Happily   We Roam

General Information


Why Create a Site?

Through 2020 and 2021 we have felt so lost without being able to freely travel locally, domestically, or internationally. In May 2020 we were supposed to return to Paris to visit some of the places we saw during our first real-world, long-distance trip in 2003 which really sparked our love of travel! During the COVID pandemic of 2020-2021 we have been able to enjoy a few local and domestic trips to get us back in the groove of seeing this beautiful world (in all its chaos and serenity). However, we were both itching to fly across the pond to immerse ourselves in international sites.

During the travel restrictions that were put in place in an attempt to control the spreading of COVID, the thought of starting a website / blog to share our love of travel started percolating in the back of our minds. Julie started to jot down ideas about what could be on a website and how to categorize our many adventures. We also started trying to come up with clever names for the site and defining what the word TRAVEL meant to us. In the mean time, James took an online course to learn how to use Adobe Dreamweaver.

We hope this site will provide you with ideas and information. If you are not able to visit some of these locales, we aspire to bring pictures and stories to life for you to enjoy and “live vicariously” through our experiences.

Who Are We?

Husband and wife married 25 years. Our first truly international long-haul flight was to Paris in May 2003. James was working on a project requiring him to travel to Paris for a site visit. Julie told him, “If you go, I go”. The week spent in Paris was mostly work for James and his colleagues while Julie spent the week visiting museums with the other spouses who tagged along. We thoroughly enjoyed our first big international adventure.

Julie grew up on a farm (corn and soybeans) in a small town in Iowa with her parents, younger brother, younger sister, and a myriad of indoor / outdoor felines. She attended Iowa State University where she met her husband, James. Her professional background is in Finance / Accounting, so she is always scoping out the best bang for the buck on their joyrides, jaunts, and journeys. Cats and traveling are her happy places.

James grew up in Missouri, Nebraska, and Nevada with his parents and older sister. He attended Iowa State University where he met his wife, Julie. His professional background is in Architecture, but he is a computer nerd / geek at heart. His goal while traveling is to see how many pictures he is able to take in any single day. (Record is over 2,000!) Because of his career, he has a tendency to have his face aimed at the ceiling or sky checking out all of the intricate building details and then aiming the camera for a few clicks.


Contact us at: happilyweroam@gmail.com