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The call of the open road has spurred many powerful novels and films. Having no set destination or the pressure of getting back to your normal life opens up countless possibilities. It’s exciting, to be sure. But isn’t it unrealistic? How can you just pick up and go?
As we know, the pandemic changed everything about everything. It has ignited big shifts in how we live as a society. One of the biggest shifts happened in our collective understanding of work and home, and how those two intertwine. With work-from-home setups becoming the standard for many desk jobs, our homes became our offices.
While some companies are pushing for a return to the traditional office model, others are adopting more flexible solutions. In some cases, they’re allowing employees to work remotely from just about anywhere. This evolution — along with the ability to grow a brand or business no matter where you’re based because of the power of the internet — means that leading a nomadic lifestyle is more attainable than ever.
If you’ve thought about risking it all for a more adventure-filled life, who better to turn to than the experts themselves? Meet six modern-day nomads who upended their lives in pursuit of something bigger, and hear what they learned along the way.
Corritta Lewis, human resource analyst
Selling your home to travel the world full-time can be a daunting decision on its own. But what happens when kids are in the mix? Corritta Lewis and her wife, Mea Hooks, decided to find out. In January 2020, they packed up their family and embarked on a nomadic journey, sharing their story on their blog. “At first, everyone thought we were crazy because our son was only 14 months old at the time, but we thought it would be a fun adventure,” Lewis says. “At 12 months old, he was already a world traveler, having been to Beijing, Hawaii, and Mexico. There was also a concern as two women, but if you let fear drive you, you’ll never take chances.”
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The decision had been fueled, at least in part, by the realization that following the status quo meant spending less time with her child. “The inspiration for becoming a nomad was the birth of our son,” Lewis shares. “After giving birth and returning to work after just seven weeks, I was devastated. We decided at that moment we would do whatever we could to spend as much time as possible with our son.”
On traveling with kids: “The hardest part about being a nomad is building a community, especially traveling with kids. It takes some time to meet families that share our love of travel and adventure. We know there will be a time when we part. To overcome that, we live in the moment. We make sure our kids can have plenty of playtime, and we build a meaningful bond so if our paths cross again, it’ll feel like seeing family. The best memory was our son playing with local kids in the area we lived in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. He loved playing with them, and they loved him just as much, despite the language barrier. He connected with them and built a bond that was beautiful to see develop over 15 months. Now, our son speaks and understands Spanish, and that makes our heart smile.”
On knowing when to settle down: “Being a nomad means having control over your time and location. You have the freedom to do whatever makes you happy without hesitation. That could mean taking a meeting at the beach or between rides at Disney World, which I have done. I do not believe we will be nomadic for the rest of our life, but we plan to be for the next several years. This is one of the best times to travel because we don’t have to worry about school for our little one. We plan to homeschool for a while until he is old enough to participate in the discussion of settling down.”
Caleb Brackney, architecture graduate student
As an undergraduate, Caleb Brackney watched as one of his mentors built a tiny house of his own to live in during graduate school. Seeing that real-life example inspired Brackney to take on a similar project: buying an old bus off Facebook Marketplace and turning it into his dream home on wheels. Not only could he put his architecture skills to use, but he could also embrace a different way of living that was more compatible with his hobbies and interests.
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Brackney chronicled the experience of converting the bus into his home on social media, racking up countless views and likes. “I looked to tiny, nomadic living to support my lifestyle and provide an opportunity to invest in my future through learning how to build and live on wheels,” he says. “One of the most unexpected parts was participating in this community in such a large way [and] reaching tens of millions of viewers through social media.”
On navigating life on wheels: “The biggest challenge of being a nomad is the limited height of my rig, so I typically cannot stand fully upright in my bus unless it is beneath my clerestory skylight. Finding places to park and connect to utilities has been pretty simple [because] I don’t travel in the bus too often during the semester since I commute to the University of Tennessee five days a week. But gas prices will continue to be a challenge to the lifestyle.”
On sharing your home with strangers: “Leading a nomadic lifestyle has affected my definition of home because I now see the home as a vessel that is constantly moving and responding to experiences and people who share stories in it. Since my home is constantly on display for the world, I have realized that sharing my most intimate spaces has actually helped me identify how to best use the tools and items I have. [It’s inspired me] to live as efficiently and fulfilled as possible.”
Tashieka Brewer, publicist
Ever since Tashieka Brewer studied abroad in Paris in college, she’s been enthralled with the idea of traveling the world. She prioritized traveling internationally before getting married, but afterward, she rarely found the time. Five years ago, with no children and her marriage ending, making the leap to full-time jet-setter provided an opportunity for a reset. “It seemed like the perfect outlet for the change I knew that I needed after my divorce,” she says. “I decided to close down my office to cut overhead and take my PR and digital marketing business on the road.”
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Being able to “work from roam” fuels Brewer’s nomadic lifestyle in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible if she had to physically report to an office every day. She maintains a travel blog and business in addition to her marketing work. “Having the ability to travel while still earning a living is one of my favorite parts about being a digital nomad,” she says. “I love that I can conduct a Zoom meeting from a terrace overlooking an orange grove in Portugal one week and write a pitch lakeside in Colombia another week.”
On reshaping the idea of home: “I often hear people referencing or shouting out the place they live, grew up, or call home. I didn’t move around a lot as a child, but I never could relate to that feeling and definition of home growing up. I sort of always felt like I belonged to ‘the world’ and was always eager to explore new places while meeting new people. I remember traveling to Morocco in my mid-20s and meeting desert nomads for the first time and feeling like a part of my wandering soul could relate.”
On dealing with the not-so-glamorous side: “Wi-Fi can sometimes be a challenge. I remember staying in an apartment building in Mexico where the internet kept going out. I learned early on to scout out cafés that offer free Wi-Fi in the neighborhoods I am staying in. I am a member of different online travel groups where I get tips from others that have traveled to places I’ve never been, like how and where to get the internet and dangerous places to avoid staying.”
Danielle Hodge, event producer
It was around April 2016 when Danielle Hodge was in Cuba with her mother for her birthday. Newly out of a job, Hodge would stay up late applying for work so that when she returned home to Orlando, Florida, she’d have interviews lined up. One job that immediately stood out to her was a tour-manager role with the Big Bounce America, which sets up gargantuan bounce houses all over the world. Hodge was immediately intrigued. “Requirements were 100 percent travel,” she recalls, “and from there, I was sold.”
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Wherever the tour went, she went. Because of her nomadic lifestyle and free time during the week, not only is she able to explore new cities, but she can also pursue her entrepreneurial ambitions. Nearly six years later, she’s still producing bounce-house events and has launched other businesses like the brand Alma Ocean along the way. “This type of lifestyle just fell into my lap,” she says. “I didn’t plan on it, but I am grateful.”
On defining the nomadic lifestyle: “Being a nomad in this day and age is the freedom to explore and embrace that every day is different. Literally, I have no repetitive days. Something is always new — sometimes good, sometimes bad, but mainly an adventure I get to embrace with no boundaries. My definition of nomad is traveling with grace. It’s no worries and taking advantage of a lifestyle that most wouldn’t mind tapping into if they could.”
On knowing what the future holds: “I [do] not physically have a home of my own. That’s something I do want and think about often. I just need to get smarter about how to do that and still keep my lifestyle. At some point, I’ll want to be in one place for a bit. I’ve always said I want to have homes in a few places. I enjoy traveling while I’m still able to with no kids. Meeting someone might slow me down, but I hope whoever I end up with has the same type of lifestyle so we can blend organically.”
Eric Yu, web designer
Back in 2018, Eric Yu and his partner, Yuko Shimokawa, decided to quit their corporate jobs in search of an alternative lifestyle on the road. They chose to fix up an old camper van with the goal of driving along the Pan-American highway to the southern tip of Argentina. It took them eight months to design and build their camper van before officially hitting the road in May 2019. It was shortly after the death of Yu’s mother, which partly influenced their decision to seek change. “It was a huge reminder that life is short and nothing is guaranteed,” Yu says. “So, why not live the life you want right now?”
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Currently in Colombia, the couple have started a blog chronicling their travels and sharing tips for fellow would-be nomads who are interested in DIYing their own camper vans. While it’s not a lifestyle that’s for everyone, it’s helped them broaden their understanding and appreciation of home. “Home is essentially wherever we can park our vehicle,” Yu says. “Of course, if we’re parked overnight at a gas station, we wouldn’t call that home. But if we’re at a beautiful campsite with easy access to a town and groceries, we would definitely consider that town our home, no matter how short our stay there would be.”
On affording the nomadic lifestyle: “One of the biggest challenges of being a nomad is being able to earn a sustainable income that can support our travel lifestyle. We work standard jobs and also run our own blog. The early stages are so hard. You don’t earn much money for the effort you put in. We’ve been writing and putting out content for over 1.5 years with almost no income. It was a real grind. But only in the past couple months are we finally starting to reap the benefits of all the hard work in the past year. Though our blog doesn’t yet pay for 100 percent of our travels, we believe it can in another 12 to 18 months. It’s a real-time investment.”
On planning for what’s next: “We could not see ourselves being nomads for the rest of our lives. Though we enjoy traveling and experiencing new cultures, we want to be able to settle down eventually and build something more permanent for ourselves. Whether it’s starting our own small business or simply forming longer-lasting relationships in a community, we’re looking forward to the next stage of life, whenever it may be for us.”
Michael Jensen, author and editor
Having lived overseas twice, Michael Jensen had always hoped he would have the opportunity to do so again. He and his partner, Brent Hartinger, had gone on several “long-ish” trips over the years and discussed living abroad one day. But it wasn’t until election night 2016 when the talk of “one day” became a very present — and pressing — issue. “We literally made the decision to leave the country the night Donald Trump got elected,” Jensen recalls.
Living in Seattle at the time, the couple had been attending what they hoped would be a victory party for the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. But when Trump became the front-runner, the party “got very depressing very fast,” and people quickly left the gathering. “On the drive home, Brent turned and said, ‘Let’s sell the house and leave the country,’” says Jensen, who didn’t need much convincing.
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While the election result lit the fuse, they soon realized they’d been wanting this kind of radical shake-up, in one way or another, for quite some time. They now publish a newsletter that chronicles their travels. “We’ve never been big on American consumerism, and we don’t like the idea that your job should define who you are,” Jensen says. “We’d traveled in Europe and strongly suspected we might fit in better in a place where people appreciate food, work-life balance, people-centered cities, and a stronger sense of culture.”
On making discoveries later in life: “We came to the nomadic lifestyle in our 50s, much later than many of our younger friends. Some of those have now stopped nomading for various reasons, such as career or wanting to start a family. Since we came to nomading after having done most of those things, we currently plan on continuing on until we have to stop for health reasons. Or perhaps we’ll find the perfect city or country for us, and we won’t be able to leave. That seems unlikely, but who knows?”
On being a “slomad”: “We call ourselves ‘slomads’ and generally live in each new destination between one and three months. That length of time gives us a chance to get a better sense of each location and to make local connections. While even a three-month stay isn’t long enough to really know a place, it does give you a much better idea of what life is like than just visiting for a week or two. Our community is the friends we’ve made all over the world: fellow nomads and expats but also locals. Once you get outside the typical tourist destinations, people are remarkably welcoming. The worst part of nomading is that you’re always saying goodbye. But the best part is that we’re also always saying hello to friends old and new.”
Mekita Rivas is a Washington, D.C.-based writer and editor covering style, culture, and politics. She has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. Follow her on Twitter @MekitaRivas.
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