Can you believe that we’re already approaching the end of year? As always, the past 365 days have whirled right on by.

It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the start of 2015 in New York City, complete with over-sized glitter glasses and all!

 

Screen Shot 2015-12-28 at 17.45.12

 

2015 was a massive year of transitions for us. It’s hardly any secret that we slowed down on the blogging and social media front. Heck, we even considered taking a long-term hiatus from A Cruising Couple all together. But we never really shared with you what was going on behind the scenes—why we desperately needed a breather from travel blogging, and the mega projects that were keeping us busy full-time.

The good news (we think!) is that A Cruising Couple is now ready for its biggest and best year yet. We’re making some website upgrades, filling our editorial calendar with epic travel stories we’ve yet to share, and booking flights around the world to keep new, fresh adventures coming your way. But before we dive into the juicy details of the upcoming year, we want to share what was really going on with A Cruising Couple over the past many months.

 

2015: A Year Of Transitions

After a phenomenal year and a half of being fully nomadic, we made the decision that living out of our backpacks wasn’t the permanent lifestyle for us. From cross-country cycling Vietnam to chasing the Northern Lights in Lapland to photographing jaguars in the Pantanal, being nomadic definitely had its perks. But we found that there were certain things we were missing: community, pets and (perhaps most importantly) our own bed.

After a bit of contemplation, we decided to “settle down” in Costa Rica. Over the course of the year, we found a nice house to rent, furnished said house, bought a car, and managed to adopt two dogs and a kitten. So much for fitting our entire lives into our backpacks!

 

transitioning to life in costa rica

 

We won’t be in Costa Rica forever, but right now, it is exactly what we need. We can still travel whenever and wherever we want for however long we want (though it is slightly weird to be on the other end of house sitting for once!) Even better, having a home base has finally given us the ideal atmosphere to hunker down and build our latest business: Untethered Media.

 

This is what most people don’t know. In January of 2015, we started an online marketing company specializing in content marketing for the travel + tourism industry. It’s been a huge learning curve for us, but we are grateful to say that business is booming—and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Untethered Media allows us to take our love of travel and blogging and use it to help passionate travel businesses reach more travelers and change more lives. Have a look at Untethered Media to learn more—and if you’re a travel blogger, be on the lookout for paid travel blogging opportunities. As business continues to grow in 2016, we will certainly be expanding our team of epic writers :)

2016: Back To A Cruising Couple – With Fantastic Trips Planned

If we’re being completely honest, we needed a break from A Cruising Couple not only to build Untethered Media, but also because we were worn out from being travel bloggers! It’s easy to slap a glossy filter on travel blogging and only show the boutique hotels, the mouthwatering meals and the once-in-a-lifetime adventures. But as any travel blogger will tell you, there are a LOT of unglamorous and unappreciated moments. We won’t go into the details because we truly do love blogging and feel honored to help so many other people plan the trip of a lifetime. But we needed time to refresh and reevaluate. And now, we’re ready to kick-off 2016 with a bang!

So let’s get into the fun and exciting stuff! As we slowed down in 2015, we traveled to:

Six weeks island hopping in Greece and road tripping in Tuscany were definitely the highlights, where we indulged in copious amounts of wine, feta and pasta (naturally.)

 

Santorini Greece

castles in tuscany

For 2016, here’s an exclusive look at what we have on the books right now:

 

February: Mexico

Mexico Trip 2016

Stunning photos courtesy of Cantimplora Travel.

 

First up, we’re back to Mexico for a trip through Oaxaca and the southern Pacific!

It’s been a year and a half since we were in Mexico, so we cannot wait to get our margaritas and fish tacos on. We’re also crazy excited about this adventure as we’ll be joining Cantimplora Travel to adventure around the region, exploring the best off-the-beaten-track villages, world-renowned beaches, petrified waterfalls—and that’s just the start! What’s even better is that a professional photographer joins the trip, meaning we can put down our cameras and actually enjoy being present, soaking in each and every moment of the experience for what it is. We love the idea behind Cantimplora Travel and can’t wait to explore this new region of Mexico with other awesome free-spirited travelers from around the globe! There are only TWO spots left on the upcoming trip to Oaxaca and the Pacific for anyone who wants to join us on this one-of-a-kind adventure!

April: Thailand and Cambodia

When we found round-trip tickets from NYC to Thailand for under $600, we snatched them up on a whim. As timing would have it, we needed to be on the East Coast for a wedding and then NYC for a potential work project, so the flights couldn’t have been more convenient. We never made it to Thailand or Cambodia when we were in Asia and have been meaning to make the trip back ever since! Other than eating Thai food, getting tattoos from Buddhist monks, and visiting Angkor Wat, our travel itinerary is wide-open. We’d love your tips and tricks on what to see and do!

May: Dominican Republic

We can hardly believe it, but May of 2016 marks our five year wedding anniversary. We are still searching out the perfect destination, but right now the Dominican Republic is topping our list. And after our amazing experience using HotelPlanner to find a fantastic oceanfront hotel in Maui, we’re planning on using the resource to find another romantic getaway for our anniversary in a few months.

Other Destinations On The Radar

There are heaps of destinations we want to explore in Central and South America, and we’re going to use our location in Costa Rica as much to our advantage as possible. Additional places we plan on visiting in 2016 include:

  • Cuba (Hopefully before everyone else gets there!)
  • Guatemala
  • Peru (Specifically Machu Picchu)
  • The Patagonia
  • Whitefish, Montana (This small town keeps popping up on our radar, and after meeting tons of people who live here, it seems like an awesome little gem.)

 

And of course, who knows where we’ll actually end up! That’s always one of the best parts about having the flexibility to travel when and where we like.

So that’s 2015 in review and the highlights of what’s coming up in 2016! Thanks for staying with us, especially as the blog posts slowed down a bit over the past few months. Again we’re crazy excited for what’s in store for the next year and are looking forward to sharing many more travel memories together.

 

What travel plans do you have in store for 2016? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!