3 years of Packing my Suitcase and the biggest news yet

Allane from Packing my Suitcase

Exactly 3 years ago I was publishing Packing my Suitcase’s first post, and back then I had no idea how important the decision of starting a travel blog was going to be, and how it would change my life. Friendships were made, a lot of writing was done, thousands of photos in several trips and back home were taken, partnerships were made, and I learned more than I ever thought I would about social media, building a website, and the tourism industry.

Today, I have no doubt that this work came to stay in my life, and I can’t imagine living without it. Of course, my work with the blog expanded to photography and freelance writing, so in the end, there is much more behind Packing my Suitcase than you imagine. Here is to 3 years of full time travel blogging and to many more to come!

The biggest news yet!

This year, however, there is something different about this celebration. Something I have been dying to share with you, but wanted to wait until the time was right. Many of you who follow me on social media and are always coming back to the blog for a new post, might have noticed how “quiet” I have been since I returned from Cuba.

No, I’m not quitting blogging, I’m not going though a writer’s block, I still love to travel and always will, it’s not lack of time or motivation. The thing is, I’ve been suffering with severe nausea and morning sickness! Yes, yes! W. and I are expecting Enzzo’s little brother/sister, and Packing my Suitcase is growing to one more suitcase that I will soon need to pack!

Baby announcement with dog

I know you might have lots of questions about this big news, and I will try to answer most of them here. First, I will tell you more about my pregnancy, because I know you are all dying to know how far long I am and the baby’s sex. Well, I am now 18 weeks pregnant and baby is due in September. My first trimester can be summed up with struggling to walk Enzzo, to eat, to think, to write, to photograph, to read and even to watch TV. Yes, my nausea was that bad, and I honestly never felt so bad in my entire life. Our travel plans had to change, assuming that I didn’t have strength even to get out of the couch the whole day!

As the first trimester went away, I started to think more clearly and got some of my energy back. For a very active person, it wasn’t easy to just accept that this came as part of the package, not being able to do the things I was used to was something that was making me crazy. But well, sometimes you need to go with the flow and give yourself a break, I had to wait until the nausea was gone. Well, it seems like it doesn’t want to go away. Even though it got way better, nausea still comes up to say hello once in a while. I certainly won’t be missing her when she’s finally gone.

As for the baby, we don’t know the sex yet, and as it has been a dream of mine, we decided not to know until the baby is here! I know, hard to believe. My family is freaking out about the wait, and I’m sorry, but you will also have to wait along. The funny thing is that I am a very impatient person, but since I always wanted to do that, I’m very happy with the wait!

We already have names, but won’t be revealing them, let’s just call him/her baby M, because being a boy or a girl, the name will begin with the letter M! Any guesses so far whether baby M will be a boy or a girl?

What happens to the blog

Will I shift the blog from travel to motherhood? Nope. Packing my Suitcase will be just as it is even after the baby, of course, with some more tips beyond traveling with a dog. Will I show baby’s face on the blog/social media? Nope. Just as I preserve W.’s identity I will also preserve baby M’s. Will we keep traveling? Of course! Instead of loads of money spent on toys, we want our baby to see the world from the early stages of his/her life, and be a traveler just as we are. The first big trip will probably be to Brazil to visit family and friends.

For those following the blog because you are also an expat in Germany, there will be of course a few posts about being pregnant, having a baby and raising children as an expat here, which I hope will help many of you. As for the followers who have children or are planning on, I hope I will inspire you to keep traveling even after the baby is here.

Allane from Packing my Suitcase

In the meantime, we have recently been to France, and it was great to know I can still walk for hours a day, and right now I’m on a press trip through Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, following the Liberation Route with other bloggers. Barcelona and Vienna are next, and we still need to find a spot to spend our babymoon here in Europe, any suggestions?

Last, but not least, I want to thank all of you for being patient readers and followers, for respecting my quietness and not giving up on your loyalty to the blog. I also would like to apologize to many of my blogger friends for not catching up with their posts in the past few months, just know that I’ve been following your steps on social media! And of course, thank all of you for one more year supporting Packing my Suitcase, the blog is growing a lot and I can’t thank you enough for it!

Champagne for you, lemonade for me!

girl with balloons

About Allane

A Brazilian living in Germany. Married to Wolfi, mommy to Madu and Fitz, our Golden Retriever. Traveler, writer, photographer, diver, wine appreciator, dog Formula 1 fan. City girl, nature lover, believer of a better world one little change at a time.