Wow—what a year it has been! One full of heartache, pain, loss, grief, fear, anxiety, and so much more. On the other hand, this year has allowed us all to reevaluate our priorities, slow down, and take time to recognize what’s truly important.

Sadly, many industries are really suffering, including my own—the events industry. I’ve been an event producer for 10+ years. I fell into it post-graduation, and got lucky in that it became my passion. I’ve grown from an assistant to a coordinator, a manager to a producer and then a director. I’ve met many of my closest friends through the industry, and I’ve had the pleasure to travel and produce programs in every major US city and abroad. I truly love what I do (did). So when 2020 rendered me involuntarily and circumstantially unemployed, with little to no backup options or fallback plans, I had to pivot. PIVOT. Word of the year, am I right?

I began pursuing Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in the summer, which I recently cleared and attained (whew!) I also began coursework in Interior Design & Interior Architecture at UC Berkeley Extension—thanks to encouragement from my husband and my former colleague and friend who is also in the program. Since, I’ve taken on my first design project, working with clients to design and furnish their additional dwelling unit/carriage house in Atlanta. All my studies and work have been remote, as is with the rest of the world, and my sweet husband has been working remotely since March as well, and will continue to do so through late summer.

All that to say, despite staying busy and pivoting (take a shot!), there was definitely a long period of grief early on in the pandemic. Grieving the loss of my job, my career prospects and my beloved industry. Missing my old routine, my daily treks to San Francisco, my friends, my social life. So when mid-summer the itch for change came up, we scratched it.

My husband and I moved out of our place in Oakland, put nearly all of our possessions in storage, and took off for a four month journey that is turning into 7-9 months. He calls us digital nomads. My sister-in-law recently called it city hopping. Essentially, we’ve been road tripping across the US, staying about a month at a time per destination. Follow along with our journey:

Oakland, CA → Florence, OR → Yamika, WA → Lakeside, MT → West Yellowstone, MT

The first part of our journey began with our departure from Oakland and a full day’s drive to our first month long destination in coastal Florence, Oregon.

After a month in Oregon, we headed for a week-long vacation with visits to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park.

Our sweet pup Bo & I in Glacier National Park

Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone National Park

From there, we headed to Georgetown, Colorado, a small old mining town in the Rockies just 45 minutes from Denver, where we enjoyed a five week stay. Traveling from West Yellowstone to Georgetown, a large wildfire forced us into a detour, adding 3 hours to our drive. Wildfires were a recurring theme in our trip from California to Colorado.

The view from our home away from home in Georgetown, Colorado

From Colorado, we headed to my hometown of Minneapolis for three weeks where we had the pleasure to spend Thanksgiving, and then continued on to my childhood hometown of St. Louis for one week.

Gateway Arch National Park, St. Louis, Missouri

From St. Louis we headed to Atlanta, a place that’s truly become our second home, where we celebrated Christmas and rang in the New Year, and will continue to spend the early part of the year through early February.

In February we head back west for a five week stay in San Diego, with a week long vacation and stops along the way in Santa Fe and Tuscon.

West Yellowstone, MT → Georgetown, CO → Lincoln, NE → Minneapolis, MN → St. Louis, MP → Atlanta, GA → Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe, NM → Tuscon, AZ → San Diego, CA → ???

I’m set to continue studying design remotely for the next five months, and Richard is set to work remotely through August. What happens after March when we depart San Diego, who knows! Eventually we’ll make our way back to our home base San Francisco.

We are staying cautious, vigilant and safe. I have so much gratitude for our circumstances, the memories we’ve made, and how we’ve had the ability to make the best of a bad situation. Hopefully circumstances begin to change for the better sooner rather than later. In the coming weeks/months, I’ll update this travel blog with pictures and stories from our destinations along the way!

—Shea