The Summer Travel was AMAZING... and AI absolutely made me sad.
We've been experiencing some incredible places, but that all feels shadowed by the ever impending doom of all sorts of things, and right now AI is the big one. Here's how it's impacting us NOW
I’ve been really quiet lately because our family has been going through several tragedies. I’m not getting deeply into that today because I don’t need to, but through it all we’ve also been staying busy, traveling and getting through the school year. 2026 has been TRYING and yet here we are making the most of everything we can. Today I want to share some of the amazing travel we’ve gotten to enjoy and loop you in on what’s happening in the world of writing today. Thank you for tuning in to read my hot takes on the world, cuz I have a lot to share.
Thinking about what I’m most excited to talk about today, I really want to dig into two things: Southeast Alaska expedition ship trip AND experiencing a surprising side to the Florida Keys. Yes, I know I talk about these two destinations a lot, but it’s because we’ve really found that each one feeds our interests and activity needs in different ways, so that’s what keeps bringing us back. And today I have some really specific tips for the Keys, so check those out below.
What’s new with 2TravelDads and Our Fam
I don’t want to be a big bummer, but will share that last month we lost one of our absolute dearest friends unexpectedly. It’s completely shifted our lives in all kinds of ways, both in how we spend our time together and how we’re planning for the future. We haven’t had a lot of encounters with death in our world, so losing Brian was jarring on every level. We’re making it, the kids were weirded out beyond belief but are doing okay, and we’re looking at our lives through a different lens now.
We also lost our cat last month, Rocky. He came to use after being passed from home to home and he was an intense challenge. A HUGE golden Bengal cat, Rocky was very “spirited” but also had turned into a real love and became very needy. Sadly, we lost him in a tragic accident and it’s been a lot. Losing one of your best human friends and then losing your best animal friend a few days later is a lot to process.
In other news, our little backyard farm has been insane and I’ve learned way too much about successful vegetable gardening. I’m very thankful our raised beds and sunflower field have done so well, but OMG, we’re tired of eating tomatoes and chard and jalapenos and… I’ve planned out our summer garden since our spring garden was bonkers, and hopefully it’s more wise and we won’t be inundated with too much of the same thing. We’ll see…
Florida Keys Surprises - Underwater Worlds in the Keys
The Keys are a favorite for us, both because they’re close and feel like a completely different world and because the nature is simply amazing. We’re actually going back next week, we love it so much. The thing that keeps us returning though isn’t really the culture and history, even though that’s all interesting. It’s the nature, and the focus of the last trip was actually looking for seahorses. I haven’t finished writing about them yet, but it’s coming. Here’s a little video of how to find seahorses, whether you’re visiting the Florida Keys or a like destination.
Part of the fun of the Florida Keys is how many different sorts of experiences there are for getting people out into nature and underwater. I got to spend a day with the Marina Lab on Key Largo, and it was one of the most unique activities. I loved it. I did a marine biologist-led snorkeling tour of the lagoon at Marine Lab and had my eyes opened up to so many more layers of the habitat surrounding Key Largo. This is such a great family or simply adult activity.
One of the other nature highlights of this visit was staying at the Coral Bay Resort in Islamorada. This is a vintage slice of the Florida Keys made up of pastel colored bungalows/cottages and with the perfect habitat for some amazing snorkeling. The docks and rock walls were as filled with wildlife as any reef we’ve been out to, and it’s amazing especially if you’re visiting with kids. Fish, sharks, eels and more make this one of the coolest places to stay in the Keys.
Another great nature experience was going out to a reef I’d not visited before, Dry Rocks with Fury Watersports. I was staying at Eden House Key West (another really beautiful, vintage spot) and walked over to the marina and was able to jump on a morning catamaran out to the reef. I really liked the small canyons at Dry Rocks and found that diving down here was ideal for finding trumpet fish and swimming through the fan coral. While the destination for snorkeling trips may vary depending on the weather, if you can visit Dry Rocks, you’ll love it too.
Southeast Alaska with the Boat Company - Small Ship Expedition
I know that Alaska is on lots of peoples’ bucket list and we’re really fortunate how often we get to visit, and Southeast Alaska (the Inside Passage) really is remarkable. Chris and I just completed a one week trip on a small expedition ship with the Boat Company, sailing from Sitka to Juneau and everywhere in between. Part luxury, all-inclusive cruise and part exploration in the Tongass National Forest, our week with the Boat Company was beautiful.
This week I’ll finish a really in-depth article about our trip with the Boat Company on the Mist Cove (the name of our ship), but I have a few bits to share here and now so you’ll come back to read the full thing when I publish in a few days. The Boat Company operates as a non-profit, so while we’re exploring Southeast Alaska and having a lovely time kayaking and sipping cocktails as we watch humpback whales, the company is reinvesting their profits into programs in the Tongass National Forest to educate people and championing lawsuits to prevent logging and destruction of the forest. As we sailed, every activity and talk with our naturalist brought it back to protecting this beautiful place.
Another element of sailing with the Boat Company that was really unique, and is actually pretty amazing, is that fishing is an option almost every day as you explore. If you have traveled around Alaska you know that fishing is one of the most popular things to do and is one of the most costly; it’s all included on this trip and we absolutely enjoyed as much fishing as we could. We brought home halibut, cod and rockfish (not salmon season yet) and have been enjoying cooking it in our own kitchen.
The wildlife was amazing too. I think my favorite moment was one afternoon when we were fishing a bear came out of the woods and was walking along the beach… and then a pod of orcas showed up and went between us and the bear. It was magical! Stay tuned for the full story coming to the blog this week.
Writing and Publishing Update: the Terrifying Reality of 2026
If you haven’t noticed, using Google and other searches has become dumber and dumber as of late, with “AI Overview” and summaries becoming the dominant sort of search result. A lot of people just read the little snippet and don’t dig into anything to get more information or validate that the information they’ve been presented is correct. Well, starting tomorrow it’s going to get a lot worse. Tomorrow, May 26th, Google will be providing all search results in AI summary format with actual articles and sources being something you have to dig even harder for.
WHY THIS IS BAD: I think we all have seen that Chat GPT and Gemini are not perfect and at times are dangerously wrong. With moving Google search into a simplified and UNVALIDATED answer, people are just going to get dumber. They accept information at face value already and now they’re discouraged from going away from this easy answer setup to get complete information. It’s not just that I am tired of people being continually wrong and speaking like they’re right, but it’s that now it’s more difficult for anyone to get to source information or read the work that’s provided AI with the base information (correct or not).
What this means for people like me who work hard to research and write good and helpful articles is that we disappear into the oblivion of space. Google hit us all really hard before when it started showing more sponsored search results before researched and lived-experience articles, and now we’re dropping further into the darkness. Quality and truth don’t matter now; Google just wants to keep you on their page getting you to see and click their ads. It all comes down to money, not efficiency or being a helpful tool. It’s sad.
What can YOU do to fight AI?
First of all, AI is not inevitable. People who are saying this are morons and they use the same terms and mindset as other predatory / submissive people use. FIGHT IT. Don’t use it, both because it is completely unethical and because its purpose is literally to dumb people down and get money. You can turn off the options in your email and browser. You can just NOT USE things like Chat GPT and Claude. You can take ten more seconds to read something instead of skimming an AI summary.
Switch your search engine to Ecosia or Duck Duck Go (I know that’s going to be hard for a lot of people). Change your web browser to Firefox or, dare I say it, Microsoft Edge (formerly IE). Things like this both make it so you’re not actively engaging with AI and you’re sending a signal back to Google that they’ve made a big mistake. It’s a simple shift for users, but sometimes the most simple things are looked at like they won’t be effective, but these changes will be felt by the big guys.
Upcoming Travel - a CRAZY Summer
Now, for our fun summer plans! School gets out this week and then we’re barreling full speed ahead into some really fun trips. Here’s what’s on the docket for the summer, and if there’s anything you have questions about, let me know, because helping other people plan travel is one of my favorite things to do!
Florida Keys - we’re in the teen swing of things so this trip is all about finding new activities and accommodations that are geared towards this harder-to-please age group. I’m excited that we’re partnering with Hyatt Centric in Key West and the Faro Blanco (Courtyard) in Marathon for some fun new experiences. And of course we’ll be looking for seahorses and moray eels.
Rafting Trip in Utah - Elliott and I are heading to Utah to do a four day rafting trip with OARS. We’ll be going from Dinosaur National Monument through the Gates of Lodore on the Green River and it’s going to be unforgettable. This is going to be a bonding trip with camping and truly roughing it on the river with my best buddy.
Speaking at TBEX in Virginia - I get to speak at one of my favorite conferences, TBEX, and I’m talking about content creation and neurodivergence. It’s going to be fun to see my other travel friends and get to share how I do what I do, because my brain operates differently than others.
Alaska - Whittier, Valdez, McCarthy and Copper Center - This is going to be such a fun family trip. We’ll fly into Anchorage and the explore Portage and Whittier before taking the Alaska Marine Highway to Valdez. We’ll enjoy some hiking, kayaking, museums and more and then we’ll head to McCarthy and Wrangel-St Elias National Park. It’s going to be incredible to explore, and then we get to go fishing for Copper River salmon! The fam is going to love it.
Maine - I get to go to Maine often, but we now get to finally do another family trip. We’ll be visiting our fam in Maine, doing some hikes at Acadia National Park, hitting Baxter State Park (my fav) and glamping at Huttopia. It’s going to be amazing… and then school starts.
Epic Alaska! - This is a trip that I started planning two years ago. In 2024 I won the Katmai National Park Brooks Lodge lottery, securing a visit for this September. Before going to Katmai I’ll be visiting Juneau, Gustavus, Glacier Bay National Park, Homer, and Kodiak. It’s going to be a long trip, mostly on my own, but then I’ll be joined by some awesome friends for Katmai. I can’t wait!
So yeah, that’s what’s happening in our world and coming up this summer. I hope everyone has a great start to the season of fun and that we all stay healthy and find our happiness. If you ever have travel questions or just want to find out more about the wonderful people and animals we encounter along the way, let me know via the blog.
Happy traveling!
So sad to hear about Brian and Rocky.
I hope the High Schooler had a great first year.
I’m so sorry about your friend and Rocky.. I remember when you got him. Such a beauty, practically feral but turned into a love bug. What happened to him?