Travel Is Not a Reward for Working. It’s the Reward for Living.

We’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Anthony Bourdain said it best: “Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living.” And after Namibia earlier this year, we feel it in our bones.

Namibia wasn’t just a trip. It was silence so deep you could hear your own heartbeat. It was lions at waterholes, elephants in the dusk, sand dunes the size of skyscrapers and nights where the stars seemed close enough to touch. It was driving for hours with nothing but horizon and each other. It was a reminder: we don’t just plan trips, we chase experiences that change us.

Travel as a Way of Living

For us, travel has never been an afterthought. Not a holiday squeezed into the calendar, but the framework of how we see the world … and ourselves. The weddings we plan and photograph are journeys in themselves, each couple’s story tied to a place, each location teaching us something new.

But Namibia felt different. Wilder. Slower. A reminder that the reward of travel isn’t ticking off a list. It’s the pause. The perspective. The people you meet when the road runs out.

What’s Next?

Right now, we’re in the middle of planning not just more trips, but full adventures. France, New Zealand, and Florida are on the horizon this year.

Canada, Atlanta, Dubai next year. All work trips that feel like homecomings in their own ways. But in 2026, we’ll also be stepping into new chapters:

• Greenland, chasing the midnight sun, the icebergs, and stories few have ever seen firsthand.
• The Scottish Highlands, for drama, heritage, and family ties that run deep.

And in between? Who knows. That’s the thing about kaukokaipuu … that restless longing for faraway places. There’s always another horizon calling.

Travel as Storytelling

We’ve always said that weddings are stories written in one day. Travel is the same … but stretched across landscapes and lifetimes. Every photo we take, every film we craft, every blog we write is our attempt to hold onto what travel gives us: perspective, connection, and a life lived in full color.

A Final Thought

Travel is not something you earn after hard work, like a bonus. It’s what makes the work worth doing in the first place. It’s what keeps us dreaming, keeps us curious, keeps us alive to the world.

Namibia reminded us of that. Greenland and Scotland will write new chapters. And every stop in between — France, New Zealand, Florida — will be part of this bigger story.

Because the reward isn’t the stamp in the passport. The reward is living wide awake.

📋 Planning | 📸 Photography | 🎥 Film by @37frames

🗝 Edited with the 37 Frames @imagen.ai profile (The Modern Classic)