Personal
- Africa, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Europe, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Norway, Personal, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland
2018: A Recap of Our Year Traveling to 20+ Countries
2018. A year that flew by. I look back and I feel as if I’ve hardly accomplished anything, and then I read through all these posts, look back through my photography, and think WOW – a lot happened this year. I grew as a person, a writer, a photographer, and a wife. I have seen and done things I never thought I’d do in my entire life. One thing I love about blogging and writing, in general, is that it gives you time to reflect on the past and to see what you’ve learned and accomplished (or just flat out failed) during that time. I’m super excited to share this…
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Christmas Traditions
Growing up as a kid in the Dillon household meant a very special Christmas filled with traditions. This included everything from the day we decorated to the types of gifts we received and the parties we attended. The past two years I have spent Christmas overseas (and will again this year) and I’m very nostalgic on the traditions that haven’t been a part of my life in those few years. This year I find myself very emotional and truly missing everyone and everything that stood for what a “typical” Christmas would look like around Colfax, NC when I was growing up. First it started with when to decorate. We always…
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Moving Overseas with a Dog: Presley’s Journey from North Carolina to Italy
When my fairytale started, we decided up front not to move my dog, Presley, overseas – for a number of reasons – none which seem significant in the scheme of things now. One of the reasons includes the fact that I had been on many flights where a dog cried the whole time. It was traumatic and seemed torturous to do that to an animal. I was also naïve about how dog-friendly Italy is and ignorant of the fact that I needed my little man in my life. Before Stephen came along, it was just me and Presley, for 2.5 years through relationships and breakups, schoolwork, late nights, and my…
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My 10 Favorite Podcast Series
Lately, I’ve become infatuated with listening to podcasts. Why?? Well, for someone who lives in a foreign country, it’s not easy to find a radio station that has a lot of English songs on there. And I spend a LOT of time in the car. I mean A LOT. Driving my husband to work, running errands during the day, picking him up from work, and then road trips on the weekend. We used to do a lot of scrolling through channels and it just got to the point that it was frustrating. So I started downloading podcast series to listen to. Now I listen when I’m cooking dinner, when Stephen…
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The First Time My Mom Came to Italy
For one whole week, I had the opportunity to play the only child. I had my Mom all to myself. No distractions, no work, no other siblings to draw her attention away…and while that may seem selfish, it has never happened in my life before – that I can remember that is. I grew up in such a big family, with 4 of us kids, that we always shared parents, attention, toys, experiences, friends, etc etc. One thing that we don’t have in common though, is living abroad. And when my Mom came to visit me for the first time, it was just me and her for a whole week!…
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Surprise Visit to North Carolina + A Unique “Bucket List”
When I waved goodbye to my parents and Presley at the airport three months ago and moved to Italy, I could literally feel my heart breaking. I wasn’t sure how I could make it living so far from my family for the first time in my life. Somehow I survived those first 48 hours of emotional roller coasters (you can read about that here). Only a few people knew for all those months that I’d be making a surprise visit to see my family – one was the bride that was getting married (the main reason I was going home), and the other a best friend that I knew I…
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The First 48 Hours Living in Italy
Whew… it has been a complete whirlwind since the moment we landed in Venice at 0900 on Monday morning. We finally made it to our new home around 1630 after an hour bus ride and waiting for a rental car to become available so we could move all 7 of our suitcases to the house. In these last couple of days, I have come to LOVE many things about life in Italy. Heated floors and light switches by the bed are possibly the best things since sliced bread. So is my husband who let me sleep for three hours but then drug me out of the house to go get…
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A Fresh Start
In a little over a week from today, I will board a one-way flight across the ocean. With a new address, a new phone number, and my new last name….all of this feels like a fresh start – a blank slate. While it may not seem that big of a deal to many millennials or some of my fellow readers, keep in mind that I come from a small town where people don’t usually leave. This is a MONUMENTAL event for my family. I asked my dad the other day if he had ever been away from his family, even for a couple months. He simply laughed and said no…
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Life in This Small Town
The month of November is a bittersweet one this year. With it brings birthdays, a military homecoming, Thanksgiving, weddings, and a big move. There is a lot to be grateful for — and anxious about at the same time. These last couple of months, I have learned to treasure the little things in life, like walking with my pups to get the mail each day, dining with my parents and talking about upcoming plans, and just being in the moment. You see, before I became a world traveler, I was just a girl from a small town farm. This small community (we’re not even technically a town it’s so small)…
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Army (Wife) Strong
Beside every soldier is a strong woman, who will stand by him in every aspect of life. His fight is her fight and together they can face anything.
