who in the world are we?

We’re Zach & Ally, a couple of adventure enthusiasts who dreamed of traveling the world together. However, it didn’t come as easily as we thought it would. In our first attempt at nomadism, we failed miserably.

In the summer of 2017, we faced a huge decision. Stay in a life we were unhappy with, or take a leap and desperately try to figure out what ignites our soul. Our 9 - 5s were no longer sparking our interest, and our tiny downstairs apartment started to feel like it was closing in on us. So we made a plan and saved as much money as we could.

That fall, we quit our jobs, moved out of our tiny apartment, and either sold or gave away as many belongings as possible. Our goal: spend one year working and traveling in Australia.

With the money we saved that summer, we purchased round-trip tickets to The Land Down Under and a Chevy 1500 van to stash any belongings we couldn’t get rid of.

Downsizing to this extreme wasn’t easy, but we did it. Three days before we were supposed to leave, we had just about packed everything up and were ready to go. That’s when we received an email about Zach's visa.

The email clearly stated that he could not enter the country on the VISA he had applied for. At this point in our “new life,” we were jobless and homeless. We tried everything to make it work. We even called the American Embassy, but clearly, Down Under wasn’t where we were supposed to be.

Devastated, we decided to take the van to South Florida for the winter. We went out of the wind, rain, and cold North Carolina weather and into the Sunshine State that year.

The rest was history! Van life in South Flordia changed our lives forever!

  • We had a long, hard winter living in our little Chevy van. We had no running water, showered at beach accesses, and gathered firewood every evening to cook dinner over an open flame! We nearly went broke and struggled to find work that would allow us to travel. But we were determined to make this new life of ours work. Somehow, having nothing made us the happiest we’d ever been.

  • When we first started, we worked odd jobs that barely paid our bills. After we left South Florida, we drove back to North Carolina to park in our family's driveway for a little while. Ally got a job in a local restaurant, and Zach spent time crafting items to sell to make money on the side. After a year of living in our little Chevy Express Van, we sold it and traded in the Chevy Equinox we had left behind on our trip to Florida to purchase our ProMaster, Daisy.

    In late 2018, we were (slowly) building our second van when Zach got a call about a travel welding job. We left Ally's career at the restaurant in a half-finished van to follow a lead, and we had no idea where it would take us. We've been full-time nomads ever since! Over time, Ally started a graphic design business and now works from home on the road! Zach's career takes us all over our beautiful country! We spend six to eight months saving up, and we travel for leisure for the rest of the year!

  • After over six years of living in Daisy full-time, we were starting to feel a little cramped. We now have two dogs, and after years of not having basic luxuries, we decided it was time to let our beloved Daisy go. As for our nomadic lifestyle — that’s not something we’ll give up so easily. Follow our journey on social media as we turn a retired school bus into our new home on wheels! Where will we live while we’re building, you ask? In the bus!