Home Exchange as a Nomad
Nomad Profile
I discovered Becky and Bryan’s Substack Active, Curious & Thirsty while reading their article Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda. (Becky’s photos are amazing!) I, too, have been lucky enough to visit the gorillas in their natural habitat and also consider it one of my best wildlife experiences.
Becky & Bryan pay for their peripatetic lifestyle by renting out their Seattle home for short-term stints and through home exchanges. Read about how they leverage their home to fund their travel here: Turn Your Home into a Travel Fund.
9 Fun Facts
First Names: Becky & Bryan
Age Range: 60s
Nationality: US citizens
Nomadic Stance: On the road about 2/3s of the year
Last Corporate Job: Becky: Marketing Communications Director for a travel company, Bryan: CEO for a glamping company
Current Job: Happily retired and dabbling in things that interest us
Favorite Country: We used to say, “the one we haven’t been to yet” but we have reached a point with having visited over 100 countries each that we like a balance between discovering new countries and revisiting old favorites. Mexico and Italy are two we go back to over and over. Both offer a variety of outdoor options, great food, cool people, fascinating cultures and an easy pace – we love it all.
Next Stop: Italy for 2.5 months
What do you like best about the nomadic life? Discovery
2 Questions
1) You write about adventure travel with a twist. What does a “twist” mean for you?
We say our substack Active, Curious & Thirsty is about adventure travel with a twist, because we cover more than just the nuts and bolts of outdoor travel.
The twist is both a play on the “Thirsty” aspect of our writing, seeking out the lore and traditions behind regional drinks; and a nod to the “Curious” aspect, where we try to capture a deeper understanding of the culture and what it feels like to be there.
We know how powerful it can be to experience a destination actively outside. Travelers get to see the locale differently and delve a little deeper, whether that’s exploring by biking, hiking, or gliding on or beneath the water. Movement definitely changes perspective.
But we also believe there is more to experiencing a place than just the outdoor piece. We include reading to do while planning; films set in the destinations; and experiences that might resonate once people are there. We love discovering those small cultural doorways.
Then of course there is the thirsty element, where we share ways to end memorable days with a local drink, whether at a seaside hideaway in Chile, a sidreria in Spain, or a vineyard with a view.
2) How did you decide that you wanted to travel 8 months out of the year and be in your home towns the other 4 months?
That cadence has allowed us to strike a happy medium between experiencing the world with longer sojourns in destinations abroad while also staying connected with our families and communities at home.
Seattle in August and September rivals anywhere in the world, so we make sure we are home then. We are also home for a few weeks over the winter holidays. Our daughter visits from NYC during those times, so it’s nice to have our family nest. (I prefer the term “bird watcher” to “empty nester,” but whatever you call it, that is our phase of life.)
We are lucky that Seattle is a desirable destination, so we are able to put our house to work for us (via Airbnb and HomeExchange) while we are traveling. It’s what makes this lifestyle possible for us. Clearing out most of our possessions gave us a surprising sense of lightness along with the very practical benefits of income and flexibility.
If you like this post, please leave a comment or share it with others. This will help more readers find my work. ❤️
Christened “Wander Woman” by National Geographic, Erin Michelson has traveled to 135 countries & all 7 continents. She is a professional speaker and author of the Nomad Life™ series of curated trips and travel guides, including the #1-ranked Explore the World with Nomads.
Curious to read more Nomad Profiles? Get the bonus edition to the guide—Meet 10 More Nomads: Bonus Interviews 11-20.
