If you were active member of Stitch over the last 12 months, you would have had a hard time not seeing our announcements about the 2025 Big Stitch Trip.
This was Stitch’s history-making journey that saw 30 Stitch members travel down the US Pacific Northwest coast on a private tour organized by Trafalgar Tours, attending Stitch events with our local community members in Seattle, Portland, regional Oregon, and San Francisco, while having an amazing adventure along the way.
I got back from the trip a few weeks ago, and I’m still smiling. I keep finding myself going back to look at the photos of the trip, as if I somehow can’t believe how much fun we had.
I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say the Big Stitch Trip changed all our lives forever.
I certainly know I’m not alone in feeling it was a life-changing experience: many of the members on the trip have already signed up to our Big Stitch Trips in 2026, to Ireland and to Sicily. Some loved it so much, they are going on both trips!
It wasn’t just that the trip itself was amazing (although it was). It was that the connections we made ended up feeling deeper and more enriching than I think any of us had even hoped for. Weirdly, I feel like I miss everyone from the trip in ways that I’ve never felt on any regular tour, and I would feel very sad if we never got to travel together again. Luckily I know that’s not going to happen!
Of course, you can’t really know what I’m talking about unless you were there, but I figured I could try my best to give you all a taste of what the experience was like.
Whether it was the bonds we made on the journey, or the incredible love we felt from all our new communities in places like Seattle and Portland, or the incredible experience of long-time members making the journey to San Francisco from places like Indiana, Nevada, and Oregon just to see us, it was a privilege for me to be part of it, and to see firsthand how this wonderful community we have created is creating positive outcomes all over the world.
I am so humbled and grateful to all our Stitch family for being such incredible individuals, and collectively for everyone who supports, organizes and attends the events that make Stitch such an incredible adventure.
Below I’ll outline the connections that were made, the perspectives that were shifted, the conversations that were shared and the memories that were built that will last a lifetime.
But first, here’s a video that gives you just a taste of the highlights of the trip. Just look at those smiles!
THE TRIP BEGINS
I landed in Seattle in late September, looking forward to meeting the members arriving from all over the world to start what we all hoped would be a trip like no other. The official start to the trip was scheduled for the next day, but some of the travelers arrived a day or two earlier for some extra fun together.
The early arrivers had a great time getting to know each other over dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant near Seattle’s Pike Place Market, in advance of the official tour kickoff.
Here I am with Daryll, Graham, Tony, Brett, Jennifer, and Mike — Stitch members who came from Australia, the UK, and the US. Check out the Stitch logo created by Jennifer for the trip!
DAY ONE: THE SEATTLE KICKOFF
The trip officially kicked off with a social event with members of the local Seattle Stitch community. The room the hotel gave us for the event wasn’t anything special, but the warmth and energy brought by everyone who came was absolutely amazing, and left us all buzzing with excitement. It’s incredible to walk into a room of complete strangers from the other side of the world and know that we’re all connected.
A special thanks to all the local members who battled crazy rush hour traffic to come and see us, we felt very honored. It was great to meet everyone and hear how the Seattle community has grown in such a short time. We felt very sad to say goodbye!
DAY TWO: EXPLORING SEATTLE
Our first full day in Seattle was a treat, hanging out with local Seattle Stitchers with events that Nanako, Marguerite, and Therese had organized to give us a taste of Seattle.
The day started with a water taxi and brunch in West Seattle, followed by a ferry ride and hike to Pia the Peacekeepr Troll on Bainbridge island.
We had spectacular weather, with rare views of Mt Ranier, and it was wonderful to meet all the local members who came long, some of whom had come all the way up from Tacoma!
DAY THREE: TO PORTLAND
After visiting some of the sights of Seattle in the morning, we embarked on our first big drive of the trip, traveling to Portland via Mount St Helens.
The scenery was fantastic, but the highlight of the day was arriving to our hotel in downtown Portland and being greeted by Dawn, an Oregon Stitcher who had driven several hours into Portland to welcome us.
Dawn was dressed in traditional clothes from the Oregon trail, and had spent months creating a “passport to Oregon” that contained facts about the places we would be visiting, as well as stickers to use each time we visited one of the places in the passport.
This was a complete surprise to us, and many in the group assumed she was part of the tour company, not a regular Stitch member!
Incredibly thoughtful, and extremely heartwarming. We all felt very moved that Dawn went to such lengths to make us feel special. It was the true spirit of Stitch!
DAY FOUR: PORTLAND
Today’s highlights were meant to be stops up the beautiful Columbia River Gorge on the border between Washington and Oregon, with visits to Multnomah Falls and Mount Hood.
But for us, the real highlight was returning to Portland for a big social event downtown with members from Portland, Vancouver (Washington), and a bunch of towns in Oregon. Some members had traveled hours to meet us!
It was inspiring to hear how the members in Oregon have managed to connect across locations and see the community really starting to gather momentum. We got to taste some great wines, too!
DAY FIVE: OREGON HIGHLIGHTS
This was a miraculous day of contrasts for everyone on the trip. It took us to a gourmet lunch and wine tasting at one of Oregon’s most fabulous wineries, then down to the Pacific coast.
Here we were surprised by a group of Oregon Stitchers who had driven from all over the state to come and meet us at the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.
The weather was wild by this point, giving us a real taste of the Pacific Northwest. Our only regret was not being able to stay longer, as we had to head on down the coast to North Bend.
But what an amazing memory … check out the redwood and Sasquatch costumes!
DAY SIX: OREGON COAST
Everyone showed off their Stitch t-shirts on our day journeying from the Oregon coast into northern California. This was our first experience of the amazing redwoods at the Big Tree.
How good does everyone look!
The coastal scenery was starkly beautiful, with some incredible views of the Pacific Ocean.
Our group ended in a town called Eureka, where we enjoyed a fantastic dinner followed by fun and laughter in the hotel lobby. Check out those amazing smiles.
DAY SEVEN: TO SAN FRANCISCO
Today brought us one of the most magical experiences of the whole trip, with our visit to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and the Avenue of the Giants.
Walking through these majestic trees, some 2000 to 4000 years old, left us all in awe. We found our photos couldn’t do justice to the scale of the forest, and an almost sacred sense of wonder we all felt. Many of us have walked in forests all over the world, but this was something truly unique.
After our forest experience, we continued south towards our final destination: San Francisco!
Arriving after such a long journey felt somehow like a significant achievement, and many of us ended up celebrating in the rooftop cocktail bar of the hotel, with views over the city.
Everyone was very aware that our adventure was only two days from the end, and were keen to make every moment count!
DAY EIGHT: BAY AREA SIGHTSEEING
Check out these smiles!
This day was spent exploring the many aspects of San Francisco, and ended in a final night’s dinner for all the travelers on the Big Stitch Trip.
By this stage, we had all become such good friends that pretty much every part of the day was filled with laughter.
The night ended with us saying goodbye to Jeannine and Jodi from Trafalgar Tours, who had taken such amazing care of us throughout the entire trip, before heading to bed knowing that tomorrow will bring our final celebration: the San Francisco Gala!
THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING
And just like that, we reached the final event for the Big Stitch Trip: our San Francisco Gala!
The theme was “Feel the Love,” so everyone came wearing red (or something else suitably dazzling and fun), as we gathered in our own private room in a very cool cocktail bar in downtown San Francisco.
We were amazed by how far some Stitch members had traveled to meet us, with members making the trip from places as far afield as Indiana, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington! Plus of course lots of members from all over the Bay Area.
So many highlights, and so many longtime members attending, it brought us all an enormous amount of joy. One of our San Francisco members, Ruth, attended the very first in-person activity ever held by Stitch, in San Francisco over a decade ago, so having her there was an incredible treat!
At the end of the night, we wandered up the road to see the first-ever Stitch outdoor billboard go live at a bus stop nearby. It was amazing to share this part of Stitch history with everyone.
Like the Big Stitch Trip itself, the Gala seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. We were having too much fun! It seems incredible that it all had to come to an end, and we had to say goodbye. But we’re not sad at all: we know we have all made lifelong friends, and we’re already looking forward to the next trip next year!
Our Big Stitch Trips for 2026 are filling up fast, so make sure you grab your spot if you’d like to come on our trip to Ireland or our one to Sicily. (Or better yet, come to both 😊.)
Thanks to all the travelers on the Big Stitch Trip, as well as all the Stitch members who came to meet us at our events in Washington, Oregon, and California, for making everything so special. You are all simply amazing.
Bring on next year!





Like you Andrew I constantly go through the photos remembering what a great time we had. Looking forward to Ireland