Ripley — Blog of Our Travels

Every summer we make the trip to Schlitterbahn. Somewhere along the way it stopped being just another vacation and quietly became one of those traditions that marks the passing of time. Every year we tell ourselves we'll ride the same favorites, find a few new ones, eat too much junk food, and wonder why we don't come more often. It's one of those trips that always seems worth the drive—or, in this year's case, the flight. This summer, though, the trip carried a little more anticipation than usual because for the first time it wasn't really about us anymore. It was about Ripley.

Ripley, Year, Domestic TravelLuke MartinJuly 7, 20262026, Ripley, TexasComment

Two Trips, Two Very Different Adventures: Mexico, North Carolina, and Traveling with a Toddler

Traveling with a toddler has taught us that trips rarely go exactly as planned. Sometimes that means discovering hidden gems, and other times it means accidentally ending up in the wrong border crossing lane with no cell service while trying to navigate international travel. Over the course of two weeks, we somehow managed to do both.

Ripley, Year, Domestic Travel, International TravelLuke MartinJune 8, 20262026, North Carolina, MexicoComment

Splashing at a Waterpark by Day, Bundling Up in the Snow by Night

Grant and I couldn’t quite decide how to “do” Chicago. We had booked cheap flights months ago—one of those fares that pops up and feels irresponsible not to buy—and told ourselves we’d figure out the details later. As the trip got closer, we still didn’t have a real plan. That’s when I did something bold: I let Grant take the lead.

Year, Ripley, Domestic TravelLuke MartinFebruary 26, 20262026, Wisconsin, IllinoisComment

How We Took a Nearly-2-Year-Old Deep Into the Jungle

Grant and I have a long-standing love affair with Belize—well, probably better to say Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch, an eco-lodge tucked deep into the jungle where the food is great, the adventures are wild, and there are more stairs than anywhere else in the world. We first stayed there back in September 2015, and it sparked our love for travel. It was the kind of place that permanently resets your standards for vacations.

Year, Ripley, International TravelLuke MartinJanuary 28, 20262026, BelizeComment

Some Trips are Carefully Planned Masterpieces. Others are… Boises.

Our little trio—Grant, Ripley, and me—embarked on a family adventure to Boise, Idaho. We expected a light, relaxing getaway. Instead, we got a comedy of travel, overeating, scenic detours, toddler moods, and one very frigid hot springs misadventure. In other words…it was perfect.

Ripley, Year, Domestic TravelLuke MartinNovember 18, 2025Ripley, 2025, IdahoComment

Pivoting to Casa Bonita in Denver

Pivot. Defined as a verb that “completely changes the way in which one does something.” It’s a nice way of saying throwing away what you had and starting a new. After the debacle that was Jamaica, we pivoted from our initial thought of going to Oaxaca, Mexico, and settled on something domestic in Denver, Colorado.

Domestic Travel, Year, RipleyLuke MartinFebruary 25, 20252025, Colorado, RipleyComment