2019

It’s early February 2019, and I’m at work. It’s a few days before my birthday; I’ve nearly forgotten about my search for a travel trailer and my plans to road-trip the US because my husband and I are leaving for a ski trip to Austria in just a few days. This is why when my phone rings and my husband says the words “I found an Airstream on Craigslist and I am going to go pick it up right now” I am completely floored. I can hardly speak as he explains that a 2003 Airstream is being sold in Falmouth, MA – and if he can get to it first, it’s ours. The price is low, but it’s going to need some work. I experience a half-second of hesitation: neither of us has ever owned or even set foot inside a trailer before. I have the handyman skills of a kindergartener with a glue stick and safety scissors. But that moment quickly passes, and after hanging up the phone I tell my boss that I’ll be leaving Boston.

Fast-forward to April, and we’ve completely moved into the Airstream. We had spent practically every afternoon and weekend of the past two months renovating: tearing out out the old couch and bed, adding storage, new flooring, and new countertops. We move most of our stuff into a storage unit (we’re newlyweds and have just acquired a ton of fancy, non-travel-friendly new kitchenware). We begin the first stay of our lives as full-time travelers in Scarborough, Maine.

2020

It’s now 2020, and we’ve been traveling for several months. We spent our entire first summer and most of fall living in our Airstream in Maine, planning our first year of travel. Our assumption at this point is that we’ll travel for 2 years and by then we’ll know where in the US we should “settle down.” By early February of 2020, we have driven from Maine to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, The Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and now Utah. We have months of campgrounds planned out, and have just arrived in Salt Lake City for our next reservation.

Unfortunately, we all know what happens next. When the world shuts down from COVID, we watch in horror as all our campground reservations begin to cancel on us. We’re on the opposite side of the country as our families and friends, with no clue what to do next. Thinking on our feet, we grab as many groceries as we can find and start driving south: this is the beginning of our off-grid era.

While the world shelters-in-place, we discover our love of boondocking – camping on public lands without any RV hookups. We keep our distance from the cities by boondocking in Southern Utah and Arizona; when summer comes, we move up to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, and Oregon.

2021

By 2021, we are seasoned travelers and campers. Having never camped – or really done much in the outdoors – as a kid, discovering the solitude of nature was life-changing for me. We take a long road-trip to Baja in the winter, followed by adventures in the midwest during the summer.

In September, we take our first flight since COVID – a vacation to Portugal and Spain with my family. Instantly, my love for international travel is re-ignited and I begin scheming about how I can expand my range into new countries and continents.

2022

2022 starts off with another life-changing trip. My husband and I have recently developed a passion for backcountry skiing, and we join our first 6-day hut tour in the Italian Alps. After the tour is over, we spend a few days recovering in the Piedmont region of Italy. Upon arriving at our Airbnb, we grab some fresh pasta at a local shop along with a bottle of wine and settle in for the night – and suddenly, my mindset shifts. This idea of a slower, simpler life – a cozy meal in an apartment in Italy – becomes addicting to me. I’m obsessed with the idea of spending a month living like a local in a new country. When I arrive home from the trip, I immediately begin plotting out my first summer of slow travel abroad.

One thing about me, is when I get an idea in my head, nothing will stop me – especially when travel is involved. In July of 2022, we board a flight to Paris and begin our first ever European summer. The first month is spent in Chamonix, France, followed by another month-long stay in Cannes, then shorter visits to Milan, Lake Como, and The Dolomites. In autumn, we spend a month living in Costa Rica. With each passing day, my obsession with slow travel intensifies.

2023

After that first summer and fall abroad, there is no stopping my wanderlust. We immediately head back to Europe for ski season – first Kitzbühel, Austria then back to Chamonix and Zermatt, Switzerland. We visit The Netherlands in spring and see the tulips bloom. When we return to Paris to catch our flight back to the US, there is only one thing on my mind: I need to cancel that flight.

It takes some convincing and a few glasses of French wine – but we click the ‘Cancel Flight’ button and my heart bursts with an exhilaration that I’ve never felt before, not even while bungee jumping or skydiving or jumping into frigid water. We cobble together a plan, which involves driving across the Euro-tunnel to the UK, then road-tripping through England, Wales, and Scotland. Once summer rolls around, we make the long journey from the UK down to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia. I quickly develop a passion for sharing lesser-known destinations and experiences, the kind that can only be discovered when one takes the time to look for them.