Wild We Wander: The Nomad Life

We have always had a wild hair. Several, actually. Our story begins when we fell in love with the tiny house movement and the simplicity it promised. We knew we wanted the ability to travel, too, so in 2014 we bought a 1973 Roadrunner camper (Virginia Blue) with the intention of completely remodeling it. That intention grew to us wanting to live in it full time in Boston and then us wanting to travel full time and telecommute.

Ultimately, when it came to Virginia Blue, we took on more than we should’ve been able to handle, but we refused to give up. Every step forward felt like we were taking two steps back. But we were such dreamers, we found a way to keep an optimistic disposition despite everything—missed deadlines, living in an apartment sans furniture, broken bones, family tragedies, trying to simultaneously pay off a combined student debt of $28,806.67,…or ultimately giving up on our project. We made it through to our dream situation, but the end result was completely different than we had originally envisioned (and ultimately the exact outcome that should have happened): purchasing our brand new Airstream, Dot instead of buying a house. This was the best route since we travel full time for work and wanted to make sure we had a reliable, safe unit. Plus, our [Dot]: A 22′ Airstream Bambi Sport is a four season unit! We love her.

Our Home On The Road

Living in a small space on the road is the most freeing, challenging, and connecting experience. It’s not all a “pull-up-to-a-beach-and-park” lifestyle. It’s a “where-are-we-going-to-sleep-tonight?,” “our-entire-water-tank-emptied-inside-the-airstream,” “there’s-dirt-everywhere,” ”where-are-bugs-getting-in?,” ”does-our-next-location-have-cell-reception?,” “I-really-need-my-own-space” kind of life. But with every unexpected situation or feeling comes growth and ten times the amount of love for each other because we know we’re both living our authentic selves.

Our Full-Time RV Friendly Jobs

Ariele was working in digital marketing and left her full-time position when we left Boston in 2016. She now manages marketing for her family’s business, @mountainmysticcompany, manages our brand @wildwewander and plans our entire travels.

Justin stayed in his position at Hubspot on the Academy team as the Content Marketing Professor. He now travels around the country giving in-person and online content marketing workshops. He recently published his first book, Inbound Content: A Step-B-Step Guide To Doing Content Marketing The Inbound Way.

Learn From Our Experience

Being digital nomads, a solid cell phone signal is a must on most weekdays. We could not do what we do (or go as many places) without our weBoost cell phone booster. We have one for our truck and Airstream. It boosts our cell phone signal up to ten times, really helping us explore while staying connected to work.

We watch our budget and expenses closely. We use a Google spreadsheet to track our income, budget, savings, and spending. We also use an app called Expensify to track our expenses from the road like food and campgrounds that can be used during tax season. We have a different set of expenses living on the road full time. We’ll be addressing this in our upcoming guide to becoming a digital nomad.

We Can Teach You How To Be Nomads

We are self-proclaimed digital nomads, remote workers who provide value from anywhere while staying connected. It is a different kind of traveling, both more restrictive and more freeing. We are “always on” with work, but we never have to be in an office, allowing us to go further and explore deeper. We are currently working on a step-by-step guide on how to become a digital nomad and have a few resources currently on our website at Wild We Wander

Our mission through our brand is to educate and inspire people to live a more meaningful life through connection. Our purpose is to inspire action in people who either want to live this nomadic lifestyle or want to pursue another dream. Our decision to live and work full time on the road was life changing and we hope through our story, website, and guides, others will be inspired to do the same.

What Our Future Hold

Our current 2018 “tour” around the country for Justin’s content marketing workshops ends in the fall. If you knew us, you’d know we are wildcards. We could be gung-ho about buying a house this coming winter and “settling down,” but end up buying a bus, renovating it, and traveling some more! We aren’t sure where we want to be, just yet. What comforts us is we know we are always going to be nomads at heart, even when we do have some land, a house, and kids. We have some exciting plans for our future and the future of Wild We Wander!