A. Ann read a home decorating blog post on Young House Love

Ironically, the first postcard we sent home was from the home of our first U.S. President, George Washington. We jotted down highlights from our visit on the postcard, including the view from the rocking chairs on the back porch overlooking the Potomac River and the Maryland shore.about saving postcards from places you visit and displaying them in a glass vase. She loved the idea and from that point on in May of 2011, whenever we traveled together we’d send a postcard back home.

After we got married, Ann bought a big jar and in about six years, we’ve added more than 100 postcards to the jar which adorns a table in the entryway of our home. Our postcard jar is a constant reminder of where we’ve been and the things we’ve experienced together and we couldn’t think of a more fitting name for our blog.

A: To be honest, we’re not sure how we met. We both lived in the small, rural Nebraska town of Crete for more than nine years, but neither of us can remember a specific time or place we actually met. Likely, we became aware of whom the other person was several years ago when Ann came to Crete High School on Thursday mornings to volunteer as a mentor and Steve worked as an administrator in the office there. We exchanged hellos and eventually shared brief conversations. In June of 2010, Ann asked Steve to go to a College World Series game (read more about that here) and the rest is history. We dated for a little more than a year, had a 10-week engagement, and were married Aug. 27, 2011.

Steve and Ann of www.postcardjar.com on their wedding day. (Photo by Aaron Babcock).

A:  Steve had a trip to Costa Rica booked about 25 minutes after proposing (read more about the proposal here). Steve had studied Spanish in Costa Rica and been there several times and while he was not particularly concerned about the wedding details (flowers, music, food, etc.). But he was adamant that the honeymoon was spent in the land of Pura Vida and he planned a romantic honeymoon that did not disappoint.

A view of the river running through the Tabacon Hot Springs resort in Costa Rica. (photo by Ann Teget for www.postcardjar.com)

A. Quite frankly, we needed a creative outlet – one that would feed our need for travel even when our schedules or health don’t allow us to leave our home in rural Nebraska. When we were both working lots of hours, travel was our escape. We’ve been asked by friends for our advice on everything from swimming with dolphins to how to pack for 14 days in Europe and we are always happy to share what we’ve learned. We hope this blog can also serve as a resource for extraordinary travel for everyday people like us (and you).

A. Useful information for regular people (like us) who want to plan extraordinary vacations and experiences. We cover where we’ve been, insights on destinations and attractions, and tips & tricks we’ve learned along the way (like packing an extra outfit in each others’ bags in case one suitcase doesn’t arrive).

A: Steve – My grandparents were great travelers. Upon his return from WWII, my grandfather declared that he was going to take my grandmother to see the world. And he did. Over the course of about 40 years, they visited more than 80 countries. They went from Mexico to Morocco, from Tibet to Timbuktu. They would come home and tell stories and show pictures of the places they’d been. I so wanted to go along. In high school, I had the opportunity to travel to Argentina as a foreign exchange student. It was my first trip outside the country. Everything was so new. I was hooked.

A: Ann – Unlike Steve, I didn’t travel abroad until I was 36, but I remember great family road trips as a kid to places like the the Grand Canyon, the Black Hills of South Dakota, my grandparents’ retirement home in The Ozarks, and one long cross country trek with six kids and two adults to St. Petersburg, Florida. Leaving the prairie of Southeast Nebraska and seeing the desert, hills, mountains, lakes or beaches was always exhilarating and gave me the bug for travel.

A. We like to travel. We’ve done it a lot. We’ve made some mistakes, and we’ve had some amazing experiences. Ann earned her degree in journalism and was a newspaper writer and photographer early in her career. Steve has degrees in Spanish and anthropology and an M.A. in curriculum and instruction.

A. Please do! You can send us a postcard at: Postcard Jar, P.O. Box 334, Crete, NE 68333.