The Deliberate Detour

Welcome to The Deliberate Detour

Finding beauty, connection, and unexpected joy along the way.

The Deliberate Detour is a travel-inspired branch of Deliberate Desires, created by Tom and me for the side roads, weekend escapes, cozy restaurants, tiny discoveries, and real little reviews that remind us life does not always have to follow the fastest route.

There is something quietly magical about taking the long way.

Not because it is efficient.
Not because it is perfectly planned.
Not because it gets you there faster.

But because sometimes, the best parts of life are found in the places we almost skipped.

A little restaurant tucked off a side street. A historic inn with creaky floors and too much charm to ignore. A scenic overlook you only find because you missed a turn. A museum, a market, a coffee shop, a cemetery, a beach road, a food truck, a front porch, a ferry view, a dusty antique store, or a random stop that somehow becomes the thing you remember most.

That is the heart of The Deliberate Detour.

This new corner of Deliberate Desires is about exploring life with curiosity, romance, and intention. It is about noticing the details. It is about making room for beauty. It is about saying yes to the little side adventures that become the stories we tell later.

And at the center of it are Tom and I.

Tom is my husband, my favorite travel companion, and the person who makes even an ordinary drive feel a little more like an adventure. He is the one who will happily research a restaurant, notice a hidden gem, suggest the stop I might have overlooked, and then give me the real take afterward.

Together, we are the heart of The Deliberate Detour: two people building memories, collecting stories, and choosing to pay attention to the places and moments that make life sweeter. This is something we have done together forever, but now we want to share it with you.

The Deliberate Detour will be our place to capture the places we go, the meals we remember, the beautiful spots we stumble upon, and the real little reviews we wish we had read before going.

Some places may be elegant and unforgettable.
Some may be quirky and unexpected.
Some may be overhyped.
Some may completely surprise us.

And we will tell the truth — kindly, thoughtfully, and with an eye for what made each stop worth remembering.

This will not be a glossy, picture-perfect travel blog where every moment looks flawless and every recommendation sounds sponsored.

It will be real.

The good.
The disappointing.
The delicious.
The romantic.
The funny.
The memorable.
The “we would absolutely go back” moments.
And the “well, at least now we know” moments too.

Because that is how real life works.

Sometimes the best part of a trip is the reservation you planned months in advance. Sometimes it is the roadside stop you never saw coming. Sometimes it is the conversation in the car. Sometimes it is holding hands while wandering a street you have never walked before. Sometimes it is laughing because the plan went completely sideways.

And sometimes, the detour becomes the whole point.

As this little travel branch grows, we will be sharing weekend getaways, restaurants, resorts, inns, local attractions, museums, markets, parks, historic spots, cigar lounges, cozy corners, and all the random beautiful places that catch our attention along the way.

We are starting small.
We are starting thoughtfully.
We are starting with curiosity.

And maybe that is the best way to begin anything.

So welcome to The Deliberate Detour — a place for thoughtful travel, real discoveries, and the sweet reminder that life does not always have to be rushed, polished, or perfectly mapped out to be beautiful.

Sometimes the long way is the lovely way.

And we cannot wait to see where it takes us.

Design a life you love ~ deliberately.
And sometimes, take the detour.