Our First Home

It was a long time coming to finally shoot with the amazing Laura Huertas, and man I am so thankful that we did. Those last few months up until our move were so incredibly hectic. We were rarely in town, or had family in town, or were spending as much time with our friends as humanly possible, not to mention packing up our lives and selling our things! We spent our last free Saturday morning shooting in our apartment with Laura, and it couldn't have turned out any better!

Our first home together was in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Bedford Avenue. It was our ideal location, ideal size, and met every major "requirement'" we had before moving in. No, it definitely wasn't perfect, but to be honest, it was pretty close in my opinion. Our biggest request when looking for an apartment was having room for a large dining room table so we could host family dinners aka have our friends over a LOT. In NYC, that's almost a funny request because it's nearly impossible to find that kind of space for a reasonable price. After many ((MANY)) months of searching ((and also many other apartments that fell through at the last minute)), we found the one. Thank God all the others we thought were it didn't work out after all... funny how things work out sometimes. We moved our things in right before the wedding and spent our first night there together after coming home from our honeymoon. We lived there nearly 3.5 years, and loved it every single day.  

To be honest, I feel such a rush of emotions when I look at these photos... Laura managed to perfectly capture our little Brooklyn home. It was such a hard apartment to let go of, but I'm so glad that we did. It wouldn't have felt like complete surrender if we would have tried to sublease it for a full year for this next adventure that we are on. Besides, how can you say you trust God fully in one thing when you still have your hands tied with the old, or what's comfortable? Sometimes you have to fully let go of things you love to make room for the new and unexpected to happen, things that you could possibly love even more. Our plan as of now is to still move back to NYC after this year of traveling, and when we do, I have no doubt that we will find the perfect apartment for us at that moment. It may look completely different to this one, and it probably will. But that's okay with me. I'm so thankful for the memories we made in our first home, and I will cherish these photos for forever! Thank you so much, Laura! 

I hope you guys like them! Let me know what you think in the comments below...!

Xo- Tara

*photos by Laura Huertas*

WE'RE MOVING TO BALI!

Hey guys! 

We're back after a crazy few weeks in NYC, and we wanted to take the chance to update you on our big news. In case you somehow missed it, WE'RE MOVING TO BALI! As much as we would love to have the chance to explain our decision with everyone personally, we realize that there's no possible way to do that. So, we're going to do our best to explain it all in this post! 

At the beginning of this year, Tara and I both started to feel something strange stirring inside of us. New York is our home- it's where we met, where we dated and fell in love, where our jobs are and where we began our life together. We have the world's greatest friends and an incredible support system, and we couldn't love our church, Hillsong NYC, any more. This wild city is our city. Yet we couldn't shake the feeling that there was a change on the horizon. It came to a head in April, and we started talking seriously about the notion of a move. We both felt ready for an adventure and have long loved Southeast Asia, so the conversation of Bali began. More as a joke to start, really- one of those "what if we just, like, moved to Bali?" followed by laughs at the insanity it took to even suggest such an idea. But then one day, it got thrown out again- and where we would normally laugh, we found ourselves staring back at each other instead. What if we really did? What of it wasn't as crazy as we'd originally thought? And that turned into "why wouldn't we?" and "Let's seriously consider it!". 

So, we took the month of May and prayerfully considered it, weighed out our options and our thoughts, got advice from family and close friends, and finally decided to take the leap. We started League Travels with the dream of one day focusing full-time on travel. We've traveled more and more over the last 3 years, and 2017 has felt like the busiest travel year yet. To fully pursue travel blogging as our full-time jobs though, we knew we'd have to step up our travel game even more- but in order to do that, Tara would have to quit her job as a fit model. Without both incomes New York gets real expensive really fast, and it just wasn't a viable option. Since my job as a designer is flexible and most of my clients are remote anyhow, It's easier for me to maintain an income from anywhere in the world. So, we decided to take a chance to do something crazy and unknown in pursuit of our crazy dreams.

In October, we'll be headed to Bali to live and travel from for the next year! Tara's blog has seen amazing growth this year as well, and we're so excited to jump on that momentum and the momentum we have with League Travels and invest full-on into our brand. We want to be back in NYC after our year away, so our plan (if you can call it that) is to head back to the big Apple around the end of next year. 

When we first started League, it was just the name of my design studio. It's grown and evolved to encompass our entire brand, and the meaning behind the name couldn't be more perfect for the way it's all happened. The term "League" once referred to a nautical measurement of distance. It was the furthest one could see with the naked eye. Thus, a ship traveling one "league" had reached what was previously the farthest visible distance on the horizon. Journeys would be measured in leagues- and you couldn't know what the next "league" held until you finished the one previous. 

That's been our story all along the way of this journey. There's been beautiful doors opened to us along the way, and there's been heart-breaking doors closed. We've had exhilarating successes and nights where we've questioned if we should even continue our pursuits. We never could have imagined 3 years ago that we would be selling all of our stuff and moving to Indonesia, but we've taken each stride hand in hand. We've tried our best to steward each season with integrity and hard work, and we'll continue to pursue the dreams God has placed inside of us full steam ahead.

So here's to our next greatest adventure! We have so many details to sort out and so much to do before we leave (not to mention we'll be in Africa and then Wisconsin for 3 weeks of September... yikes!), so please forgive us if we seem a bit absent this next month and a half. If anyone has any tips or advice, we welcome your input! We'll post another update soon, but until then we'll be packing our lives into a few suitcases, selling the rest, and cramming in as many NYC adventures as humanly possible!  

Here's to the adventure!

Zach + Tara 

Brooklyn's Hottest New Hotel

Whenever we visit a new city, we look for the cool locals-only area to stay rather than the tourist areas. You get a much more authentic experience, and you steer clear of a lot of the madness that comes with tourist hubs (like Times Square). 

Williamsburg, Brooklyn is our favorite neighborhood in NYC- and it would be even if we didn't live there! It's a hotspot for the city's coolest bars, cafes, restaurants, art, music and shopping- and we'd recommend staying here for anyone wanting a real NYC experience. 

A few weeks ago we took a little staycation in our own backyard and stayed the night at the Williamsburg Hotel! We were in love with this place from the moment we stepped through the doors. The design is stunning and fresh, but wonderfully comfortable as well. The attention to detail was evident, which is always something that we look for. Beautiful tiling and fixtures, great colors, economical and perfectly functional room with a gorgeous view of the NYC skyline from the balcony- the list goes on and on. We couldn't take enough pictures of this gorgeous hotel!

The area is no joke, either. Your steps away from the hottest bars and clubs in NYC, great coffee every which way, and the restaurant scene Williamsburg is famous for. That is, if you ever leave the hotel (they have their own full service bar and restaurant as well as a rooftop opening this fall)!

Since they aren't fully open, the rooftop and water-tower bar (what?!) aren't ready yet, but we can't wait to see it when it's all done. 

Check it out, and book your stay here!

*Our stay was sponsored by The Williamsburg Hotel- but our opinions, as always, are our own!

Our commitment to honesty and our readers will always come first.