My spouse had a ticket to visit Portugal back in 2010 (just a few months before we started dating)... but then that volcano in Iceland erupted and halted all flights to Europe for a few days. Long story short, they never ended up being able to visit until now. It's been a bucket list location for a while since their grandmother is from Portugal (and of course I’ve heard all about the perfect weather, clear water, great food, etc.)

Scheduling this trip in the middle of the fall wedding season was certainly a decision I questioned more than once, but ultimately it was the perfect way to recharge. It's really easy to fall victim to burnout in the wedding industry, especially for photographers, but I know I owe it to myself (and to my clients) to genuinely be enthusiastic about what I do. Because I make it a priority to schedule time off for myself, I am lucky enough to almost always love what I'm doing and to bring all my best energy to each couple I work with.

On this trip, we started and ended in Lisbon where we visited art museums and galleries, ate all the tapas, enjoyed live Fado music, relaxed on the balconies of our Airbnbs, and oohed and ahhed at all the gorgeous tile. We explored castles, their gardens, and greenhouses in Sintra— as well as a labyrinth of tunnels beneath one of those castles. In the Azores, we soaked in sub-tropical hot springs on a chilly day (and then ate a stew cooked in the geothermal water!), took many a foggy hike, walked along a crater lake, and swam under a waterfall at the end of a trail. In the Algarve, we stayed inside a windmill built in 1900 by our host's great grandfather, wandered along red rocky cliffs and through caves and tunnels leading to hidden beaches, and braved the chilly ocean water. It was one of my favorite vacations we've been on and I'm so excited to share some of the images with you all!

If you're wanted to see more travel photos, you can see images from our other adventures in the travel section of my blog.