Why we call ourselves The Opportunistic Travelers
In January of 2015, we left the "default" lifestyle behind and choosing to adopt the digital nomad lifestyle to literally travel the world, experiencing places less traveled, meeting people, and having adventures. As serendipity played a major role in how that year-long sabbatical unfolded, it only made sense to incorporate that feeling into our name. This style of traveling is not for everyone. But it worked well for us!
Why we left
When we left, our lives were a lot less complicated than you might believe. Our son was a grown man. Our parents all healthy and surrounded by our younger siblings. Years ago we started working hard to divest ourselves of any real property. Our "jobs" (she's an instructional designer and I'm a digital strategist) were the kind of work that we could do from anywhere on the globe. So... why not?
Like everyone else who makes this jump without the benefit of being independently wealthy, we sold off literally everything we owned to build up the runway to afford this excursion. And by literally, we almost mean literally. Save a few personal effects we shoved in a 5x5 storage unit, we cashed out on The Stuff accumulated in over two decades as a couple. TVs, furniture, car, guitars... If it didn't fit in either of our single suitcases or laptop bags, we sold it or gave it away. Not kidding.
One year abroad
In 2015, we traveled to three new continents, adding the stamps for 13 additional countries to our passports. That was a blast. Best of all, we managed to do it with only about 30 days spent in hotels, thanks to the magic of housesitting. Many of the blog posts and podcast episodes document that journey.
At the end of the year, we'd spent all the money we had allocated (no, not our 401k plans) and had a decision to make: Go back to America and start over again, or do something new. Guess which direction we decided?
Expats in Thailand
We made Bangkok our home base in January of 2016. Sheila immersed herself in the life of a teacher and school administrator, landing a sweet assistant principle gig at a private school in Bangkok's outskirts. That left Evo free to pursue a variety of projects that ranged from speaking gigs, interim Biz Ops manager for some startups, co-hosting the second season of The Bangkok Podcast, and launching a podcast consultancy.
Yes, life was pretty sweet for us abroad. Until...
Babies take priority
Remember that grown son we mentioned earlier? He decided to make us grandparents, roles we really didn't want to do from half a world away. So in March 2018, we shipped a few boxes back to America and took out across the rest of Asia on a slow crawl back to America.
No, the party isn't over. It's just getting started! Stay tuned...