Who We Are

We are Celeste and Terry and we are American travel bloggers, parents, grandparents, software engineers and we love traveling and experiencing new places. Our home base is currently in Sarasota, Florida.

Terry is an eternal lover of travel, an avid reader and somewhat of a history buff. As the son of an Air Force Colonel he spent his childhood in many different places. Every two years they would be transferred somewhere new…. Okinawa, Guam, Nebraska, Arizona, South Dakota, etc. We credit his love for travel to his experiences traveling to new places as a child. His love for travel, history and fun has defined our family. Terry loves the facts and logistics and Celeste loves taking the pictures and the artsy stuff - together we make a good team.

We’ve been married since 1989 and our motto has been that we work to pay for our vacations. Despite our hardships and the financial holes that we found ourselves in from time to time we always found ways to travel and have fun. We started our blog by documenting our family trips and you will see that in our earlier posts. Today our kids are grown and we have more freedom to travel and share our love of travel than we’ve ever had before and we decided that it was time to evolve our blog into something more.

Just Traveling Thru was conceived during a seven month hiatus that Celeste took from work in 2018. We were traveling a lot and adding more and more to a very basic Google-based Blog. The term “just traveling thru” captures how we feel about travel and about life. We are “just traveling thru” this life, experiencing, learning, and living. Life does not always serve up roses and we want to enjoy life as much as we can while we are here and healthy enough to travel. We also like to get t-shirts when we are traveling in order to “prove” we were there. “It doesn’t count if you don’t have the t-shirt”, Terry likes to say. It’s also important to give back when we are able to. So… we decided to make Just Traveling Thru both a blog and a brand.

We offer travel tips, historical facts, some local reviews and advice based on things we’ve learned along the way. We are just starting out with our designs but we have an online store selling just traveling thru t-shirts with 50% of the profits going to charities that we and our followers love.

Drop us a note (via our 'Contact Us' link via the 'Info' button) if you have suggestions we’d love to hear from you. Thank you for taking time to read our story and please share our blog with your friends if you like it.

Editorial Policy

We write the guide we wish we’d had before we went there. Our goal is to share first-hand experience and clear, practical advice so you can plan with confidence.

What we do

We visit places ourselves, take our own photos & videos, and document what actually matters on the ground: parking realities, hours/fees, closures, safety, accessibility, and timing strategies.

How we research & fact-check

• We pair first-hand notes with official sources (parks, city/county, transit, DOT/511, museums, venues).
• Key logistics (hours, fees, shuttles, trail/road status) are verified against those sources before publishing.
• We cite or link to official pages in each guide’s Travel Resources — Maps, Parking & Passes section.

Updates & corrections

Pages include a visible “Last updated” date and are revised when policies change. If you spot an error or outdated info, please let us know — we fix mistakes quickly.

Report a correction: info@justtravelingthru.com

Funding & independence

• We may earn a commission from partner/affiliate links (e.g., tour and ticket providers) at no extra cost to you.
• Affiliated links are labeled and use rel="sponsored"; our opinions and recommendations are independent.
• We do not accept compensation to change a review or hide meaningful downsides.

Photos, accessibility & reader experience

• We prefer original photos. Captions and alt text aim to be descriptive and useful.
• We prioritize fast, stable pages (Core Web Vitals), readable layouts, and clear navigation.
• We include honest notes about accessibility (terrain, steps/ladders, elevators, tight spaces) where relevant.

Contact

Questions, suggestions, or media inquiries: info@justtravelingthru.com

Over the years, certain films and books have sparked our wanderlust — not through travel guides, but through compelling stories, breathtaking scenery, and unforgettable moments. Some inspired entire trips; others nudged us toward places we later fell in love with. Here are a few that stood out:

• Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen’s dreamy time-travel story is drenched in Parisian charm. We’d already walked the banks of the Seine and the hills of Montmartre, but seeing them through this film’s nostalgic lens deepened our appreciation for the city’s timeless beauty and artistic history.
• Under the Tuscan Sun – A romanticized but undeniably beautiful portrayal of Tuscany. The film’s rolling hills, sunflower fields, rustic villages, and even coastal scenes stirred our imagination and helped shape our desire to explore the region for ourselves.
• Mamma Mia! – Set against the backdrop of a sparkling Greek island, this joyful musical lit a spark for seaside escapes, spontaneous adventure, and warm Mediterranean evenings — even though we haven’t made it to Greece yet, it’s definitely on the list.
• The Tourist – This stylish thriller made Venice feel even more mysterious and romantic. Watching scenes unfold along the canals, through old hotels and quiet alleyways, convinced us we had to experience that dreamlike setting in person.
• France from the Air – This stunning coffee table book is filled with aerial photography of France’s most beautiful regions. It became a family treasure — and a key planning resource — as we mapped out our three-week journey through the Loire and Dordogne Valleys. The imagery of châteaux scattered across lush countryside helped us visualize the scale and geography we’d need to navigate. This book is available on Amazon, click here to view it on the Amazon site.

We’ll likely add more to this list — inspiration has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.

Cheers!
Celeste and Terry