DT Monthly Recap: September 2015 & What’s Next

posted in: Travel | 5





We’ve had a busy September and an even busier October to look forward to. We reached a new peak on the blog, we traipsed along one of the most famous roads in America, ate barbecue until we almost puked, and ended the month with a bang on a family trip to the Mediterranean. Here’s the scoop.

Exciting News

Thanks to Kansas City’s tourism site, Visit KC, we have hit a record number of views on our Thriving Art Scene in Kansas City post – 969! They graciously shared our post on their Facebook page and we have seen a spike in views, visitors and followers.

To put that number in perspective, up until now we’ve been averaging only 100 views per post so it’s quite a turning point for Dang Travelers! We are so thankful for the connection and positive feedback.

Our Travels

In the beginning of September, we drove a section of the famed Route 66 (see our post Cruising Along Route 66) on the way from Chicago to St. Louis. We discovered some one-of-a-kind places and had a fun day slowly making our way down to our destination.

A few days later, we road tripped from St. Louis to Kansas City for a five-day whirlwind jaunt of barbecue, beer, art, and history. It sounds like a strange combination, but we did a little bit of everything on this trip. We had a fabulous time exploring the city and met some extremely friendly people while visiting.

On the way, we stopped in Jefferson City, Missouri to see the capitol building. We also had a side trip to Independence, Missouri, the home to Harry Truman and one of the most unusual churches we’ve seen to date.

Monthly Recap - Independence, MO

To end September on a high note, we hopped on a Celebrity cruise ship for a 12 day vacation with some of our family. We had an amazing time that included memorable stops to:

  • Crete, Greece
  • Katakolon, Greece
  • Dubrovnik, Croatia
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • Corfu, Greece
  • Santorini, Greece
  • Athens, Greece
  • Ephesus, Turkey

The Blog

Up until our trip to Europe, we tried to post every three days or so. We found that the fast pace of a cruise combined with spotty Wi-Fi did not allow us to post that often. Something we will have to revisit when we take future trips because we definitely did not like being so out of touch. We hope to get back to our “normal” routine now that we are back in the states and have so much to catch up on!

We wrote about the eclectic Crossroads Art District, but still have two more Kansas City posts for the near future: top sights and Dang Traveler’s barbecue challenge, a self-imposed 4 day BBQ extravaganza.

We plan to write about the cruise and each stop; every destination was so unique and beautiful. We can’t wait to share our hiking adventures, critical cruising information, must-see sights, and our thoughts on traveling in Greece in the midst of its financial crisis.

Social Media

We have been slightly obsessed with gaining followers on Instagram and Twitter. There seems to be this like-to-like-you-back-but-then-unlike-after-you-reciprocate game that we cannot wrap our head around. We’ve decided to try to not let it bother me and just follow who I truly enjoy and ignore the rest. Not sure that will happen, but we will try!

Since we never used either site before, they posed a bit of a challenge to us, but we are slowly gaining followers and learning the ins and outs of each platform. We now have 225 followers on Instagram and 723 on Twitter.

Most Popular Photo on Instagram

Our most popular photo on Instagram in September was from Brown County, Indiana. The fall color had not even reached its peak, yet it was breathtaking nonetheless.

Brown County

What’s Next

In a few days we are leaving for a 7 week road trip! We are driving down to St. Louis so Dave can work a few days then we head to Louisville to visit friends before beginning our adventure. Our rough itinerary looks something like this:

Smoky Mountains, TN – 1 week

Myrtle Beach, SC – 1 week

Georgia Sea Islands – 2 days

Fort Lauderdale, FL – 1 week

Weston, FL – 1 week

Key West, FL – 5 days

Naples, FL – 3 days

Sanibel Island, FL – 3 days

Inverness, FL – 3 days

Orlando, FL – 6 days

October Challenges

Staying fit on the road – We are looking forward to our long road trip, but are conscious of all the large amounts of good food we just consumed on the all-you-can-eat cruise. We plan on doing a lot of hiking in the Smokies and are bringing our bikes so we will be researching paths in each area.

I don’t think we’ll have an issue staying active the first two weeks of our trip, but the rest of the trip will be a challenge. It’s a little harder for us to stay focused (and sober) when lounging on the beach and meeting up with friends and family for dinner and drinks.

Not killing each other – We have spent half of our relationship apart because of Dave’s job so this last year and a half has been interesting getting reacquainted on a full-time basis.

The first six months or so was like a honeymoon phase which we loved, but that phase is over! Not in a horrible way, we’ve just moved on to the next phase of now being used to having each other around all the time.

Every new phase brings on new challenges in our relationship, even travel. Both of us having 7 weeks off in a row together is a first, so we have no idea what to expect. Here’s where the dramatic melody would chime in… Dum Da Dum Dum Dummmmm.

 

We would love to hear from you and what you would like us to write about in October!

5 Responses

    • Dang Travelers

      Thanks Voyager! We are looking forward to our next big adventure that we start in a few days!

  1. LisaLDN

    Seems like you have a great month ahead! Excited to read your posts from the cruise, I love all of those places – expecially Santorini and Dubrovnik!

    Are you visiting Disney World while in Orlando? 🙂

    • Dang Travelers

      Thanks Lisa! We are going to Disney for a few days. Can’t wait for some hiking in the mountains, sunning on the beach, then hanging with Mickey!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.