Our Story and the Inspiration Behind This Site

Much To Be Done family travel blog is our travel journal. It started with a simple idea: trips fade faster than you expect. The restaurants, the destinations, the attractions that don’t make it into photos — they deserve to be written down. We built this site as much for us as for anyone reading it. Especially for our son, so that someday he can look back and remember exactly what it felt like to be there.

Where the Name Comes From

The name comes from a sign in the men’s restroom of Captain Tony’s Saloon on Green Street in Key West. If you’re a Jimmy Buffett fan — and we are — you know the place. Tony Tarracino was the longtime proprietor, a charismatic bartender and storyteller who became a regular muse for Buffett. One of those stories became the song “Last Mango in Paris,” and tucked inside its lyrics is a quote from Captain Tony himself:

I ate the last mango in Paris Took the last plane out of Saigon Took the first fast boat to China And Jimmy, there’s still so much to be done

“There’s still so much to be done” hit us as something more than a lyric. It’s a reminder and a motivator. We’re a family who made a decision to travel, to create memories, and to explore this world together. We’ve been fortunate to see a lot of it — but the list of places we still want to go only ever seems to grow. We’re OK with that.

How We Travel

We’re not budget travelers — but we’re not flashy ones either. We spend thoughtfully, and when something special presents itself — a private tour, a bespoke experience, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — we say yes. Memories are worth more than things. That’s always been our philosophy.

We’ve learned that the best experiences rarely come from the biggest budgets. It’s the unexpected detour, the recommendation from a local, the restaurant with no English menu, and the moment you almost didn’t stop for — those are the ones you remember most. Nearly all of our trips are the three of us. We’ve learned how to travel as a family, how to find experiences that work for everyone, and how to slow down enough to actually enjoy where we are.

What We Love

We love Jimmy Buffett. We love Disney. We love the Beatles. We love baseball and the Boston Red Sox. But mainly — we love to travel. And we love having a record of everywhere we’ve been.

We May Never Complete the List

Our bucket list keeps growing. Europe continues to call us back — there are cities we haven’t explored, restaurants we haven’t tried, and history we haven’t walked through yet. Closer to home, there are hidden gems we’ve barely scratched the surface on. Every trip answers a few questions and raises a dozen more. That’s exactly how we like it.

Say Hello to the Much To Be Done Family Travel Blog

Have a tip for somewhere we should go next, or a question about somewhere we’ve been? We’d love to hear from you — leave a comment on any post or reach out directly.