“What if we just don’t bring our real cameras this time?”
We still can’t remember who said it first, but it was such a freeing idea! We usually love bringing our “real cameras” (aka our professional cameras) with us whenever and wherever we travel, because we love having beautiful memories of the places we adventure together, especially when we’re somewhere new.
But when we first started thinking through the reality of hauling a huge camera around Disney World and the beach, taking it on rollercoasters, bringing it on a ship surrounded by ocean water, leaving it unattended in the sand… it just started to seem like it would cause a lot of extra stress! Which is the last thing we wanted on a real work-free vacation!
So that’s when we decided we’d go on this vacation without a DSLR! No lenses to pack. No extra weight in the bag. No memory cards or backup drives or lens hoods full of sand! And it was the. best. decision. ever. We relied on our trusty iPhones this time, and now that we’re looking back at the week, we’re feeling so thankful for the memories!
We started the week exploring Disney World. Demos-style. We like to move fast and make the most of every minute (shocking, we know), which means we hit all four parks in only two days! Amy proudly donned Minnie ears and we fully embraced our inner-child. We fast-passed with the best of them, Demos-Sandwiched a few of our favorite characters and indulged in Mickey ice cream bars in between shows. We rocked tennis shoes and our Disney app (yes, app!) and spent two days completely absorbed in significant life goals: like nailing the shortest wait time for Space Mountain. One of our AJ Bride’s sweet sisters actually works at DisneyWorld, and we are just SO grateful she reached out to us and sent passes our way for one of the days! It was such an amazing bonus-add to an incredible trip, and it was so fun to just feel like kids again.
Next up was the main event! A Disney cruise to their private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, with two friends who we could probably write an entire sappy love poem about because that’s how much we adore them. Jen is the design genius behind our new brand, but even more importantly to us, she and her husband Aaron, have become two people we can’t imagine our life without. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, then you’ve already read about how much we love these two. (You may even remember their Charleston anniversary session or how Jen built us the website of our dreams!) Throughout the design process, we were pulling crazy all-nighters from opposite ends of the country, and spent a lot of time dreaming out loud about how we all needed a serious tropical vacation once the brand finally launched. We can still barely believe all the stars (and our schedules!) aligned to actually make it happen! And it was even better than we imagined.
This was just what we needed before we head into another crazy busy season. It was SO good for the soul spending time with such life-giving friends. We talked and laughed, and laughed and talked, then laughed some more. We explored a little, lounged a lot, and watched Aaron scale palm trees like an actual animated prince. We consumed way too many calories, danced at the pirate party and felt like kids during the incredible live shows each night. We’ve gotten so many questions about the Disney cruise experience and how it compares to a regular cruise, that we’re going to write a whole separate post about that, but suffice it to say, it. was. INCREDIBLE!
We ended the last part of our trip exploring Florida together! The highlight of this segment was definitely visiting Celebration, a real-life town that was actually designed by Disney! It felt like it was straight out of a storybook! 
And those fresh-baked waffle cones, though!
We are so thankful for this time of rest we had with cherished friends before the crazy hustle and bustle of the season starts up again, and couldn’t have asked for a better week!
We l-o-v-e traveling! Wanna catch up with our adventures around the world? You can do that here!
International: Ireland • England • France • Spain • Italy • Greece & Turkey • Anniversary Photos: Venice • Italy 2.0 • France 2.0 • Vow Renewal: France • Switzerland • Iceland • Prague • Germany & France
Domestic: Nashville • Denver • Phoenix • Vancouver • Seattle • Vegas • Atlanta • Santa Barbara • Florida • Virginia • New England/New York • Sedona • San Diego • Nantucket • Boston • San Diego • Virginia • Arizona • Charleston • Disney Cruise
