The first year of Nomad Life
The accident that changed my life, the aftermath, and the new beginning.
July 2022
It felt like I had been hit by a truck. Because I had, and a few seconds probably made the difference between dying. I was driving to work and went through a green light in my Prius when a Toyota Tundra turned left and narrowly missed smashing into my door. That moment was life-changing- I hadn’t seen the accident coming at all. When I laid down on the grass, I went straight to breath practices to help minimize the trauma. However, the concussion, costochondritis, and other injuries would take away my life as I knew it for the next few months.
At this time, I was living with a partner- working two jobs (& the occasional side hustle), rock climbing, hiking, practicing yoga, lifting, etc. If I was spending time with friends, it was probably also while exercising. In 2019, I began a tradition that lasted a few years- I tried to hike a mountain for each month and ended up hiking 26. The next year, 52. If I had free time, I would be in the mountains. I equated my worth with the amount of time I was directly on the clock or burning calories… (a mindset to dive into another time). This felt normal for a 20-something living in Salt Lake City. That city is full of athletes, and Utah is the beehive state- full of ‘busy bees’.
I had done enough yoga and self-work to know this was an opportunity, even though it felt like a huge setback. My partner at the time didn’t know how to support me, and I didn’t know how to ask for what I needed. Then there was ‘the fight’. The one where you know you have to leave. The one that makes you explore your options. I needed a change.
My beautiful friend Paisley was living a nomadic life. It inspired me — and scared the shit out of me. I looked into renting on my own, but realized that, given how much it costs to live in Salt Lake, I could live almost anywhere — and probably for less. I figured that with my savings and cutting out some expenses, I could get by on around $1000/month.
I made a TrustedHousesitter (housesitting) account and began scouring for where I could go. Divinely, I found resources and friends that made a nomadic life feel possible. I still credit Timothy Ferriss’s The Four-Hour Workweek for creating a huge shift in my mindset of what was possible.
October 2022
I was single and moving all my stuff back to my mom’s. It was a WTF moment for me (the WTF am I doing moments still occur a lot). I began housesitting for some friends, getting experience, and planning my next move. To prepare for ‘nomad life’, I stocked my car with some things I thought I’d need- a table, a chair, shade protection. I changed my phone plan to include a hotspot in case I needed to work without WiFi.
How many times have I used these items? Over three years- once. I had visions of spending weeks in my car, traveling, hiking, and working in coffee shops. But for me, the ‘nomadic’ life has actually been pretty stable. I have found some great housesits, great retreats, and I have a home base in Utah. The longest I’ve slept in my car consecutively was 12 days, and that was purely by choice.
December 2022
I received confirmation for a 2-week housesit in Tucson for January, got accepted to a Vipassana meditation retreat in February, and that was all I needed to leave ‘home’ for the first time.
For Christmas, my mom and stepdad helped me design and build a setup in the back of my (new!) Hyundai Tucson (ironic that I was also going to Tucson). The setup is simple- I took the back seats out, elevated a flat surface for my bed with some storage underneath, and have a lower shelf for my cooler. Surprisingly, even three years later, I haven’t made any adjustments or had to do any repairs to the buildout!
January 2023
On January 16, 2023, I was off on an adventure. I cried leaving my mom’s house- it felt overwhelming to pack up my life into my car for ‘an undetermined amount of time.’ I cried because I couldn’t believe how they supported me. I felt like I was crazy.
It snowed heavily that day. Blankets of snow through Panguitch, Kanab, and Big Water. Miraculously, the spot I had chosen to disperse camp that first night had no snow. Just 20 minutes outside of Page. It was 20° that night, but I was fine and got up early to drive towards Sedona. Because my setup does not require me to take anything out of my car, this has become a habit of mine- I often will sleep through frigid temps and get up early in the winter darkness to keep driving.
I’ll never forget that drive through Flagstaff and into Oak Creek Canyon. There was still snow on the roads, but the canyon was beautiful. I had planned to camp, but given the snowy situation and my menses starting, I booked a hotel in Sedona for a few nights to decompress from my two jobs.
I had worked at Whole Foods for almost 10 years and was taking a leave of absence. I was to go back in March. My other job at a yoga studio allowed me to work remotely. Both jobs required a lot from me over the holidays. That week in Sedona was a week of hiking, lying in sunshine, and mantra meditation to begin rediscovering who I was and what I wanted.
I made my way to Tucson and got settled at my first housesit through Trusted Housesitters. A friend from the yoga studio also lived in Tucson, and I would end up housesitting for him many times over the years. Even though I was ‘traveling,’ I began to learn how to balance living and vacationing.
February 2023
My friend Paisley was taking 6 months to tour Asia. She was ending her travels in Nepal and had casually asked if I wanted to join. That felt absurd, but I started watching flights. The night before I was checking into Vipassanna, I got a Google Flights email that flights to Nepal were ‘the cheapest they’d likely be’. I booked it and went to bed, knowing that tomorrow I would lose contact with the world. I write more about Vipassana, here.
March- May 2023
At the end of March, I was flying to Nepal. I arrived and met up with Paisley, who had been there for a while before me. Nepal had recently passed a law that, in order to trek, you would need to hire a guide. We had a guide lined up, but found out that if we got on the trail within the next couple of days, we’d be able to do the Annapurna Trek without a guide. It was a mind-boggling turnaround: getting to Kathmandu, securing supplies, and then heading to the beginning village within a few days, but we began our trek around the famous range. I wrote more about my time in Nepal here (Namaste, from Nepal) and here (my Panchakarma).
Many of the trekkers I met were taking a gap year, were unemployed, or were taking a few weeks off work. In total, I spent 45 days in Nepal, and about $4000 (including $2k on flights, trekking, $1k on panchakarma, and all other activities), making it the most expensive 2 months I had since going Nomadic. Since I was already abroad, I considered continuing to live out of my backpack, but decision fatigue won. I booked a flight home in early May.
The first year taught me a lot about living nomadically. There are hundreds of ways to do it, and if it’s something you dream of… JUST DO IT! You can always go back to the life you thought you didn’t want. 😆
Questions about my adventures? Send me an email below, or connect with me on Instagram!