Lucas Adcock
Staff Writer
Jerry Ittenbach and Jamie Stevens have lived in Hillsboro for 14 years. Around 2010, Jamie convinced her significant other to travel to Germany, where she’d lived for a while.
Jerry came to terms with the fact that they were now – most certainly – traveling to Germany. Since then, the couple has been taking yearly trips to various places around the world and have accumulated quite a collection of souvenirs.
What happened in Germany that made them commit to traveling somewhere every year?
Well, one of Jamie’s best friends was living in Heidelberg, Germany, at the time, and the idea was to potentially stay with her on the trip. Next was renting a car. And come to find out, there was a town in Germany that conveniently was named the same as Jerry’s last name – Ittenbach.
It was a must-see place just for the coincidence, and after taking pictures of Jerry pointing to Ittenbach Bakery, Ittenbach Pharmacy and other places that shared his last name, the interest in traveling was sparked.
One of the later stops made in Germany was at the Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was the first camp set up by the Nazis, construction of the camp beginning mere weeks following Adolph Hitler’s rise to power.
“The thing that was so sobering that day,” Jerry explained, “it was cold. There were just enough leaves left on the trees, not much, you know, but just enough to make a quiet rattle. And with the wind blowing, and the occasional little flurry of snow, it was almost like voices.”
Those details imbeded themselves deeply into his memory. It had been an eye-opening experience for both Jerry and Jamie; and that was just the first trip.
“We started thinking about trying to do something every year,” Jerry said. “So the next year we went on a cruise, which was a lot of fun.” They visited the Grand Caymans, and even some of the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico.
Once the subject drifted to flight times across the Atlantic, Jerry said, “When we went to Kenya – now that was a flight.”
They’d spent two weeks there in 2024, visiting three different safari camps.
“The last several days,” he said, “were spent on an island in the Indian Ocean.”
The locations that Jerry and Jamie travel to come mostly from wild ideas, with only a fair few being pre-meditated, two of which were to Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada. One of those trips focused on traveling from Halifax (Nova Scotia’s capital) south, and the next trip focused on Halifax – north, to take in all the sights possible.
Now, they were so close to Newfoundland, that Jamie persuaded Jerry to take the ferry and visit. But the ferry turned out to be an overnight stay.
“It was like taking a cruise,” Jerry said.
While they didn’t have an ample amount of time to spend in Newfoundland on that trip, they almost immediately made plans to return two years later.
“We ended up going back and spending nearly three weeks in Newfoundland.”
Each trip felt magical. Exploratory in their own way, and heading back to Newfoundland, they found Quirpon Island (pronounced Carpoon). It had been a Canadian Coast Guard station; a lighthouse, an island. Apparently, when it was decommissioned, it went up for bid and someone purchased it, ultimately turning it into a cozy bed and breakfast. When you visit, the owner of the island offers a boat ride and gives you two options: a ride to the dock by the lighthouse, or a trip across to the south side of the island where you could actually walk to the lighthouse and sight-see.
“Of course,” Jerry said, “you know what Jamie and I did.”
And it was incredible. A walk under two miles, seeing different types of edible wild berries on a path that eventually leads to the lighthouse where maids have taken care of the B&B. There, they were shown to their quarters, given three meals a day, and it was unforgettable. The views at the cliff’s edge were like something unreal. They both looked over to see a beautiful gathering of whales. They were given a boat ride to see them, stopping at a particular distance so as not to disturb them.
They finished that trip, visiting the Halifax citadel for the second time, and are even considering going back again. To remember all their trips over the years, not only do they have photo after photo, but they also have actual souvenirs that they found themselves. Jars of them.
Jerry held up a metal spoon, slightly bent, and weathered.
“Jamie found this in the bay of Fundy,” Jerry laughed, pointing out various patches and other items that they’d found.
The couple have only recently returned from an overseas trip to Hadrian’s Wall, a historical landmark in England. Nearing the end, you reach an overhead sign that reads: “The end of Hadrian’s wall path,” and its translation in Latin. The couple, now having returned from the 2026 trip, do not plan to slow down next year. They frequently walk to keep in shape for their long travels, and the hikes they encounter during them; moving and moving.
Always moving to somewhere new, looking for, and finding adventure.
