kim and me in new york city in the summer of 2004 – hello, broadway!

the summer after my junior year in college, my best friend, kim, proposed an idea that has since changed our lives: let’s take a trip together.  i was in oklahoma with an accounting internship at an energy company, and the thought of skipping town seemed delightful.  i remember that summer well because it was the summer facebook arrived.  oh, how little did we know.  we packed our bags, jumped on a free southwest flight, and headed to new york city.

stopping for some agua at the cafe tortoni in buenos aires, argentina

to this day, that trip remains one of my favorites.  it was my first time in the city without my family, and i loved it.  forgetting the tourist attractions, we headed to new restaurants and trendy bars, went shopping in greenwich village, and tried to explore the city as much as we could.  it was a new way of travel for me, and one that i loved.  seeing the best city in the world with my best friend?  yes, please.  fast forward a few years, and we’ve kept the tradition alive.  in 2008 we traveled to argentina and chile, where kim came up with another bright idea: this international thing is so good that we should do it more often!

china? no, just vancouver. really have no idea where we were in this photo.

and so the biannual international trips began.  in 2010 we traveled to vancouver (kind of cheating), and in october of 2012 we ended up in barcelona.  what i love so much about these trips is that they force us to travel the world, to see each other while exploring new places.  too many times i make the excuse that there isn’t time to travel.  but now we have this amazing tradition that holds us accountable, and helps create some pretty unforgettable memories along the way.

just sipping sangria on the boardwalk in barcelona