When I was little I saw a puppet show featuring two bears named Honey and Hershey. I fell in love with the name. Later in life I discovered Craig Blacklock’s photography featuring his wife, Honey, and was reminded how much I like the name. By the way, if you are not familiar with his work, I highly recommend it. He specializes in photographing Lake Superior. I thought my venture into blogging should include a nostalgic pen name. I haven’t decided whether to refer to my husband as Hershey yet. He might have an opinion on that.

For years friends have told me I should write a blog. My reply has been, “it sounds fun, but I don’t have time to make it successful.” That remains true! Although the idea of being paid to travel, photograph, and write about my adventures is very appealing, I love my career. It leaves little time for writing at this point in my life. As I was pondering vacations this summer, it finally dawned on me that it doesn’t really matter if my blog is successful. It brings me joy to write and share what I have learned. I have come to view this as an on-line journal. Perhaps someday the balance will tip toward playing more than I do now. In the meantime, I will cherish each adventure near and far.

My husband and I are in a career-intense phase of life, so we want to maximize our vacations and weekend getaways. Travel research is one of my favorite ways to relax. I am woefully behind on television and movies, but I can give you a very long list of places I plan to visit someday. As the years pass the locations change in priority. Climate change, busyness of a location, and fitness all play a role in travel decisions. We are nature lovers so our choices prioritize new landscapes and wildlife. Although we love what cities have to offer, we unplug best when we can soak in the great outdoors.

I often come home thinking I should journal about my experiences, but I usually end up jumping back into things. Years pass and I try to remember the name of the open air restaurant that has amazing lobster pizza or the private beach we had to ourselves for an afternoon. The memories are fresh, but the names fade. I am excited to begin to write the stories that belong with the photos, recipes, and restaurant names I have stored in various places.