these are a combination of mine and Vlad’s images. (This is the first time I am including his pictures in any post, but he is really digging it and I think that is awesome). This next month we will be doing some backpacking, visiting Atlanta, and making a weekend trip to DC for inauguration day. 

While sometimes the days feel long and unproductive, I am truly trying to take advantage of this slow time and just relax. I hope everyone is enjoying the cold back home, and that these images bring y’all a bit of sunshine. Miss everyone, and can’t wait to get back. 

We didn’t take the van on this trip, but I still wanted it blogged. Its more for me than you anyways. We didn’t take the van because we wanted to take the kayaks and I haven’t quite figured out how to attach those to the van yet. And there were a limited amount of travel days and driving in the van can eat up a lot of time. So we compromised sleeping in the back of the VW for 90 miles an hour through Nebraska. (Nebraska do you EVER end.)

It occurred to me on this trip that I don’t quite take vacations anymore. Mostly because I am always working, even while on the road, the toilet, at dinner with my mom, etc. But I don’t feel like I am on a vacation because traveling has become such a big part of my routine. This year I will spend almost as many nights sleeping away from my bed as I will in it. And I am totally okay with that. 

It was also impressive how quickly we prepared and packed for the trip. It was one of the only open weekends I had for the summer so I was conscious about not booking anything during the week because I would HAVE to go somewhere. We were tossing around the idea of driving up to the UP or maybe down into the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, but ultimately, and thanks again to random Instagram inspiration we settled on Colorado a few days prior. The camping stuff stays organized in a large tupperware in the basement, so throwing that in the car along with a suitcase of clothing and some snacks and we were ready to go within an hour. 

While in Colorado we did some camping and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, kayaked Lake Dillon, and then had our first (my last) white water kayaking experience on the Arkansas River. Don’t worry, I was wearing a helmet and was only pinned under one rock where I performed a very amateur self rescue to be washed against a few dozen boulders before I could stick an oar out to be pulled to shore. It only took a couple of minutes of catching my breath and assessing the cuts and bruises to laugh. Really hard. Somehow it was still fun. Thankfully Vlad never flipped because I would have never been able to save him. 

I am happy to be home and back to work, but I know this past week will have to hold me over until after wedding season when the exploring starts all over again for the winter. As always feeling super blessed to live this life and looking forward to the next adventure.