Today we’re catching up though!

We are so, so thankful for the opportunity we’ve had to travel.

Carina has always traveled; it’s in her blood. Her parents aren’t super wealthy or anything – they just picked and chose where they spent their money. Some people might spend a lot on the latest electronics and what not, they invested in family excursions from Bulgaria to Mexico.

Our relationship started with letters but inevitably led to a lot of international crossings between America and Europe.

After we moved to Europe in 2008, we decided we were going to follow in the example set by Carina’s parents and live simply so that we could travel.

And we did live simply… we didn’t have tv, or the fastest internet… we biked everywhere we couldn’t get to by train as we didn’t have a car.

But the trade – off…

In 4 years, we visited Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Greece, France, England, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. Oh, and the Czech Republic.

Some of those we were able to visit more than once.

We were able to visit Bethlehem at Christmastime, and spent a month in Egypt traveling up and down the Nile.

It was a great adventure for us both. For me, a guy from a small town on Virginia’s coast, to say this was a dream come true is an understatement.

Everywhere I went I also took pictures of my family, of my grandparents… I was doing this for them too. Somehow, they were there with me.

Everyone knows that to travel with your mind open to new cultures, tastes, smells, customs is to broaden your horizons. You become a child again when you step off a plane into a place where you don’t speak the language, and you may as well hang a sign about your neck that says “Tourist.” And sure, there are people who take advantage of that; but for everyone of them, there are even more people who are genuinely kind and excited to have you there as a visitor.

And there’s something else too.

No matter what happens in the future, if we were to lose everything, our car, our apartment (God forbid), nothing can take away the memories & the experiences that we made there – memories made together.

And that’s why we’re thankful for the opportunity to have traveled.

Probably our biggest adventure was our month in Egypt, but our favorite place to have visited was Rome. Rome is a city that seems to always be bathed in perfect light. We went on our “honeymoon” there almost a year after we were married, and went back every year after that we were in Europe.

Our last trip to Rome was last summer- here are a few photos from the Eternal City.

xoxo Michael and Carina

What’s one place that you would definitely like to visit one day? Or what’s the coolest place you’ve been to thus far?

Share in a comment below!

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The post Personal | 30 Days of Being Thankful – Day 12 | Michael and Carina Photography appeared first on Virginia Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg | Hampton | Virginia Beach.

Hurricane Sandy finally gave me enough time to put this vacation video together. Very rough cut, (we’re professional photographers who leave professional videography to videographers), but brings back a lot of wonderful memories from our favorite city in the world. It was Carina’s 5th time in Rome, Jonas’ second, and my third, but the first time we’d been there together.

Pizza, monuments, gelato, catacombs, cathedrals, statues, and watermelons. Memories. A lot of memories.

Recorded on 5D Mark IIs & Rebel t2is (550Ds) w/ 100mm 2.8 L, 50mm 1.4 USM, 24-70 2.8 L, Tamron 17-50 2.8 (on the 550Ds). Best viewed in 1080p!

The post Michael and Carina Photography | Virginia | Fine Art Portraits & Wedding Photography appeared first on Virginia Wedding Photographers | Williamsburg | Hampton | Virginia Beach.