Adventuring the Blue

I think I could talk forever about the places I want to see, and where I’d love to adventure to in this lifetime.  There is so much more to write than this, but this post is going to be a long one as is, I could truly write so much about the places I’ve been, and how thankful I am to have stepped outside of where we call home in Ontario. There are an unreal amount of places on most people’s lists, and the craziest part – this world is so vast,  that we as humans may never get to experience all of its greatness.  I am a believer of putting things out into the universe, so I sat down with my guy the other night and we spoke a bit about where we’d love to see.  He has a pretty big list of places he’s been in his life, and he is so beyond lucky to have seen the beauty he has -way to go love!  My list could truly be hundreds of places long, but I narrowed it down to just a few for one post; it is totally ongoing in the notes app in my phone, and beautiful new places keep getting added as I Google.  Experiencing travel is so important.  It takes you away from the comfort of your home and introduces you to things you could never have imagined existed; cultures, tastes, sounds, people, and the most unreal experiences.  You come home feeling better for it and every time I’ve traveled I’ve returned to our little home extremely grateful for everything we hold dear.

I wanted to post some here, as I would love more than anything to photograph love in any of these places.  If you’re a couple who is traveling abroad and would love photos of you doing something you love so much; surfing, hiking, or a really rad as hell sunset session that ends with you both in the ocean, I’m your girl.  If you’re planning on a destination wedding, I would be so honoured to attend and document such an unreal day.  If you live in any of these places and have come across my work, I am so down to come document your love story!

Let’s start with home.  I made up a list of the stunning places in Ontario I’d love to explore as well, which is a bit easier for a weekend or small day trip – definitely going to check some of those off this year!  Across Canada however, I couldn’t even begin to tell you how much I love our home.  Traveling to Vancouver was one of the best trips I’ve had; I couldn’t believe the views, and how vast those mountains really were.  Other places Canada-wide I’d love to see are below:

Banff + Lake Louise, Alberta
Tofino, British Columbia
Bodega Ridge, British Columbia
Newfoundland + the lovely East Coast

Every visit to the United States has been awesome; I’ve had so many amazing memories and a bit of a love affair with every place I’ve been in the States.   My husband proposed while we were exploring New York City, and seriously is at the top of the list for the best trip ever.  Last year I got to check out Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween, and fell totally in love with the small seaside town.  It was so magical there, and the ferry across from Boston Harbour was breathtaking.  We had an early morning flight home, so we caught sunrise on the ferry, and it lit the sky up orange and pink above us; what an unreal way to end the weekend!   When my husband and I were first dating, believe it or not our first trip together was to Hawaii!  We sat down to pick out destinations one night, and he said “Why not Hawaii?!” with this big smile – I was taken back as I never in my dreams thought I’d make it to Hawaii.  I always saw it as this magical place that existed only in the movies, so naturally a huge “Let’s GO!” escaped me.  To this day it is by far my favourite place to be other than here at home.  It felt like a second home there and I already can’t wait to go back to explore more.  Some of these I’ve been to, oh hey Hawaii, Salem + NYC, but visiting again to photograph while there would be a dream.

Oahu, Maui + The Big Island, Hawaii
Portland + Mount Hood, Oregon
Seattle + Port Angeles, Washington
San Fran, California
Manhattan, New York
Salem + Boston, Mass
Vermont, in the fall.

Europe is a place I haven’t traveled much yet.  I got to experience it for the first time when I was a little one at just fifteen – my first ever trip away from home!  God bless my parents for letting go of their babe for three weeks to travel so far away from them, haha.   I traveled to a small town outside of Lisbon in Portugal with a good friend and her family, to visit family who lived there. We got to explore the beaches of the Algarve, and it was the first time I was stunned by the beauty our world was.  Two summers ago my husband took me to Italy, to adventure the Amalfi Coast for the first time – I was simply floored.  It doesn’t happen often on travels, but Amalfi surprisingly felt like home too; maybe it was because I was with my sweet guy, or maybe the small town charm, but it felt warm, and welcoming.  A huge destination on my list is the Dolomites in Italy – I think I’ve been bugging my hubby a couple times a week to go here!   There is so much more of Europe that I’d love to travel, but let’s start off with the below!

Barcelona, Spain
Ireland
Scotland, Isle of Skye
Santorini + Mykonos, Greece
Tuscany, Italy
The Dolomites, Italy
Paris and the French Riviera, France
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
Switzerland

And a little South of the Border love;

Australia
Cape Town, South Africa
Costa Rica
Havana, Cuba
Mexico
*There is this really rad cenote in Mexico called the Cenote Ik-Kil,
how unreal would it be to photograph a couple hanging out in here!

Sending a ton of love and good vibes – and putting that call out to the universe and all those adventurous couples for travels in the years to come!

With so much love, Lea