What it’s really like to run a business on the road. During the summer of 2017, I spent 60 days living out of a car on a journey of self-discovery through America’s National Parks — camping, hiking, and exploring while running my design studio remotely.
Having a nomadic spirit, my teenage dream had always been to take off and travel the world. Sipping cappuccinos in Paris, getting lost on the beaches in Bali, skiing in Norway, backpacking through South-East Asia…It’s the dream, right?
My life would start off on a different course, however, after spending four years in college studying Marketing and accumulating over 50k in debt through student loans. After graduation, I moved to New York City to build a career- landing an internship at an artist management agency. New York City has a ‘Neverland’ quality to it and in what felt like a blink of an eye (but in reality had been nearly six years later), I had become fully absorbed by my career. I had worked my way up in the same company, built and ran a marketing department as the Creative Marketing Director, and accomplished all of the career goals I initially had set for myself. I loved the work that I was doing but my itch for travel never disappeared. I anxiously awaited trips to visit my long-distance boyfriend on the west coast, my annual girl’s trips, and even work trips that took me to new cities. I daydreamed about possible ways to travel and make a living at the same time.
In February 2017, the wanderlust calling became too strong for me to ignore. This time, I listened, and I quit my job. What happened next unfolded quite naturally.
My long-term boyfriend, George, had just moved to New York, arranging a remote work situation with his California-based company. George and I stayed in New York for four months while I built my own business- a creative agency and design studio that specializes in working with fine artists, commercial photographers & stylists. I took everything I loved about my old job and built a business around it so I could reach artists on both a national and a global scale. I built the brand identity, website, mood boards, social accounts, and curated my portfolio. I planned a launch party in NYC’s East Village. Una Volta Studio had been born.
With neither George or I tied to a physical location, the timing was perfect to take off on our next adventure.
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Leaving June 27, 2017 from San Diego, CA, George and I would spend the next sixty days on the road living out of his car, a 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring. Through a series of day-trips, we would explore, camp, and hike through nine states and twelve of America’s National Parks, all while I ran my business on the road and he worked remotely. To say the trip changed my life would be an understatement. It allowed me the opportunity to decompress from the stressful years I spent working in fashion in New York City. I was able to reconnect with what I love most about being human: getting to explore, learn & laugh in beautiful environments with people I love.
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Although transformative, the reality is — running a business from the road is not easy. You have to hustle hard, commit to being adaptive, give up days of hiking in search of Wi-Fi, and continue to stay connected to your clients. Here are the top six tips on how I made it possible:
1) Stay adaptable
Working on the road has it’s challenges and we met plenty of them. We did not have a van set-up with a mobile office inside, only our two front seats and one lap desk. Initially, we planned to use our phones as mobile hotspots, so we could work while driving between destinations. This plan immediately failed us. George’s cell network was strongest on the coast but near obsolete in the middle of the country. My network, Verizon, was much better and I had service for the majority of the trip but only in spurts and almost never within the parks. In order to make our trip possible and instead of giving up, we found alternative solutions (below) that allowed us to maintain our new (#vanlife) lifestyle.
2) Make use of public libraries for Wi-FI
While we were in Moab, UT, I needed an hour or two to wrap up a client project and send it off. I was searching all of my phone applications & maps for nearest Wi-Fi when I stumbled upon the Moab Public Library. It was already nearing 5pm but they were open until 8pm. The Wi-Fi was strong (and free), they had restrooms, water fountains and the clean, quiet facilities provided plenty of space (including outlets) for me to work. Bells rang in my head and from that point on, in every town we needed to work, we found the nearest public library and made it our mobile office. The services at the libraries varied, but some had private study rooms where we could shut ourselves in for hours at a time to knock out some work.
Hooray for not bumbling through coffee shops searching for that coveted table nearest the only available outlet.
3) Make use of hotels for conference calls (and showers!)
Libraries maintain a quiet atmosphere for consideration of other patrons and unless libraries had private rooms, we had to take conference calls elsewhere. Along with the need for showers, we did plan three hotel stops along the way for conference calls or to meet pressing deadlines.
4) Commute to work
Since I was running my own business and my boyfriend was working remotely, our hours were flexible. We preferred, if possible, to work in the early mornings and then hike in the afternoons. We ‘commuted’ from our campsite to the nearest town with a library, worked for a few hours, and once back in the parks, we hit the trail. These were actually some of my favorite days because I was able to be super productive and then my immediate reward was a beautiful hike and/or sunset back at camp.
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Our longest commute was when we camped at Lewis Lake Campground in Yellowstone National Park, WY. We drove south out of the park, and all the way through Grand Teton National Park to get to Jackson, WY (which had my favorite library of the entire trip!). The way the land of Grand Teton is cut is remarkable because there are acres of wild plains and then the majestic mountains stick straight out above them. It was about a two-hour commute, but on the outskirts of Grand Teton, we were rewarded with quite a view. A herd (of hundreds) of wild bison crossed the plains within our view. They were the first bison we had seen on our trip and we were so excited that we pulled off to the side of the road. We grabbed our binoculars, and watched them walking around and rolling through the grass. We ate our breakfast (of hard boiled eggs, muffins and coffee) in awe of the world before continuing our commute to work. It was a beautiful way to start the day and gave us an extra boost of energy to put into our work.
5) Manage your time
I was always surprised at just how much work I was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. When you only have a few hours a day to work, you do not spend time browsing the Internet aimlessly, scrolling through social media or catching up on office gossip. I could fit a full eight-hour work day into two, three, or four strong hours. Tim Ferriss would be proud!
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6. Schedule content in advance
To stay connected to my clients and network, I scheduled emails, Instagram posts, and newsletters in advance. Sometimes, I would be hiking a mountain or cooking dinner at camp, far from service, when the content was sent out. Scheduling in advance gave me that flexibility and no one was any the wiser.
I used apps like Boomerang (for Gmail), Schedugram (for Instagram), Mailchimp (for email newsletters) and Hootsuite (for Twitter/Facebook) for scheduling for both my business and for my clients.
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Once the trip came to an end, I yearned to keep my re-discovered nomadic spirit alive. I promptly gave up my Brooklyn apartment, while my boyfriend returned to the west coast for work. I spent the next four months living out of friend’s and family’s homes, while I continued to run my business remotely. To share stories, photographs and lessons learned from the road, I have written and designed a coffee table book on the experience. My book, Daytripper: 60 Days on the Road Exploring America’s National Parks, is near launch. Working on designing this book has been amazing getting to relive every precious, magical, and hilarious moment from camping, hiking & working on the road.
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Stories include our car’s set-up, what gear we packed, how we set-up camp each evening, favorite (& most eventful) hikes, animal sightings, etc. I aimed to share not only the photographs, but the experiences from the day hikes where we struggled to get to the trail end. The hikes presented challenges and the lessons learned became profound. The trail is where all of our most memorable experiences happened and where I most connected to myself. Every step provided me an opportunity of growth and reflection, not only physically but mentally. When thinking of the trip, I am reminded of a sketch I saw at a campground host station in Glacier National Park, MT of two hikers at the top of a mountain with this simple phrase: “Perspective, Get Some.”
This is my story in hopes that it inspires you to create yours.
Pre-orders open via www.daytripperthebook.com.