OUr #nuventures story:
1 Couple | 3.5 Years | 17 Countries
Where'd it all start?
Independent Wanderlust
Adam and I share the travel bug and independently carry wanderlusting souls. This adventure of traveling for as long as we can wasn't just a spontaneous decision. Our #nuventures have been years in the making.
At the University of Georgia our friendship flourished on a spontaneous road trip up the East Coast of the US during our senior year. Racing down NYC streets in an iconic yellow taxi, I was the one to take the first step of the relationship and asked Adam out to what would be the best first date ever: Atlanta’s Monster Truck Rally! Amongst mullets, jorts and camo we got in the zone and screamed on Grave Digger!
The perfect start to a relationship!
With twitter pated hearts, the dreamy conversations of long-term travel began…
We day dreamed of where we would go, what we wanted to learn, what we wanted to see, feel, taste, and experience. All throughout our three years of dating, Adam had one question that was the most stressful and overwhelming of all, “Just dream with me here. When we travel, what will you pack in your one backpack? You know it has to be small enough to fit in the budget airline overhead bins.” Ah! As a girl who frequents indecision and hates packing, this wasn’t dreaming! It was too overwhelming! Well, needless to say I did it! Check out both of our packing lists: Lindsey & Adam.
After Adam got down on a knee, popped the question and I said, “Yes!,” the dreaming turned to official planning. Adam, his natural accountant self, started strategizing our combined budget as a couple. The main objective of the budget was to save for our future travels. Check out our finance strategy here.
Adventuring together is a foundational element of our relationship. We surprised one another with vows of, "I vow to be your adventure seeking partner whether it's a spontaneous venture or travels around the world," returned with “I vow to never have excuses when you want to travel and adventure." Looks like we have stuck to those promises!
The morning after we got home from our honeymoon, Adam put us to work. We sat down for hours and solidified our official budget and savings.
We were both working toward the same goal, but had no idea that in a year and a half after saying “I do,” we would set off on our nuventures to travel the world. It all came down to God’s timing…
God’s Timing
I was in my last semester of my masters and had just started a new job with my dream employer. With trying to keep up with learning a new job and trying to pass my final class and complete my capstone project, I was focused on surviving each day. Adam, however, continued to dream, plan and prepare and he persisted with his favorite question, "So, what would you pack? Can you handle one backpack?"
The first shock came in February 2014 when our Russian friend borrowed our truck to head out into the mountains to crush a day snowboarding. He didn’t make it. The truck hit a patch of ice and flipped! Thankfully, he was okay and crawled out of the truck without a scratch. However, our truck was donzo- totalled. So, we took the opportunity to try our hand at living with one car. The insurance check went straight into our travel savings account and the days of commuting together began.
The second shock was a return home to Georgia in March 2014 when a family member passed away. We were reminded that life is short and God began to change my heart from survival mode to thinking “now or never.”
With wedding season on it’s way and the need to book several tickets to the east coast to celebrate with our friends, we decided to start our travels road tripping the US in between all of the weddings.
So, in May 2014 we planned to give our notices and start our grand adventure at the end of June 2014. This was a huge deal! We were going into the absolute unknown and had so much to do before we got there, including making sure I graduated! We had to figure out packing, fixing up the house, finding renters, deciding what to wear on a never ending journey, saying farewell to friends, etc, etc, etc!
The third shock was the absolute epitome of God’s timing. Two weeks before Adam was to give his notice, he was let go. Well daggum, perfect timing! He took over packing, figuring out the house logistics, and bombproofed our home for the new tenants with repairs and an awesome exterior paint job!
When it came to giving my notice, I broke down and started balling to my supervisor. Quitting an incredible job and leaving everything to adventure into the unknown isn’t easy. Now that we have been traveling for several years, every stress, every worry is completely worth it.
The stress wasn’t over yet. On the morning we were packing up the house and officially leaving the keys in the hands of our new tenant, I heard water spraying in the crawl space of our home! What?!? A leak before we had even started! It didn’t sway us. We called the plumber and we were off!