Meet Caroline
Caroline is originally from San Antonio, Texas. Growing up on the outskirts of the Texas Hill Country,
Perhaps her parents are partly to thank for her initial love of National Parks. When she was in forth grade, her family visited their first National Park together. Big Bend National Park. There were many other trips to National Parks over the next several years.
In high school, Caroline’s desire to travel, or wanderlust, started to develop and she set a personal goal of traveling to all 50 states. But as a very broke high schooler and then college student, the opportunities to travel were very limited but the dreams continued.
In 2013, Caroline moved to Dallas to pursue her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Speech Language Pathology from The University of Texas at Dallas (whoosh!). This is also where she met her life-long adventure partner, Randy.
Again, college and graduate school provided very few opportunities to travel and see the world. Money was the biggest limiting factor. A few years later, she graduated and started working as an SLP, specifically with the geriatric population.
Along with that first big-girl paycheck came a feeling of freedom and travel started to become a more likely possibility. In April of 2017, Caroline planned a quick get-away to the city of San Francisco with her then-roommate. Having JUST started her first job, she hadn’t saved up enough PTO to take a day off so the trip didn’t last more than 48 hours from take-off to landing at DFW. But that didn’t matter. Planning that quick trip to San Francisco was pivotal to realizing that travel didn’t have to be just a distant dream but a reality.
Travel plans picked up from there. Many of her following travels were to National Parks and Caroline’s love for adventure and hiking was born. And to say that Caroline loves National Parks would be an understatement. No really, she’s obsessed. So much so that she has a National Park Passport and hopes to visit all 400+ national park sites in her lifetime.
As Caroline discovered not only her love of travel and National Parks, she also realized her love of planning travel itineraries and helping others plan their travels. And in 2019, The Postcard Traveler was born.
Caroline’s Favorite Things:
- Hiking trails that end at an alpine lake
- Tex Mex (Chips & Queso is life) with a margarita on the side
- Flannels, hair bandanas, and scrunchies
- Naps and going to bed early
- Long Road Trips
Meet Randy
To put it shortly, Randy is the official tagalong, yes-man, proof-reader, and biggest encourager of The Postcard Traveler.
Randy is originally from Allen, Texas a suburb in the DFW area. He graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in Supply Chain Management. Remember that’s where he met Caroline!
Randy is a city-boy at heart with a love for big, loud, energetic places. Think Times Square type-places. He feeds off of the energy of large groups of people and big cities are the perfect place for that.
When Randy met Caroline, he found her obsession with National Parks a bit strange and tree-hugger-y. But it wasn’t until 2018 when she convinced him to visit her favorite national park, Olympic, on his trip to Seattle that his mindset started to change.
They visited many other national parks together that year and at the end of 2018, they got married.
Steadily, his appreciation for national parks and hiking also grew.
Somewhere along the way, Randy decided that it was also HIS goal to visit all 50 states. Not only did he make it a goal but also a competition. So, over the next couple of years, he dragged Caroline back to states like Ohio, South Dakota, and Kentucky trying to even the score.
Randy’s Favorite Things:
- Spicy snacks like Takis and anything Jalapeno flavored
- Coffee, Coffee, Coffee (but not the overpriced bougie kind, the cheaper the better)
- Not spending money
- Running
- Listening to A Capella and singing along to the radio on road trips
- All things Marvel, especially Captain America
Caroline & Randy Travel Together
Caroline started this blog in early 2019 to share their adventures and help others plan their travels. That year, they visited many new national parks, a few favorites were Glacier, Channel Islands, and Badlands.
They even traveled to Europe for the very first time that year! This was Caroline’s first time overseas. They were able to visit the U.K., Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. They loved Germany so much they hope to live there one day.
The following year, 2020, came with its challenges but also allowed Caroline & Randy to reach their goal of visiting all 50 states. That’s right, they both reached all 50 states at the same time. This goal was met by a trip to Alaska that was unforgettable. They’re currently waiting for their next opportunity to visit Alaska.
Read Next:
The Perfect Alaska National Parks Road Trip
Although they were both working in Dallas, they escaped the city whenever time would allow. But they were dreaming of something more, especially Caroline who has always dreamed of living in the mountains.
The Postcard Traveler on the Road
The year 2021 was the most exciting year for Caroline and Randy and the blog. In February of 2021, they packed up their cozy apartment in Dallas, put everything they own in storage, and hit the road. The plan was to spend one month in Colorado. Randy would work remotely while Caroline devoted her time to growing The Postcard Traveler. They were hungry for the mountains and the outdoors. A hunger that their beloved home of Dallas could not satisfy.
Well, one month turned in to two months. The second month they spent in Southern Utah exploring Utah’s Mighty 5.
And two months turned into four months. The second half of their trip was spent in Northern Utah and then in California near the Sierras. They were loving this new adventurous and nomadic lifestyle.
This time on the road taught them so much and gave them so many new experiences. For example, these Texans had their first experience digging their car out of the snow and were wildly unprepared without a shovel or scraper. However, that’s a story for another time.
Read Next:
Utah’s Mighty 5 Ranked Best to Worst
Caroline & Randy are currently still on their epic 5 month adventure through the American West. They plan to head back to Dallas in July but don’t ever plan to stop exploring and traveling.
Why the name The Postcard Traveler?
As a kid, Caroline collected postcards on all of her family’s travels. She even participated in a postcard exchange, trading postcards with other youth around the country. She’s currently got boxes full of postcards from her travels around the USA and the world.
For her, postcards are associated with travel memories and sharing travel stories from around the world with loved ones.
Follow along with Caroline & Randy at The Postcard Traveler to see what they get up to next!