Quitting our Jobs, Traveling the Country

The countdown is on…in a matter of days my husband, Aaron, and I will be leaving our comfortable way of life for a non-traditional approach, living full time in an Airstream Sprinter van.  The days are busy as we continue to plan and button up loose ends while still working our full-time careers. There was only one way that we could easily describe what we are doing without getting into a half hour conversation. So in the end, after the hundredth time explaining it, we just started saying…. quitting our jobs, traveling the country!

We were your typical American couple with a big house, never ending house projects, and lots of space to fill with new gadgets and purchases.  Aaron has worked management and sales with a national auto parts chain for the past 18 years, and I am a Senior Director of Operations for a national out-of-home advertising company, which I’ve been with for the past 14.5 years.  We are not shy of working hard.  The company I work for is located in the Western Suburbs of Minneapolis, MN and we previously owned a home in Hudson, WI (right on the border of MN/WI) for ten years.  After a decade of commuting 3+ hours a day my wish came true in 2014 as Aaron finally got on board to sell the house and move to Minneapolis.

We sold the house and down sized from 2,700 square feet with a triple garage and nearly 2 acres to a 950 sq. ft. apartment.  This was the beginning of us changing.  The amount of junk we had accumulated was alarming.  The move was terrible as we sifted through each item and assigned it a pile: apartment, storage, garbage, donate, sell, or give to friend.  Once we were in our apartment, we loved the new lifestyle.  I immediately had gained hours from not commuting, plus additional hours from not keeping up a house that was much too large for the two of us.  We no longer had weekly trips to Menards and other large fix-it tickets, which allowed us to start saving money substantially for the first time.  As we saved, we knew we wanted to do something big with our savings and we knew we didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder anymore.  We would brainstorm back and forth about new business venture ideas, but we never once agreed on one.

We had spare time to spend outdoors and with each other having fun for the first time.  We decided we did not want to purchase a new home until we knew where we would want our “forever home” to be, where we may retire.  So, when our lease was up on that 950 sq. ft. apartment 6 months later, we moved to a nearby 850 sq. ft. apartment for 12 months, then a 750 sq. ft. for another 12 months, then yet another new unit for 750 sq. ft. for 18 months.  We were now accustomed to hopping around.  People often would ask us, “So when are you going to buy your new house?” or, “Oh, you’re in an apartment temporarily until you find the right house?”.  The perplexed looks on their face as we told them “no, we do not intend to buy a new house at this time” was great to watch…The majority of our acquaintances didn’t understand our decision to stay in an apartment.

One Friday night nearly two years ago, while we were enjoying our wine and discussing potential future life plans, we had You Tube running in the background (we haven’t paid for cable since 2007).  After going on a tiny house research binge, Aaron played “Expedition Happiness”, a documentary about a German couple traveling North America in a refurbished school bus.  While watching mid-way through Aaron half-jokingly suggested that we take a similar action and just move into the nomadic lifestyle.  My eyes lit up and I said “Yes!”.    He was not expecting me to be on board, nor would I ever expect him to suggest such a proposal.  We finally had a clicking moment and we both felt passionate about pursuing this newly found dream.  From this point forward, Aaron and I grew even stronger in our relationship.  It’s crazy how powerful a common goal can be for a couple.  We were on the same page with our new big goal: go into hyper saving mode so that when our current apartment lease is up (in 18 months) we can quit our jobs and travel the country in a van.  We spent Friday nights going over budget spreadsheets, trimming down expenses, and estimating how much we could have saved at our time of departure. 

We have become more and more conscious that life is precious.  We have lost loved ones, relatives, friends, and acquaintances as they pass away at young ages, their lives taken too soon.  Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.  

In January 2019 we embark on our new chapter in life.  Turning our passions for travel, weight lifting, nutrition, and cooking into a lifestyle on the road.  Aaron and I have both put in our resignation of positions so that we can chase dreams, see new sights, smell new smells, and meet all of the amazing people out there.  We want to live life while we are physically able, because “Memento Mori”!