Unconventionally Unconventional

What we're doing doesn't fit a neat mold or definition.

As we discussed in our post, The Wind Up, about how we got here, this thing we’re about to do is difficult to describe and define, even among unusual lifestyles.

• We won't be "digital nomads" because Tony still makes most of his money in person in the U.S.
• We won't be "slow travelers" because we'll usually only be somewhere for 2-4 weeks at a time.
• We won't be "expats" because we'll still be U.S. citizens and can't grow roots firmly enough anywhere else (yet) to reliably access their resources.
• We won't be "budget travelers" because our expenses are frankly way too high.
• We won't be "backpackers" because although all of our items will fit into a backpack, we won't be as mobile or off-grid as that implies.
• We won't be "full-time travelers" because although we'll have no home base, we're not putting the rest of our lives or our careers on pause.

Even if one of those terms did define what we were going to do, it still would only define part of our experience.

The other half of our reality will be shaped by the demands of Tony's work, traveling to mostly rural U.S. towns to provide emergency care through locum tenens agencies (temporarily filling in for staff doctors to ease shortages). And even within that unusual domain, the way we will approach it is unconventional.

Most locum tenens doctors have a home base and often a primary job, flying out for a defined period of time or a few shifts before returning to their homes. Instead, we'll be traveling to locums tenens assignments together between periods of time abroad, relying on whatever housing is provided, and putting our heads down to make as much money as possible before flying out. The goal will be to work 2-4 weeks at a time to fund the next 2-4 weeks of travel (and pay for our health insurance, Tony's loan payments, other business overhead expenses, etc.). We plan to do this on repeat for the foreseeable future. All the while, Emily will be strategically and intentionally adapting her company to ensure that she can maintain a comfortable baseline of income, as asynchronously as possible.

It's a crazy plan. But we're convinced we can make it work.

We know that there is no other path that we should be on. Everything has led us here. We must create this future, no matter how unconventionally unconventional and difficult it may be.

The complexities of health insurance, the unknown of gig work and an unreliable income, the instability of not having a home base, the constant dread of massive student loan payments. None of that can deter us from grabbing life and molding it into our own. We refuse to settle for a default path, a standard career, a comfortable paycheck. We will be completely free to choose our own path.

Doing all of this opens up opportunities to pause and be present. Everything requires deliberate decision, therefore we are forced to consider what truly matters to us, and how to make choices and create a lifestyle that aligns with our values.

We will no doubt make mistakes. We'll choose wrong. We'll get stressed out. Exhausted. Lonely. All of that is important, though. It will guide us to the next decision, and then to the next, where we will choose differently. By the end of it all, whenever that is, we'll be able to clearly define our values and build the exact lifestyle that we want without compromise.

We're not exactly sure what we'll find, how long it will take, or where it will lead us. But that is exactly the point. All the while, we'll be Exploring What Matters, and we hope that you will join us along the way.