Hi there! We are Denise and Reed, thank you for being here! In 2019 we bought an empty cargo van and converted it into a tiny home on wheels. Now we live in it and use it to travel and explore the United States (and hopefully beyond!) But let’s back up a bit before we get ahead of ourselves.
Our travel journey really started far before then. In fact, we fell in love while we were traveling in Rome together in 2017! On that trip, we tossed our coins into the Trevi Fountain and promised each other that we would be back one day.
When we returned to the United States, we both felt a bit listless. We were feeling unfulfilled with our day-to-day lives after getting bitten by the travel bug. So we started brainstorming ways to fit more travel into our lives. The thing was, we were the proud parents of an English bulldog named Bella and a cat named Rita, so traveling abroad seemed out of the question. For a while, we gave up on our travel plans and settled into a contented routine, but travel lingered in the back of our minds.
Why the road?
It was in 2018, that we heard about vanlife! We had been considering the possibility of buying a travel trailer, or an RV, but it didn’t seem like the right fit for us. It was almost on accident that we found out about vanlife, but once we did, from that moment on, we knew that we had to make our dream a reality.
At first, the plan was to travel for 6 months to a year, and then we would return to our everyday lives. In December 2019, after saving up, we finally bought our van, Jubilee! Then we spent all of 2020, converting out our van into a home with zero building experience. That’s right, we picked up the van and drove it from Reed’s parents’ home in Atlanta to Colorado just five days before the Covid 19 lockdown! Then we spent the rest of the year building it out.
We haven’t made our way back to Italy yet, but in 2021, we finally got on the road! Wahoo! We have now been on the road for a year with no plans of slowing down or stopping!
Why this blog is for YOU!
Whether you hope to travel more often, or travel full-time, this website is for you. Travel has changed our lives for the better, and we want to help you so it can do the same for you.
As two people who didn’t believe that traveling full-time could be our reality, we want to always do our part to encourage and support others who want to make their dreams come true. On this blog, and on our youtube channel, we dive into all topics travel-related so that we can help you.
But this isn’t your typical travel website. Our goal is to not only show the amazing, Instagram-worthy version of travel but to be honest when our expectation doesn’t meet the reality of the situation. We love to travel so much because travel makes us better human beings. Travel teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. Travel has challenged us in so many ways and it wouldn’t be as rewarding without the highs and the lows, and we want to navigate that part of our journey alongside you!
We hope you will follow along and join us as we continue our journey and learn a lot of new lessons along the way!
With love,
Denise and Reed
This blog is for you if you are interested in:
- Fulltime travel
- How to make money on the road
- Traveling with Pets
- How to travel ethically and sustainably
- Part- time travel
- the expectation vs the reality of travel
Meet the team
Rita
Rita loves going on long hikes in the mountains, chasing bugs, and lounging in the sun whenever possible. She loves to guard the van at night and is sorry, but it’s not her fault that sometimes guard duty gets loud, and things get pushed onto the ground.
Bella
Bella not only keeps morale high in casa Jubilee. She also never hesitates to try our food and make sure it is up to par. She is the best travel companion that we could have asked for and she also substitutes as a vacuum and a space heater from time to time.
Reed
Travel Guide Writer, Videographer & Photographer
Reed is the man behind the camera! He is the videographer and photographer extraordinaire. He is often in the driver’s seat (although, Denise does drive too!) and he encourages the team to get outside and stay active.
Denise:
Blog Manager & Writer, Website Designer
Denise is the brains behind the website. Her biggest passion in the world is writing and sharing ideas with others. She is often coming up with out-of-this-world ideas, and then encourages everyone to partake in them!