..We’re Taking Off to Travel! (without an end date)
YUP. You read that right. After spending 9 and 5 respective years in the incredible city of Milwaukee, we’re cutting all of our location-dependent ties to take the next year off to travel the world while we decide what we want to do next.
Some of you might be smiling and nodding because you’re not surprised by this news one bit. Most of you may have guessed something like this would happen eventually and others probably feel completely shocked and think we’ve totally lost our minds.
Rest assured – we are of sound mind and body and have actually been talking about and actively preparing for an adventure like this ever since we returned home from our four-month long backpacking trip through Southeast Asia in 2017.
After years of pushing back the dream and making excuses to not leave, we finally realized that the perfect time was never going to present itself. So, here we are – taking the leap with what feels like short notice and an open-ended plan.
Our overall goal is to reset our lives a little bit and use travel as a means to have new and exciting experiences, figure out our new passions and goals, experiment with a different lifestyle, and most importantly, incorporate more happiness and freedom in our day-to-day life.
Q&A
Knowing that between our friends, family, and small blog following there would definitely be some questions – we decided to provide some answers below!
When are you leaving?!
Our official departure date is August 6th. On that day we’ll depart Milwaukee in the Silver Bullet and road trip out to Colorado where Travis will compete in the Leadville 100 MTB race on August 14th.
Why are you leaving?!
We have dreamed and talked about taking off on an adventure like this ever since we came back from our incredible four month backpacking trip to Southeast Asia in 2017.
Although we have loved calling Milwaukee and Wisconsin home for the past few years, we realized that it was time to make a big change in our lives. Things were just feeling a little too familiar, we were getting a little too comfortable, and we were really craving the same feelings of curiosity, peace, and excitement that we experience while traveling and spending time outdoors.
After doing a careful assessment of our situation – we decided now was as good a time as any to take off and shake things up a bit!
When are you coming back?!
We don’t know! We’ve saved enough money to travel for one year and plan on traveling as cheaply as we can in order to make that money and our adventure last as long as possible.
We plan on making periodic visits back to Wisconsin for holidays, family events, and a few weddings but overall plan on being away for most of the year.
What’s your plan?!
To put it simply – we don’t really have one yet! And that’s what makes this whole adventure so amazing.
Although we talked long and hard about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go during this time, we ultimately decided that we wanted to be available to go with the flow for this year and see where our passions and interests take us.
Where will you be traveling?!
Another question we don’t have a set answer to! Overall, we plan on traveling long and slow to really get to know the places we visit and letting our passions and interests guide where we go and what we do.
We love spending time in nature and plan on using our converted van as a means to travel around the United States and potentially through Mexico and Central America (and maybe South America too!) We have big aspirations to learn to ski and surf – so at some point we plan on posting up in beach and mountain towns to really dive into learning these skills!
There will be more details to come on 2022 travel – but here’s what our plans are for the remainder of 2021.
August 2021
We will start out the month of August wrapping up all of our affairs in Wisconsin and then making the drive out west where we will road trip around the Rocky Mountains on our way to Leadville where Travis will compete in the Leadville 100 MTB race on August 14th.
From there, we will go our separate ways for the next month as Stephanie travels to Romania and Morocco with Wandering Earl Tours and Travis drives the van around the US attending other events like the Stout Sony fantasy football draft weekend in Lake Tahoe and the 5th Annual UW Stout Reunion in Menomonie before heading up to the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a few weeks.
September 2021
Travis will kick off Labor Day Weekend with the Sweati Yetis at the annual Copper Harbor Trails Fest before spending some time at Isle Royale National Park and cruising around the best spots along Lake Superior.
Stephanie will spend the first two weeks of September on another Wandering Earl tour around Morocco before returning back to Milwaukee just in time to enjoy the postponed Shamrock Shuffle and the last two weeks of Summerfest.
We’ll reunite in late September and close out the month with cottage renovations, time spent on the river, and going to the Mount Joy and Trampled by Turtles concert in Milwaukee with friends. (WHICH WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR)
October 2021
We’ll use early October to wrap up renovations on our cottage and get a long term renter moved in. Afterwards, we’re going to depart on a bikepacking trip to a mystery location for 4-6 weeks!
November + December 2021
We’ll spend the last two months of the year wrapping up our bikepacking/touring trip and returning back to Wisconsin for the holidays.
January 2022 and Beyond
There will be more details to come around our plans for the new year – we’ll figure them out as we go! Right now, we’re considering taking the van through Mexico and Central America or hopping on a plane to go back to Southeast Asia (all TBD depending on covid and travel restrictions!)
How can you afford this?!
We have been advantageously saving for the past 4.5 years! We’ve lived well below our means by renting cheap apartments, driving older vehicles, cooking at home more often than eating out, and in general saving way more money than we were spending.
Stephanie will also continue to work remotely as the tour manager for Wandering Earl Tours (a small group tour company) for the duration of their trip as well which will help offset some of the travel costs.
Can I visit you?!
ABSOLUTELY! If you have any interest in joining us for any parts of our trip – please don’t hesitate to reach out and we will coordinate something! We always love visitors 🙂
What do your families think about this?!
Overall, we have felt nothing but support and excitement (and some shock) from all our friends and family. Initial reactions ranged from complete shock to “sounds about right” and everything in between.
Didn’t you just buy a house? What are you going to do about that?
We did just buy a house – and in an ideal world we would have finished the renovations and gotten a renter moved in before departing. However, we didn’t have the time or resources to make that happen beforehand (timing is never perfect!)
Our current plan is to come back and dedicate the second half of September and early October to finish up the work on the house and secure a long term renter in our property. So, if you know anyone who will be looking to rent a two bedroom, one bathroom house in the Peshtigo/Marinette area – let us know!
Follow Along!
Thank you for reading this far and for supporting us in this next big phase of our lives. We’re going to try to share more on both the blog and social media as we go – so please follow along on Instagram and Facebook and join our email list to keep in touch!
Travis and Stephanie, I applaud you for taking this jump. I spent a couple days with Travis on a recruiting trip to UW Stout for Husco and got to know him a little bit. I was impressed by his sense of adventure and am not surprised at all about this move. I know he will be greatly missed at Husco but you should take this opportunity while you can. Good luck and God bless.
Thank you so much Patrick!! This will definitely be the adventure of a lifetime!
Oh you two!!!! You only regret the chances you don’t take. I wish you all the very best in everything, travel, food, adventure, learning, living, health, and friendship. I’ll keep you in my prayers, always. I love you both. Have a wonderful life!
Thank you so much Laurie! That’s exactly how we feel too! 🙂
This FAQ section is one of the best things I’ve read in a while. You’ve thought of everything! Lol! I’m excited to follow along. I can give you some feedback on driving commercial vehicles through Mexico, Happy to agree that if you want it. Have a great adventure!!
Thanks Val! After working in client services – you definitely get used to answering questions before they’re asked! hahah and yes! I would love some tips around driving through Mexico – I’ll reach out when we get to that point! 🙂