I’ve always believed that the ultimate compatibility test is international travel.
When you’re navigating a new place from scratch – jet-lagged, hungry, lost – you really get to know someone.
Who are they after 24 hours with no sleep?
How do they handle things when (not if) something goes wrong?
Are they as easygoing as they say?
How do they treat people in unfamiliar cultures?
And most importantly, how do they treat you when nothing goes according to plan?
Thankfully, we discovered early on that we travel incredibly well together. That was a big deal for me while we were dating. Whoever I married needed to be at least open to exploring new places and rolling with the chaos that comes with it. I can honestly say I couldn’t have asked for a better travel partner.
I’m a digital marketer and graphic designer; Will is an AI/software developer. We both work remotely with U.S.-based clients, usually on a contract basis. On top of that, we run this blog together.
So, how do we juggle all of that – and travel full-time – without losing our minds or each other?
In this post, we’re sharing exactly how we make our lifestyle work: how we structure our workdays, divide up responsibilities, stay grounded in unfamiliar places, avoid burnout, and protect our relationship through all the chaos that comes with full-time travel and remote work.
How and Why We Decided on Full-Time Travel
I guess you can say we’ve been traveling together nearly as long as we’ve been together. I had been nomadic since before we were dating, and we both were looking for affordable ways to live while we prioritized the growth of our businesses.
We didn’t exactly set out to become full-time traveling entrepreneurs – it just evolved this way.
In the beginning, we were both working on building our businesses.
Early on, I was living short-term in Texas while Will was handling business in Washington. Then came a failed Florida move, a stint in California, and a return to Washington to be closer to family.
The cost of living was outrageously expensive on the West Coast, and neither of us was willing to give up the dream of working for ourselves just yet. We began discussing how we could sustain what we were doing (with the addition that I was dying to go back home to Europe) and realized we had a crazy plan that might work.
By leaving the U.S. and housesitting abroad, we could save a tremendous amount of money and be in some really cool places while we did it. This was when we began housesitting full-time, starting in England.
Unexpected Challenges of the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
The first stretch of travel was really exciting, and I was eager to show Will some of my favorite places. It was also very challenging, and we had some misaligned expectations for what we were doing.
We ended up spending all of our time on our laptops wherever we went, barely having the time to see anything.
In addition to some large business expenses, we were also trying to pay off some large debts and, consequently, had little to no budget to spend on fun travel experiences.
We were regularly running into unexpected challenges – little things like that new, cute cafe we found not having wifi and having to pay extra for drinks and food we didn’t want to get our work done for the day. Having to take important work calls between 8 pm and, in some instances, be online and available between 12 am and 4 am. Expecting to get work done on long travel days and train rides, and being either too distracted by the scenery or too exhausted to focus. The hardest part, I think, was trying to keep a consistent, professional schedule while frankly living in travel chaos.
But we learned quickly. We weren’t tourists, we were living and building a normal life, and had to resist the temptation to be or do anything else. We were doing our best to settle in and act like we lived where we were at the time.
We also got honest about what each of us needed to feel grounded – quiet mornings, daily exercise, occasional alone time, prioritizing friend and family calls, and cooking at home.
The biggest shift was realizing we both actually preferred to slow way down and stay in one place as long as possible. This way, we could build a consistent routine for ourselves and minimize the burnout we were already facing with work.
This shift changed everything. Once we began getting into a rhythm, we began to feel a lot more ease and flow from our lifestyle choices. It was far from perfect, but after 3 years, we’ve made a lot of progress towards building this lifestyle for ourselves in a way that works for us both.
Our Roles in the Business (and Why They Work)
We’ve each lessened our responsibilities from previous work to focus more time and energy on this blog. This shift in working together on a project has presented its challenges, too, but has been much more rewarding than the work we were doing solo.
One of the first things we noticed is that just because we’re both working remotely, it doesn’t mean we work the same way. Quite far from it.
Our brains, energy levels, and creative processes are totally different, and we quickly learned that we each still need our independence in schedules, tasks, etc., instead of trying to force everything to be perfectly aligned.
Essentially, sharing goals and trying to figure out the best ways we can each contribute to them.
Who Does What
I handle most of the creative direction, graphic design, and marketing strategy. I also spearhead our marketing workflows (since that’s my background) and do a ton of blog writing because I simply have too much to say and can do it day in and day out pretty easily. I plan by brainstorming in energetic spurts and, within a day or two, can generate enough content ideas to last us for months.
Will, on the other hand, is a developer who thrives in deep focus, problem solving, and finding smarter ways of doing things. If there’s a remote possibility that we can streamline part of our workflow and save hours in the future, he’s on it. He deals with the technical side of things, but also has a much stronger business brain than I do. This is helpful as he’s regularly looking ahead at the long term, keeps a clear, steady vision, and brings more consistency to our work.
We both collaborate on content, editing, and strategy – often reviewing and editing each other’s work before publishing anything.
However, we each have clear ownership over different parts of our work, and respecting how we each work, our strengths, and our weaknesses has saved us from a lot of conflict and confusion.
How We Schedule Our Days
Because we’re both still working outside of this blog, much of our week is scheduled around that. My work is typically more flexible with longer deadlines; however, I make it a rule not to work over the weekend. Will’s work currently is more rigid, but he makes up for it in the evenings and days off.
Overall, I try to schedule early morning blocks for writing before starting work. I like to get up around 6:30-7 am, find a cafe, and focus for 2-3 hours on writing while my mind is the sharpest and the world is still. After that, I try to exercise, do some household things, then switch into another block of client work for several hours. If I don’t have any immediate deadlines, I refer to my Notion checklist for the week and begin editing videos, working on social media carousels, posting to different channels, or making website edits.
Usually in the evenings, Will spends a couple of hours reviewing things I’ve worked on; however, he’s currently our main content creator/editor. He’ll batch create some new reels, post on social media, and maybe tweak some coding on one of the workflows he’s building. On his days off, he usually catches up on sleep, enjoys a slow morning, then spends the bulk of the day creating social media and writing.
We keep our editorial calendar in Google Sheets and our content creation workflow in Notion.
How We Travel Together Without Burning Out
Of all the learning curves we’ve faced, this has been the biggest. Let’s just say, life doesn’t exactly stop the second you go to another country and begin traveling. It can make a lot of things more complicated.
Building a strong foundation for a remote work and travel lifestyle is critical, and we’ve had to take breaks as we go because we’ve realized we didn’t build a very strong, sustainable foundation beforehand. We’re on one of those breaks now, and you can read our blog about Building a Sustainable Remote Work Life here.
Why Routine is the Backbone of Long-Term Travel
By far, the most important thing to establish for long-term travel is routine. We can’t emphasize this enough. If you’re coming from a rigid schedule and you need to break out of it for a while, then go for it. At least until you feel like you’re ready to build the life you ultimately want.
It’s easy to romanticize waking up every day, not knowing where you’re heading, and the wonder, excitement, and possibility awaiting you. However, nothing is built in chaos. Wake up at the same time every morning, go to bed around the same time, have a morning routine, exercise every day, and have a small creative project or book you’re reading every day. These things will only give you a sense of stillness, stability, and meaning to your travels.
Simplify Ruthlessly to Survive (and Thrive)
It’s way too easy to overcomplicate life and feel like we just don’t have the energy for the things we crave the most.
Our advice: eliminate everything that doesn’t serve you. Subscriptions you don’t use anymore? Clients who cause more headaches than they pay for? An exciting, albeit overwhelming travel itinerary? Too many notifications while you’re just trying to enjoy a sunset in a pretty place?
Get rid of them. Challenge yourself to see what you can live without and focus on quality, consolidation, and ease – then optimize as you go.
Why We Choose Depth Over Speed
I know that numerous people travel on the go at a way faster pace than we do (look at all you cool, edgy backpackers); however, this is realistically just not our style. We both prefer depth of experience rather than breadth (and there’s nothing wrong with either), and to settle in and feel like we know a place better than we did before.
We aim for a minimum of one month in a single place, but 3 is better.
How We Make Anywhere Feel Like Home
“Home” might look different regularly, but it’s ultimately the feeling of calm, comfort, and safety that one experiences. The good news is that this can be cultivated almost anywhere.
Maybe home for you means “health,” so you prioritize places where you can cook and exercise. Or maybe it’s the connection and people, where hostels give you a greater sense of emotional security and comfort than traveling solo does. Whatever makes you feel most at home, listen to it and build upon it!
Spend Time Apart
This is important for us, and it works out because I love early mornings by myself, Will loves late-night intellectual meanderings and creative time.
However, giving each other the space to recharge, focus on other projects, and just feel like their uninfluenced person goes a long way to preventing conflicts and just being healthier people.
Dedicated Recovery Days
Try to prioritize 1-2 buffer days after travel days. No work, sightseeing, or social pressure unless you feel like it. Try it and thank us.
This is especially important for long-term travelers since you’ll likely be changing places pretty regularly. We’ve also learned to never book back-to-back travel with client deadlines unless you want extra stress and inevitably everything else to go wrong from there (trust us).
If we’re flying on Monday, we push deliverables to Wednesday or later. That one adjustment alone has saved us from countless stress spirals.
Choosing Destinations that Work for Us
Instead of chasing the “Top 10 Digital Nomad Cities” or any list of the best things to do in some place, we look for places that support our rhythm. Reliable wifi, work cafes with good coffee, walkability, and a strong public transportation system, low cost of living, and access to nature – fortunately, there are lots of these.
If a place feels too loud, fast, touristy, or unsafe, we either just pass through or skip it altogether.
Relationship Dynamics While Traveling Full-Time
Ultimately, having a healthy relationship is about both parties getting what they need consistently, and this naturally will look different for everyone. For me, it’s usually a lot of things outside of our relationship, such as regular calls with my friends and sisters (and visits when possible), getting up early, having a really clean diet, and making sure some time every week is spent together with no distractions. Minimal work conversations, notifications off, ideally phones left at home for a little bit.
Will usually requires more focus blocks (not my let’s talk about everything blocks), needs to be building and working towards something, and time alone to read, play music, and recharge.
This and just nurturing your relationship in normal ways, such as learning to speak each other’s love languages, supporting one another in getting what they need, and prioritizing your relationship.
What Makes it Work
Building a traveling lifestyle as a couple is really exciting. But it’s not about chasing sunsets or being in an endless honeymoon phase so much as building a life together that’s real and resilient, despite constantly changing environments.
What keeps us moving ahead and able to live the lifestyle we’ve chosen is our aligned values, mutual respect for one another, effort, and our shared willingness to grow and adapt.
We’ve messed up on so many different things and occasionally look back and laugh at ourselves, saying, “Did we really do that?” or “Why did we think that was a good idea?”.
We’ve been burnt out, tired, hangry (mostly me), overwhelmed, frustrated, and more. We’ve lost money, wanted to quit, and questioned our fit for each other, even – but despite that, we’ve learned to check in, slow down, simplify, and rework the systems we’ve built when they stop working for us.
But most importantly, we do those together, and I’m happy to say that the challenges get easier over time as our relationship strengthens.
Ultimately, building this lifestyle is about building something meaningful side-by-side, with enough space for both people to thrive.
If you’re considering this lifestyle, here’s our advice: Be honest with yourselves, with each other, and hone in on what you want out of life. The logistics are always figureoutable.
The connection, communication, adaptability, consistency, and clarity of purpose are really where the real work lives. But if you can commit to that, you can make this lifestyle work for you.
And when it does, it’s so worth it. If you’re dreaming of this lifestyle, don’t just dream, start building. Start where you are, work with what you’ve got, and be willing to adapt together.
