Hi there and welcome to The Simple Salty Life! We are the Morelands, a family of four that loves to plan road trips and seek out adventures. Because David and Erin both have full-time careers, one child in middle school, and one just starting college, we are a typical busy family. We find it extremely important to carve out ways to spend time together as a family, whether that is through weekend trips, week-long family vacations, or day trips to go paddleboarding, kayaking, or snorkeling at the beach.
How We Can Help You
We have camped, glamped, motel-ed (is that even a word?) and Air B-n-B’ed our way across the country and back again. We only ever recommend places we’ve personally experienced, no free stays or sponsored trips. Because of this we try to find the best deals and travel on a budget, passing those tips along to you.
In all of our guides and itineraries we will tell you what worked as well as what didn’t, so you know you can trust our opinions since they stem from our real-life experiences. We write every post on our blog, and unless otherwise specified we take all of the photos as well. We don’t have fancy equipment, just a great camera phone and an eye for all things beautiful. (It’s easy to take epic pictures when you travel to extraordinary places!)
Our Love for Adventure
David and Erin were both born and raised in Florida- David in Sarasota and Erin in Orlando. When the kids were only 3 and 9 years old, we packed our little family up and moved across the country to Colorado. This is where our spark for adventure and travel grew into a full on flame.
We purchased a small pop-up camper shortly after moving to Colorado and were able to experience so many gorgeous states and national parks out in the Great Wild West! Best family trip so far: 9 days in the pop-up starting in Colorado, visiting Lake Powell, and all of Utah’s Mighty Five national parks.
After 4 amazingly awesome years in Colorado, we settled back into life in Central Florida in the town of Winter Garden. Since being back we have made it a point to explore all the local sights, hidden gems, and cute island towns in our beautiful Sunshine State. We have upgraded to a travel trailer with air conditioning (much needed in the south) and now there is plenty of room for the 4 of us and the dogs!
Our Family Travel Blog Focus
Growing up in Florida we have seen so many changes come to our beautiful state, both helpful and harmful. Our quaint island towns are becoming crowded and with the increased numbers of visitors comes litter, irresponsible shell collecting, and harm to our beloved wildlife.
We like to focus on traveling simply but also, sustainably. With tips for how to plan a trip and what to pack on your vacation, we also offer ideas for lessening your footprint while still enjoying our natural world. The motto states “Leave No Trace”, and that’s our number one goal!
Meet the Family
Erin is the powerhouse behind The Simple Salty Life. After years of planning family trips and taking thousands of pictures along the way, she decided to put her creativity and love for planning and organizing to good use and start a travel blog. Little did she know how much work was involved!
As a nurse formerly working in the NICU and now in dermatology (wear your sunscreen, friends!) the blog brings a fulfilling creative outlet to share the many hours of research, planning, and preparing that she puts into these trips. Being a Type A planner, her hope is to lessen the anxiety that inevitably comes from planning a trip or traveling to a new and unknown location. Erin’s #1 goal in life: To never miss an epic sunset!
David is our Editor-in-Chief. He edits the posts as well as keeps Erin reeled in when her imagination starts running wild with travel ideas. David is a Senior Finance Manager and with that comes a portion of frugal-ness that is much needed in this relationship dynamic!
However, David is always up for new experiences. He is the hiker, the outdoor adventure-lover, the one who keeps the family heading out on awesome camping trips. He also loves golfing, skiing, and playing guitar. His dream: To one day own an Airstream and travel across the U.S.
David and Erin met in college at UCF (go Knights!) and were married shortly after graduating. A little over a year later their son Austin was born, and in what seems like a flash or a time warp he graduated high school this year. Time is such a thief!
Having just turned 19, Austin is off doing his own thing in the world with work and school. But on family trips he is the comedic relief, always coming up with new ways to make everyone laugh. Austin enjoys fishing, golfing, bowling, and bringing home as many pets as he can sneak past mom and dad.
Their daughter Emily was adopted from China when she was two years old and she is the spark the family never knew they were missing until she arrived. Emily’s goal is to become fluent in her native language and eventually travel back to China for a family trip. So you might see some posts on Asia on the blog in the future!
Emily is always up for any adventure and loves to paddleboard, swim, paint, draw, snorkel, kayak, and plan family game nights. She has a growing shell and shark tooth collection that was started by Erin at around the same age. She is also one of the creative producers of the blog and is who Erin goes to for any artistic advice.
On the blog there is a section for simple recipes with minimal ingredients, perfect for a weekend campout, a simple weeknight meal, or to whip up while traveling. We have some food allergies (gluten and dairy) which make it tough to eat out on the road during trips. Each recipe has a gluten- and/or dairy-free option so you don’t have to worry about getting sick while on vacation. And we’re always on the lookout for the best ice cream around, or the coolest place to grab a cocktail, or both!
Thank you so much for stopping by, we hope you follow along with our travels and experiences and that our guides prove to be helpful and inspiring. We are so glad you are here with us!
Happy Travels!
