Becoming Digital Nomads

2020 – That was a rough one.

Although 2020 was not what any of us expected, it encouraged and demanded a great deal of introspective soul searching to rediscover the true value of happiness. We moved to Seattle in November 2019, leaving CA and all of our friends and family behind, and right as we were coming out of the darkest winter either of us had ever experienced the world flipped upside down. Trapped inside and unable to explore our new city we knew 2020 would look a little different than expected – we know now it was about being agile, rolling with the punches and using a little bit of elbow grease to create a new way of exploring.

At the beginning of quarantine Ryan lost his job. But soon realized he had a new one, driving Brina crazy while she worked long hours. COVID-19 had only made her job more difficult and she continuously worked long days and the weight of what was going on in the world and at home was not how we expected to spend the summer of 2020.

With all travel plans halted, funds cut in half and no toilet paper we decided we needed to buy a 1995 Jayco Pop-up tent trailer from Chris (the original owner) and explore the great PNW. Anything to travel and get out of the house! Tracy the Trailer, which it has since been named, needed a major facelift. Like any millennial would do – we scoured YouTube, blogs, Pinterest and anything else the world wide web had to offer so we could start our very own DIY tent trailer renovation to meet the modern needs of us and the pups. After a few weeks, and Ryan finally having something to occupy his time, Tracy was ready for her maiden voyage. Little did we know the restrictions of quarantine during the Summer would give us a new and unexpected freedom to explore.

The summer was filled with weekend after weekend in a different campground around Washington, exploring new hikes, conquering mountain peaks, brave chipmunks, socially distanced brewery visits and gazing up at skies that were untouched by light. The summer ended with a 13-day road trip to Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Shoshone Falls and Walla Walla before Ryan had to start a new job. Yay! The itch for travel was being fulfilled, but each trip felt too short and constrained by deadlines and commitments to be home.

From our travel and exploration, we realized how vast, uniquely beautiful and different each area of our country really was. Who would have thought we could see all these amazing places and not leave the states…we wanted more. Once we got home we couldn’t kick the feeling that we needed to get back on the road. Shortly after being back in the hustle of work and more COVID-19 restrictions we knew we needed to take a step back and reevaluated how we were living. What was tying us to a single location? Our Jobs. At that moment we decided to start taking the steps towards being 100% remote employees. Our adventure starts now – a trip without an itinerary, designed to experience the unexpected, explore new cities, live like locals, make new friends and tantalize our taste buds all being done while we work Remote In America.