We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that there are many kinds of lifestyles worth pursuing, that we are privileged to have experienced several of them, that the one that will make us happiest right now is that of Nomad.
Eric and I (Maria) officially became nomads as of July 1, ending the lease we held in Cincinnati for the past three years, storing, packing, selling, and donating our possessions, and driving north to a cottage on a lake in Michigan to recover from the whole experience.
It was immediately clear we still have too much stuff in the truck, so part of our time during the first week of our new life will include paring down the few things we most wanted to bring along with us. So much for thinking we were done with the emotionally exhausting part of this journey! We anticipate navigating our new relationship with “stuff” will take some time to get used to (both us growing up Midwestern, and for me especially as an immigrant’s daughter, translates to the life philosophy of hold onto everything, what if you could use that one day?!), but we are both really excited to not have too much of it to worry about anymore.
Our current set up is a red soft top 2021 Jeep Gladiator – possibly the coolest truck ever because it is a convertible thanks to being built on the Wrangler chassis – with a 48″ wide cargo carrier on the hitch for a little extra room, along with a bike rack that can hitch separately into the cargo carrier. The most interesting aspect of our set up, however, is the foldable cover we got for the 5ft truck bed. Made of the same material as our soft top over the cab, we can fold it down to get the full functionality of the bed back, or leave it up to keep our belongings (mostly) weather protected.
I would guess there are not many red Jeep soft tops with a foldable cover on the road right now, so if you see us out and about in your town, say hi (at a distance still for now, please & thanks) or tag us @nomadproof on Instagram or Twitter!
Eric is an Olympic Level packer and somehow got virtually everything we wanted to bring into this truck, including multiple large monitors and a large printer so we can work effectively (we essentially still have our full home office suite except our electric standing desks with us!), all my photography gear, a full set of kitchen gear to make it feel like “home cooking”, exercise equipment including 50lb adjustable dumbbells, a full gamut of clothes and shoes for all seasons, all our toiletries, a nontrivial number of books, a cooler, food, and a large variety of miscellaneous items. Oh, and our paddleboards, entire camping set up, snowshoes, snorkels, and other outdoor sports equipment. Deciding what else to leave behind will certainly be a challenge, and our next nomad-life-task will be to optimize how the truck gets packed and unpacked at each stop.
As a nod to the 4th of July holiday today, we want to officially declare our independence from living in one house for the rest of our lives (though we wholeheartedly want you to know that if that’s what makes you happy, that’s great!!!) as we start our new life of moving around. We will be primarily traveling in the USA, staying in homes we find on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, usually for a month or so at a time – so we’re pretty different from most other nomads we see online (international budget digital nomads, RVers, or vanlifers come to mind most prominently). We aim to provide tips and insights for both hosts and guests on traveling long term, in particular in the USA, as well as showcase the places we are lucky enough to travel to. You can expect to find tours of the homes we stay in as well as analytics-based insights into the regions we visit (like actual data-based brewery rankings!). We also welcome partnerships with tourism bureaus and local businesses (especially small towns!), in particular for photography or operations consulting needs. Follow along with us here (nomadproof.com) or in your favorite RSS feed reader, Instagram @nomadproof, and/or Twitter @nomadproof.
QED