Travel Blog

We are Adam and Lauren—partners in life and partners in creating travel stories worth reading. After our careers working in federal service we traded in our badges for cameras, and swapped our work calendars for train schedules. Now we spend our time traveling, observing, and documenting places that inspire us. Travel for us is about paying attention. Our travels are about perspective and noticing the small shifts that happen when you experience a place deeply enough to question your own habits and assumptions. We capture these transformative changes on this blog, as well as on social media here and here.

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This first post marks the launch of A & L Travel Media and it begins with our recent Christmas trip to Paris and the Alsace region of France. This trip was a fitting place to start because the trip reminded us why we travel at all, and why some experiences deserve to be savored instead of rushed. Our intent is to memorialize these moments through words and photographs.

 

Ah, Paris, the City of Lights. In Paris, we skipped the tourist checklist entirely. We eliminated any pressure to “see it all”. Instead, we settled into a local rhythm built around cafés, pâtisseries,  neighborhood bistros, and long walks with nowhere specific to be. We walked everywhere—along the River Seine, through quiet (and crowded) residential streets, across numerous bridges, and back again—logging well over 100,000 steps and roughly 70 miles by the time we left. That wasn’t a fitness challenge. It was simply the byproduct of living in a city that rewards curiosity on foot. We ate more croissants and baguettes than we thought possible, yet felt better than we do back home. Life just hits differently in France. Our bodies never failed us and we felt great savoring every bite, every sight and every step along the way. This realization taught us that just being present in the moment is a healthy habbit we all must adopt. That balance of being present, eating well and staying active was grounding and something we carried home with us. Where you live, and how you move through your life, shapes how you feel physically, mentally and spiritually.

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Midway through our trip, we boarded a high-speed train and headed east toward the Germany and Switzerland borders to see the quaint towns scattered throughout the Alsace. Our timing was well-planned as the Christmas season had just burst into full view. We stayed in Colmar, France as our hub to experience the rest of the Alsace. Colmar felt like a living postcard, with half-timbered houses that glowed under strings of Christmas lights and life-sized teddy bears strung from hundreds of windows. In Kaysersberg, the miles of vineyards and the 13th Century chateau perched high above the village not only impressed us, it slowed us down, nudging us to be even more present and appreciative of the moment. The town of Eguisheim wrapped itself in circular medieval lanes filled with warmth, each turn offering another small market stall, another shared moment, another reason to linger. Riquewihr also leaned fully into the season where every sight, sound and smell screamed Christmas. Compared to Christmas back home, the markets felt less commercial and more communal, less about buying and more about simply being present. This contrast stayed with us long after we returned home. 

Moving forward, we will keep sharing stories that are honest, observant, and occasionally self-aware enough to be brutally honest like admitting how many croissants two people can consume in fourteen days. (It’s well over 30 BTW). So welcome to A & L Travel Media. We’re glad you’re here. We don’t know where we’re headed next, but that’s the point! We do know this—if a place changes how we think, walk, eat, or live, we want to share it with you. Travel’s real magic lives in the small, unexpected moments—the ones that stay with us long after the suitcases are emptiy.