On June 5th, 2017 the two of us and our dog said goodbye to living in South Carolina, paying rent and working statically. We took our design business on the road and it all of a sudden sunk in that we were taking a leap of faith. We made it to Alabama, spent two weeks in Louisiana (where a kitten joined us), visited Mississippi, dropped by Texas, discovered New Mexico, got high in Colorado, checked out Arizona and spent the entire winter back in Colorado with new friends to save money and keep trekking.

During this first phase of our adventure, we spent many nights sleeping in our VW bus with little funds (sometimes just a few dollars) and some inconsistent design work. Nonetheless, we got creative, had some amazing experiences, saw some beautiful things, learned some lessons, gained some wonderful memories and kept traveling on. Other times, we were miraculously able to make connections, make money and stay at wonderful homes, inns and hotels. The ups and downs demanded us to let go of our feelings, fears and hesitations and asked us to have faith in ourselves, in the people around us and in the universe.

When the timing felt right, we headed out of Colorado and carried on West, thinking we’d make it to the coast for our 8 year wedding anniversary and for the 1 year anniversary of being on the road. The universe had a different plan though and poof, in a nano-second, life changed when we were hit by another car. It stopped us in our tracks for 24 days in the Arizona desert and yet again, we did our best to roll with the punches and celebrated our anniversaries by camping at nearby Lake Powell. When we eventually had a working bus and were able to get back on the road, we appreciated our simple life in a whole new way.

The car accident reminded us how special each moment is and how easy it is to forget that our lives here on Earth are temporary. We won’t be here forever, so we value our time and how it is being spent. We’ve also learned through this journey that we’re having more satisfying experiences with less than we were when we were working so hard for more. Just being able to pull over on the side of the road, jump out and see something and feel something and do something new together makes us happy.

Letting go of the reigns (almost completely and with trust) has revealed the energy that is in play, working for us, guiding us and providing us the information to make intuitive decisions. We could never have imagined being guided on our cross-country trip for over a year, but we consider all of our experiences priceless. As we continue our adventure and keep seeing this beautiful country, we hope it inspires others to live a simple life with big adventures!