Everything Is Going HORRIBLY Wrong!

“Everything is going HORRIBLY wrong!” I screeched into the chilly air, unsure if my husband could hear me through the white cotton fabric covering my entire body.

Did you find us because of this awesome Winona Post article? 🤔 Well, thanks for visiting us! 🎉 We’ve turned our two decades of travel experience as touring musicians and filmmakers into a travel blog, daily podcast and travel guidebook series presenting the BEST in the Midwest. 🌎 Our passion is sharing how awesome life in the heartland of America really is. 😻 Are we happy that you’re visiting us today? You betcha! 😘

Everything Is Going HORRIBLY Wrong!

“Everything is going HORRIBLY wrong!” I screeched into the chilly air, unsure if my husband could hear me through the white cotton fabric covering my entire body.

My glasses had gotten buried in the sand, my nostrils were covered in sheet fibers, and I’d somehow swallowed enough sand to line my stomach with its own beach. 

Ah, the glamorous of life of touring indie musicians!

Let me explain. My hubby Jack and I are high school sweethearts turned traveling musicians, filmmakers, authors and now, travel bloggers. For the past twenty years we’ve traveled the world and made plenty of mistakes along the way.

And today was no exception. In our infinite wisdom, we’d decided that in between sets at our show at the Acoustic Cafe in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, we’d shoot a cool indie music video on the banks of the river. Just us, no camera man or crew. We were going to dress up as creepy ghosts for our song “The Ghost of The St. Louis Blues.”

The only problem?

Neither of us had thought things through enough to realize there were a few logistical issues with this brilliant concept.

First, we were essentially blind, with small peepholes cut out that didn’t quite work. Second, as self-filming camera operators, both of us had no hands free from the sheet with which to hold anything, much less a camera.

Oh, and we were outside on a very windy, cold day…and most of every shot has us sprinting down the beach to catch flying props!

So, as you can imagine, it didn’t turn out exactly as planned. But you can watch the ishhh hit the fan in the video below. Hehe.

Anyways, back to my story as a crappy, helpless ghost.

This is the part where you, dear reader, come into the picture. Lucky for you, mine and Jack’s unlucky, and oftentimes purely comical, mistakes are now helpful tips that we collect to show you what to (and not) do while traveling.

Our mistakes are your saved dollars, time and effort.

So where was I?

Oh, right. Blinded, dressed as a crappy ghost –  basically failing. Epically.

But that takes me to the true point of what I’m getting at. Sometimes mistakes while traveling, the times when everything go horribly wrong, are my most fond memories.

That lost luggage that forces Jack to wear a pair of my sweat pants that say “JUICY” on the butt. In a font I’d never noticed was so large until it was broadcasting the – ahem – charms of my hubby’s now juicy rump.

The time when you’re on tour with your PBS Kids show – and you’re questioned by the Bahraini FBI for fourteen hours and miss your gig. Because you have a mascot head in a large suitcase, and they get suspicious.

When you realize that “Coffee Shop” means something else in Amsterdam. And those “Space Cake Muffins” that a local bought you weren’t, in fact, just pastries! Meanwhile, a mere four hours later...you finally find your way back to your hotel two blocks away and literally crawl up the steps! Uff da!

These are the travel stories that make life memorable, rich. The things you look back on and laugh about once you have a bit of time to recover.

(Here’s looking at you, Space Cakes! 👀)

These are the experiences that you want from travel, even when you don’t.

The little things that you can share with your friends, or family and chuckle about as you head back home. This is why we started this blog. To offer the things we’ve learned through being on the road for almost twenty years professionally, and to help you carve out a fun time in your little corner of the world.

We want to show you the best of the Midwest and, more importantly, the reason behind it all. The WHY of travel, the parts of exploring new places that make your heart beat a little faster and make your laugh a little more robust.

So…I could go on and on for hours about why traveling the Midwest (and beyond) is so awesome, but I think it’s more important to say what’s on my heart.

I’m glad you’re here. I’m really glad you’re reading this and have made it this far. And if our mistakes along the way in our years of travel can make things just a tiny bit more easy for you, I’m all about it!

By the way, although I might not have introduced my properly up until this point, my name is Kitty. And my hubby Jack and I are so incredibly grateful you discovered our site.

Can we now consider you a friend? If so, swing by Winona, Minnesota and we’ll all grab a plate of tater tot hotdish. Uff da, Jack makes it good!

Wanna Watch the Video & Behind the Scenes Vlog?

Photo Gallery: All’s Well That Ends Well

We had a blast that evening… in fact, a local photographer snapped some pix and shared them with us. Note: we lost your email so if you’re seeing this and you are that photographer we would LOVVVVE to credit you! Please email us at: jackandkittyxo@gmail.com.

Here’s a few fun pix from the show that evening…