In the last nearly five years of blogging, we’ve always thought of Map & Menu as a place of positivity. The site has served as an outlet through which we share our adventures, both big and small, and the ones we dream about taking someday. We’ve used it as a way to document our happiest memories, whether it’s an everyday occurrence with Orvis or one of life’s bigger moments. Never wanting to be mistaken for critics and always wanting to focus on things in a more positive light, if we ever found ourselves to be disappointed in any aspect of a restaurant, hotel, or travel experience, we simply wouldn’t mention it on Map & Menu. As a site focused quite a bit on travel, Map & Menu has been an escape for us in more ways than one.

That being said, we’ve gone through periods where we don’t post anything for months. Sometimes those instances come about because we’re working through some personal struggles and simply don’t feel like putting on a cheery face and pretending everything is okay when it’s not. We usually wait it out until we feel ready to be a part of the internet again. Lately, we’ve been feeling a little ambivalent about blogging because something doesn’t feel right about recapping a trip or a meal, no matter how wonderful or memorable, when there is so much going on in the world that is so much more important. Right now, we’re waking up to news each morning that makes us sigh just a little more each day.  And the more we listen to (or read, or discuss) current events, the more frustrated we get. I think no matter what your views are, the whole thing can be a vicious cycle.

Until it isn’t. Until we choose to break the cycle and opt to focus on what’s good in this world. Because I’d like to think, as someone who’s always called herself a glass half full kind of girl, that even in the darkest of times, there’s always been good. And love. And togetherness. And that’s what I’m choosing to see when I think about the millions of people coming together and engaging with each other in support of one another – in support of humanity – right now. 

With that in mind, we would like to keep focusing on the good when it comes to blogging here at M&M. And while there might even be occasional posts that delve a little deeper into how we’re feeling – either about what’s going on in the world or even in our own lives –  know that if we veer off the course of positivity just a bit, we’ll always circle back to that notion of escapism and inspiration that led us to start blogging in the first place.