How did I become a full-time traveler? Good question! Let’s start from the beginning – the “what if” phase.
The “What If” Phase
I used to lay in bed with my husband Kristian and dream… what if we road tripped out west?… what if we moved to Thailand?… what if we booked a world cruise? [These are all real “what if” discussions we use to have.]
Years went by, but those “what ifs” remained dreams. We set aside our dreams and pursued our careers relentlessly. Kristian climbed the corporate ladder, while I expanded academically. I started my career as an athletic trainer and ultimately completed a PhD in Health & Rehab Sciences. Job opportunities that were serendipitously aligned took us to Atlanta, where we took on big city life and grinded it out.
We Achieved the American Dream
Life in the ATL was bougey – we had a condo in the city, sports cars, and the ability to buy nice things.
But… we weren’t happy. We had achieved the American Dream in our early 30s – we had everything we could possibly need… yet we felt unfulfilled.
And we were burned out.
The Turning Point
The beginning of 2020 marked a turning point. We finally decided to quit our jobs. We moved to Florida and started downsizing – selling our condo and all our things! We had a destination wedding in Mexico with 40 of our closest family and friends. We prepared for our honeymoon – a road trip across the country in our Land Rover! We were so excited to be making all these changes and then….
The Pandemic happened. Kristian was ready to travel, but I postponed us. The national parks were closed and state borders were wavering – this was not how I pictured our travels. So we sold the Land Rover and set aside our travel dreams… once again.
Time to Get Creative
For work, it was time to get creative. I used the time without a job in 2020 to start my writing and consulting business, fully embracing the remote working lifestyle. Writing was always my favorite part of the research process, so I harnessed my skills and expertise toward helping other professionals and businesses with writing – anything from research manuscripts to FDA consulting to blogging! Once again, I put my head down and got to work. This was a scary time, but I found much success in working for myself… and I never looked back.
It also gave me the opportunity to pursue my love of performing in aerial arts. When not working or writing, you can find me dancing in the air!
Preparing for Our Travel Era
As we – and the world – gained stability, we started to think about traveling again. At this point we had so much pent-up desire to travel.
It was Halloween 2021. An email came through with Royal Caribbean announcing their Ultimate World Cruise. A 9-month cruise circumnavigating the globe and visiting 60+ countries and Antarctica. We called Royal Caribbean and the next thing we knew we were putting down a deposit on an interior room for the entire world cruise!
We were so stoked and started to plan our whole lives around this adventure setting sail in December 2023. In the interim, we started to explore the option of RVing around the US. We knew NOTHING about RVs, so we researched as many of them as possible (I am a PhD researcher after all!). We fell in love with the concept of a fifth wheel and ultimately purchased a 44-foot Keystone Raptor. We put in an order for a dually truck (which ended up getting caught up in supply chain issues – remember those times?!). So we bought another truck… and then… all of it sat for MONTHS.
It was NOT EASY to move our lives onto the road. Because we committed to going all-in and doing this full-time, it took a while to mentally prepare and get ready for this lifestyle.
Our Travel Era
Finally on February 22, 2022 we hit the road. I remember it so vividly because it was Kristian’s birthday… and one of the MOST stressful days of our lives. But we did it!
We traveled all the way from Florida to Las Vegas. Along the way, we boondocked in the middle of nowhere and visited many unique places. Ultimately, Las Vegas stole our hearts and became our “home base.”
Expanding ourselves to a life of full-time travel has opened up so many other opportunities for us, such as:
- Spending months in Hawaii, including trekking the Napali Coast
- Spending 2.5 months around Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand)
- Trekking through the world’s largest cave, which is located in Vietnam
All while maintaining our RV in Las Vegas as our home base.
Now, we are sailing on our next big adventure – the Ultimate World Cruise. And we feel in our hearts that this is only the start of “Our Travel Era.”
I hope you join me along for the ride… or should I say cruise?!