Hello and welcome! Thanks for joining us. 

Let's start with a proper introduction. I'm Shawna, and the handsome guy in the photos with me is my husband of 15 years, Raymond. You can call him Ray, and I don't currently have a nickname, but I'll answer to just about anything. It's a pleasure to meet you! 

As for the nitty gritty, our story is a bit different than other folks blogging and vlogging about their travels and adventures. We didn't start traveling constantly years before starting a blog, giving us an abundance of globe-trotting stories to tell. On the contrary, we are starting this website immediately after choosing to make a massive change to our lifestyle that not too long ago looked much more similar to the everyday American lifestyle. So we don't have the resources and the know-how that experienced travel bloggers have under their belts. Not yet. But we will.

 So what are we doing jumping head first into the wide open world of unknowns and leaving behind the safety and security of a typical life with one place to call home and steady jobs? Well, I'll tell you this much- if you had told me at the beginning of 2023 that I'd be a travel blogger not knowing what the next day held in store before the end of the year, I wouldn't have believed you.

The short story is that for the last seven years, I had been building a homesteader's dream life with Ray's help when he wasn't working his full-time job. We had a small farm with multiple garden spaces and have had a large variety of poultry, rabbits for a meat source, and even a small herd of dairy goats that I milked daily. I had even started a small business based on soaps and other skincare products made with the milk from our goats.

We have three grown sons, and in early 2023 we tragically lost our middle son, Codey, at the age of 25. While struggling with the grief of losing our son, we had multiple other issues keep popping up. Some of those issues were small and trivial and wouldn't have phased us at all under normal circumstances, but those small issues compounded with several bigger issues that arose, and our mental and emotional well-being was just... not well.

We were both not working- Ray was officially in-between jobs, and I had previously requested to be taken off the schedule at my part time job. We sold every last farm animal we owned, had a massive three day yard sale, and decided to declutter our home and our lives while putting a little cash in our pocket. We needed a massive change in our lives and in our hearts.

A few days after the 6 month anniversary of Codey going to his eternal home, we had a conversation about running away from the stress of our lives. Less than an hour after that conversation started, we had thrown some clothes in a couple bags and were on the road, destination unknown. 

That trip lasted a week, starting with a visit to Tybee Island, where we spread Codey's ashes about four months prior. Then we drove down the Atlantic coast literally as far as we could- all the way to Key West, Florida where we spent a couple days before heading back up the Gulf Coast and back to our home in Georgia. 

During that trip, we were going by the seat of our pants, making hotel reservations on the go once when we decided where our next adventure was going to be. It was such a freeing week in which we experienced many firsts, saw new places, met countless wonderful people, and felt more alive than we had since well before Codey passed away. 

It was during this trip that we started talking about traveling more... a lot more. Like, becoming professional nomads and living on the road. But like anyone else, we knew that traveling the country (and eventually the globe) meant planning and funding. We simply don't have the means on our own to travel constantly, and we still have some debts to pay off. So we did some food delivery work for some small income for a bit while we brainstormed how to make this thing happen.

Ray was online constantly, looking for team jobs that involve traveling. After he had applied to multiple jobs for us, we finally heard back from one, and a handful of phone and video calls later we were officially offered the position. Our current employer is based in Illinois, so in November 2023 we rented a vehicle and made the drive from Georgia to start our new job that would determine where our adventures would happen. 

This new job was just what we needed. We don't have control over the states and cities we visit, and there are some occasions that it puts us in a small town with nothing around for miles and miles, so we definitely have occasional downtime without much to do. But it has also taken us to parts of the country that we may not have otherwise chosen to go to, experience places we never knew existed, as well as exploring numerous National Parks and Monuments. All while doing a job that keeps our bills paid and allows us to slowly keep chipping away at our personal debt. Since taking this job, we have learned a few tricks and tips to keep our personal expenses on the road down, and to maximize the income our job provides. 

Throughout our blog and social media posts, there will be a lot of discussions around our travels with advice and inspiration for others. As we are also navigating our way through the grieving process and Codey's death was a leading influence that led us down this path, you'll also find occasions where I talk about our struggle with grief and emotions, especially as it relates to the things we are doing.

I hope that regardless of how you found us, you find some inspiration and motivation while you're here. See you on the road!