Wow, June is already over. That means we’re officially halfway through 2026. Can you even believe that?! I have to say that 2026 has been one of my favorite years in recent history. There have just been so many special moments, so many beautiful adventures, so much growth, and so much sweetness. June was a month filled with adventures, slow mornings and budget-friendly adventures (as best as possible) while traveling. We have done so many beautiful things this month and I’m excited to share with them.
Travel Planning This Month
This month, travel planning has been very in the moment. Simply picking the things we want to do for the weeks in Colorado. We have been daydreaming a bit about future extended trips. We have also been talking a lot about lifestyle changes that will allow us to spend more time on the road. I want to start thinking about Nomad Summer further out to really come up with stronger plans, budget more and feel a bit more organized. How to apply things we’ve learned, how to plan, how to budget and where we want to go.
Our trip to Sedona was cancelled because our AirBNB host sold their house. We ended up just canceling the trip all together, but I hope that we get there soon. I also am sending so much love to locals there as the Pocket Fire is still raging.
Lastly, I signed up to do the Mammoth March next March in Arkansas. I’m going with three other badass women and we’re making a little weekend trip of it! I can’t wait for this! Time to start training – it’s 20 miles of hiking in 8 hours.
Soft Launching 2027’s Group Trip Destination
I’m only a couple of months away from my first Women’s Trip to Ecuador, but I have selected destinations for my group trips for 2027. That’s right, you read that – TRIPS! Plural! Plus, these trips are for both men and women! First up, we have Peru in Summer 2027 and secondly, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia for their Christmas Markets in Winter 2027! If you’re interested in these trips or future trips, enter your email here to learn more about them!
Travel This Month
The vast majority of this month has been NOMAD SUMMER which kicked off on the 22nd of May. While I will have much more detailed posts on destinations some of the travel highlights his month have been…
Utah week: We really enjoyed visiting Bryce Canyon National Park. I had only been here once when I was 18, but it was buried under 5 feet of snow, so I really loved finally getting to hike here. Later in the week, the kids seeing lava tubes and a volcano in/near Snow Canyon State Park and exploring around the Hurricane/St. George Areas. By the end of our time there, it was insanely hot. Our adventures tapered off the last couple of days because even in the evening, it was unbearable. However, shoutout to Zion National Park for having one of the coolest kids centers. They had coloring pages, costumes, exhibits, books to read and we greatly enjoyed their Dino Discovery Junior Ranger Program where the kids found dinosaurs after time-traveling – so cute – and created trace fossils.
Montrose week: We finally did the Ouray Perimeter Trail – which was on my list for a few years, so it was exciting to finally tackle this hike and it did not disappoint. Later in the week, the kids got their Junior Ranger badges at Black Canyon of the Gunnison and we did a short hike to look at wildflowers! Matt also gave me a morning off from the kids so I could go into Black Canyon to do all of the overlook trails. Matt worked all this week, so a lot of our evenings were spent taking scenic drives – almost all of them dirt, and feeling the adventure of bouncing along the roads with some of the most incredible mountain views! We drove up Camp Bird Road, did the Last Dollar Highway and drove a little section of the Million Dollar Highway. One of our evening trips was to Telluride where we ate at our favorite spot there, Brown Dog pizza, rode the gondola amore than once, I had the Coffee Cowboy and Matt even busked! He released an album in May and I loved watching him sing his own music in public. He’s so talented and I was so inspired by his courage!
Estes Park two weeks: These two weeks were spent with first my family, then Matt’s family. We did a good handful of trails, rode the Mustang Mountain Coaster three different times, fed ducks and enjoyed drinks at Coffee on the Rocks and just explored the town. We also saw the most incredible sunset I think I’ve ever seen at Bear Lake on Father’s Day. It was so much fun! My parents babysat our kids on our 10th wedding anniversary and we hiked up to Sky Pond, just Matt and me and that was a really special day.
Travel Laughs and Mishaps
While we were in Rocky Mountain National Park, we were driving in to hike, when a truck driving the opposite direction crossed the line and took our mirror off. Literally, whacked the crap out of our side-view mirror and shattered it. So, that’s an unexpected almost $700 cost that we have to tackle because, of course, the asshole who hit us didn’t stop and by the time we could safely turn around, they were long gone. Ugh. Vibes were low that day, but we turned the trip around.
Blog Posts From June
May 2026: A Monthly Roundup – This is a post, just like this one, of all the things we got into in May. These posts have stories and little things we got into that might not make it into other posts.
Collecting Our Own Treasures on Glitter Mountain in Arizona – This post is about the kids’ and my visit to an active selenite mine where the kids and I found a few handfuls of treasures to bring home with us. Plus, there’s a little bonus adventure in this post that’s nearby Glitter Mountain.
Camper Diaries – NOMAD SUMMER 2026, Journal Entry No. 2 – FAQs – I had a handful of people as the same questions over the first couple weeks of Nomad Summer, so I made an FAQ post answering questions people had about our 38-day trip in the camper with our kids, currently 3 and 5.
Laguna Verde and Laguna Azul Trail in Patagonia – Short Hike with Big Views in the Private Reserve: Estancia los Huemules – Patagonia, Argentina – This trail is short and sweet, but wowzah! It was so stunning. Lakes, mountains, a swinging bridge and waterfalls! What else could you want?!
Alpine Lakes Trail in Great Basin National Park, Nevada – This is an unbelievably, unexpected trail for Nevada. We came up out of the desert to a trail that started at 10,000 feet of elevation at the trailhead. It’s a great hike!
Quote of the Month
“This is your reminder that you deserve more than just surviving your life. Be present in it. Don’t postpone joy. Choose yourself, over and over again.”
What I Read in June
This month as far as physical books go, I’ve been reading:
Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World by Karen Armstrong – This is a book that falls under my nature/spirituality/interconnectedness genre. This book dives into the multi-cultural phenomenon of nature being deeply rooted in who we are as dwellers of this planet. Armstrong challenges our views of myths, religion and nature as “other”, reminding us that we are indeed part of nature not outside of nature. I will say that this book was a bit repetitive and feels a little bit more liturgical-focused, but I still found aspects of it that I connected deeply with. (3.5/5)
I’m currently reading Alone in Wonderland: Longing for Connection and Adventure in the Shadow of Mount Rainier by Christine Reed and although I’ve only just started it, I’m really enjoying it. This is a hike I reallllly want to do – it’s a goal I’m working toward, and I think Reed is a great author.
Of course my audiobook kick is still going strong. This month I listened to:
The Yacht (free on audible) – Plots twist and intertwine on a yacht: from a deckhand to daughters to the “trophy wife”, when tragedy ensues. (3.5/5)
Darling Death (free on audible) – It’s giving female Dexter vibes with a bit more sex. (3/5)
Yesteryear (I paid for this one) – A tradwife influencer who is deeply dissatisfied with her life, wakes up one day in the same life, but in the actual 1800s, realizing just how different an historical tradwife actually was. (4/5)
The Memory Box (free on audible) This book follows a mom of two who finds out her estranged sister is dead, and her life begins crumbling around her. (4/5)
All We Buried (free on audible) This is the first in the Sheriff Bet Rivers series. Bet moves back to her hometown to take her father’s place as sheriff, when a body is found in the lake of her hometown. This murder uncovers many secrets about the town’s history, her neighbors and even her own family. (4/5)
I listen to my audiobooks on Audible. The vast majority of what I listen to are free books in their Audible exclusive library. Most are pretty good that I’ve listened to. While they’re not always the best, they’re the perfect source of entertainment. And you can try Audible out for free here!
Most Popular Post in June
Things to Know Before Visiting Mammoth Cave National Park was my top post for the second month in a row! This is part of my “Things to Know Before Visiting” National Parks and NPS Sites series. If you’re planning a trip to Mammoth Cave, check out this post!
My Wild Motherhood Journey
I think I’ve unlocked a core love and desire for slower mornings with my kids that I’m really excited to keep going throughout the summer. I want us to start each morning with an hour outside. Whether it’s right after eating breakfast, or taking breakfast outside with us, I want to spend at least one hour in the softer morning light every day we possibly can. So my slow mornings were my inspiration for a new way of starting each day for the rest of the summer when we’re home from Nomad Summer.
Local Adventures
We were traveling for almost the entirety of June, but we did manage to squeeze in a morning trip down to Busiek for a playdate with friends! We spent a few hours there while the kids played in the creek, threw rocks in, ate watermelon and donuts and enjoyed the sunshine.
Taking Care of Myself in 2026
I would say that June is the month that I have taken care of myself the least. It’s been harder to do so without a more consistent schedule – mostly sleep schedules – and I did find myself in a three-day slump, but I rested up, caught up on sleep and did more creative things and that helped me get myself back on track, mentally. I am looking forward to taking better care of myself in July.
Home (Mostly On the Road) and Life in June
Because 90% of this month was spent on the road, we didn’t really have a lot of home and/or life updates that didn’t revolve around travel. Matt and I continued to work well as a team on the road and navigate the ups and downs of living in a small space and with two really young kids as best as we could.
However, the day we got back home, I did set a small fire in our house, which was scary, but could’ve been so much worse. That said, I’m not longer putting things on our stovetop – I accidentally turned it on with a box I sat on it, and that and the gifts I had just bought for someone, on fire. Ugh.
What’s Coming in July
Well, we’re home for most of the month, and I think that will feel good. I love playing in our local creek with the kids, so I’m looking forward to a lot of creek days! I can’t wait to catch up with my friends and family, eat all the fresh fruit and do a bunch of 5am hikes and walks to beat the heat and humidity. I am wanting to get a lot of miles in, not only to get in shape, but specifically to train harder for big things I have coming in 2027.
But, we are also getting away for a little over a week to the Blue Ridge Mountains! We’re all going to Asheville for the first time as a family since 2023! We’re so excited to see our friends back there. My in-laws are graciously allowing us to stay at their place and that obviously means we get to spend time with them in AVL too! We can’t wait! Plus, Matt and I are going to check off one of my band bucket list concerts – Lord Huron! We scored some really cheap tickets at a really cool venue! I can’t wait to hear them live!
I hope that June was so good to you. We’re halfway through the year I hope that you look back on the first half with joy and beauty and I hope that you have big, beautiful plans for the rest of the year ahead.
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