Andy & Shelly in Paris

Hello Everyone. My name is Andy and my fiancé’s name is Shelly. We hail from the Midwest, specifically Iowa. Yes, Iowa. Home of farms, pigs, corn, and the best state fair known to man! Shelly works as a costumer in films and I work for a financial company here in Iowa as an underwriter.

We know what you are thinking, “What do two corn fed twenty something’s know about traveling?” Well, Shelly has always been addicted to traveling and I have recently caught the travel bug with my first backpacking trip through Europe.

Up until this year most of my travel experiences have been road trips with my family, while my fiancé has been over to Europe and down in the Caribbean multiple times.

Her previous experiences (and let’s be honest, constant pestering) led us to our first European Excursion as a couple. Traveling as a couple for 2 months in a foreign country is a huge learning experience both culturally and personally.

Unfortunately, when we got back from our European adventures we both needed to find “big kid” jobs.  In the process of becoming “big kids” we thought it would be a great idea to get a dog.  Some how we settled on a Newfoundland.

Our darling Tucker resembles mini horse, weighing in at one hundred pounds at just six months old.   We have had a few experiences traveling with the big guy around Iowa but plan on adventuring out of state in the near future. Below is a picture of Tucker taken by Shelly’s awesome colleague Greg Frieden, check out his awesome photos at gregfrieden.com.

Traveling to us is an adventure.   Having the freedom to navigate a foreign country/state, experience new foods and liquors, and being together, is a thrill we live for on every trip we embark on.  Traveling is our way to escape the real world and enter into our own zone where the stresses of everyday life can’t reach us.

Shelly and myself are thrilled to join the GoBackpacking family and share our experiences with the community. We will be writing together and will be posting articles on traveling as a couple, traveling with a big dog, United States and Caribbean travel, beer and other liquors found throughout the world, and other advice that we feel is necessary. We will be posting soon.

Cheers

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• Traveling Tucker – Road Trip Edition
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