Washington, D.C. – 2013 & Still on the List In 2013, I stood in front of the National Archives during a business trip that would later help spark the idea for TMP Origins. It wasn’t a sightseeing adventure — just me stealing a sliver of time between conference sessions. Two quick photos from the sidewalk … Read more
When you wander into downtown Montgomery, it’s hard to miss the man still keeping watch with his guitar in hand—Hank Williams. Dusty and I only had time for a quick stop here, but sometimes those short pauses tell the biggest stories. With a dashcam clip and a couple of photos, we stood for a moment … Read more
Sometimes the road hands you a story you didn’t know you needed. Dusty and I were driving downtown Montgomery, killing time before the National Memorial for Peace & Justice opened, when we spotted the red-bricked arches of Union Station. The building practically demanded we pull over. We didn’t realize it at the time, but this … Read more
Pentagon Memorial | Washington, D.C. If you’re searching for a quiet place in Washington, D.C. where the noise of the world falls away—and all that’s left is memory, silence, and sky—the Pentagon Memorial is one I’ll always recommend. I didn’t mean to stop here the day I visited.It was the weekend after a work conference … Read more
TMP Origins: Before the Dashcam, Episode 1 🏷️ Wandering Through the Glow of Marble and Memory In 2013, I flew to Washington, DC for a business conference.I didn’t know it at the time, but I was walking straight into the origin story of Travel Made Personal. By day, I sat in sessions and took notes … Read more
Alabama Road Trip #2 | Side Road Saturday We were headed to chase ghosts, if I remember right.A haunted house, a tip, a rumor. But then a brown sign blinked past our window: Claybank Log Church. Dusty and I locked eyes.The brakes answered before we did. There’s something magical about unplanned stops—the kind that don’t … Read more
There are places on a map—and then there are places on your soul. The Carillon and Bell Tower in Ozark, Alabama, may not draw highway billboards or souvenir shops. Still, for the folks in Dale County, it rings with something more profound: memory, service, and a stubborn pride that refuses to fade. Between Bells and … Read more
If your idea of a perfect detour involves skeletons in sunglasses, drive-thru art galleries, and sculptures that whisper “what even is this?”—you’re gonna want to make a stop in Seale, Alabama. Because tucked just off the rural backroads is a place that defies logic, expectations, and probably a few zoning laws. Welcome to the Museum … Read more
There’s a quiet corner of southwest Georgia where history rises from the earth itself. Not as bricks or ruins, but as immense, grass-covered mounds — the lasting fingerprints of a civilization that thrived here more than 1,500 years ago. Welcome to Kolomoki Mounds State Park in Blakely, where the line between past and present blurs, … Read more
There’s something about downtown streets in small Southern towns. They don’t just tell history — they live it. In southeast Alabama, Downtown Dothan and Downtown Slocomb stand just 30 minutes apart, yet offer two completely different flavors of charm: one lively and mural-covered, the other quiet and neighborly. Both are worth slowing down for. Dothan: … Read more