Mic check, one, two. Is this thing on? I know we’ve been silent here on the .com, but I assure you we’re still truckin’. Sure, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve sat behind the keyboard to share what we’ve been up to, but this year, more than ever, we’ve been sharing our adventures on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & YouTube).
This year I focused on brand partnerships, and boy did it pay off! We worked with several brands (Native, Blue Lizard Sunscreen, Plate Crate, etc) and a handful of locations such as the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, the town of Medora, North Dakota, and Wild Adventures Theme Park.
Table of Contents
February
In February, Ashley’s boss took her and me on a week-long Caribbean cruise. We visited the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico. It was our first time sailing with MSC, and to be honest…I don’t think we’ll ever go back to Carnival after our experience.
Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico. Our excursion was canceled, so we went with our backup plan (good thing I’m Type-A!) and visited the San Gervasio Mayan Ruins. The ruins are smaller than some of the others that we’ve been to, but still cool- nonetheless.
The next port was Grand Cayman. If you’re a frequent cruiser, you’ll find yourself hitting the same ports repeatedly. I’ve been to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Nassau at least 8 times each (probably more). As far as the Caymans go, we’ve pretty much seen and done everything we’ve wanted to do there, so rather than book an excursion, we just walked around town. We grabbed some beer and an appetizer at a bar and simply enjoyed the view.
We had a similar mindset in Nassau. We walked to the Queen’s Staircase, tried to visit Fort Fincastle (it was closed), and went to the quintessential tourist trap- Señor Frogs.
The only port that was new to us was Falmouth, Jamaica. I was super stoked about adding another country to my list and visiting Jamaica. We booked a trip to an ecopark that was built on the site of the Good Hope Plantation. The park offered biking, rafting, zip-lining, and other outdoor activities. To be honest, it felt kind of shitty to build a resort on the site of so much suffering. We didn’t end up staying long- maybe just over an hour, before heading back to the port area.
July
In July, we took our first big road trip of the year. We flew into Bismarck, North Dakota, and rented a car to check out The Peace Garden State.
We started in Bismarck, where we toured the Capitol building and visited the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.
From there, we drove west to the town of Medora, where we would be working. We spent 3 days exploring the western town. We feasted on Pitchfork Steak Fondue, watched their famous outdoor musical, learned about cowboy culture at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, and went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The National Park is split into 3 sections: the South Unit, the North Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit. We spent 1 day in the South Unit and another in the North Unit. We saw countless bison, wild horses, prairie dogs, deer, elk, and more. It was one of our best National Park experiences!
Our favorite stop was the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which opened less than 2 weeks before our visit. It was absolutely AMAZING! We were so impressed by all of the state-of-the-art exhibits.
Medora is about 30 minutes away from the border of Montana, so, of course, we had to pop in. We visited Makoshika State Park. The weather during our trip was insane- each day the temperatures were over 110! So…we had to scale back on our hiking plans. I think we would have enjoyed this park if we were able to do more hiking. Still, it was a cool experience, and it allowed us to mark another state off our lists.
Montana…we’ll be back so we can check out the western part of the state and Glacier National Park.
Sites Visited in 2026
Mexico
The Bahamas
Jamaica
- San Gervasio Mayan Ruins
- Parliament
- Queen Anne’s Staircase
- Good Hope Plantation
Georgia
North Dakota
Montana
- Wild Adventures Theme Park
- North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum
- North Dakota Capitol Building
- Enchanted Highway
- North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Medora Musical
- Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
- Makoshika State Park
2026 Recap Numbers
Number of States Visited This Year: 4 (Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Montana)
Number of Countries Visited This Year: 4 (Mexico, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, The Bahamas)
Number of Florida State Parks: 0
Number of National Park Sites: 1
Number of Buc-ee’s Stops: 0
Number of Miles Traveled: 9,367 miles
