Introduce Yourself - My Life on the Road

in introduceyourself •  7 years ago  (edited)

Hi Steemit 🖐

I'm really excited to be here!

My name's Jess Harrison and I'm 32. I'm an Aussie but I haven't been home in years. I've been exploring North America for the past few years with my boyfriend Ben. Here's my story...

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When I was 29, I quit my job, sold my things and bought a one way ticket to Vancouver, Canada. Thinking back on it, we didn’t even know what we were doing but we both knew it was time for a change. I was miserable and didn't even know it. I was pretty content in my bubble and I stuck to the same old routine every week. Wednesday night was washing night. Saturdays were for cleaning the house and mowing the lawn. Sundays were spent escaping the world and chain smoking. The thought of work the next day would have my stomach in knots. When did money and security become more important than happiness and health?

So...we both applied for work visas in Canada which would allow us to stay for 2 years. This was quite a long winded procedure but that's a story for another time.

Ben's a web developer so we knew that as long as we had internet, he'd be able to work anywhere.

We spent a few weeks in Vancouver and then decided to spend some time in a place called Big White Ski Resort. Here we learnt how to snowboard and we ended up staying for the whole season. We loved it! Being from Australia, we didn’t have much experience with snow and it’s now a huge part of our lives.

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When Summer rolled around, we purchased an old Ford Frontier motorhome. We toured the West coast of America and Canada for 4 months with Annie, our home on wheels. Holy dicks what a ride. We had such an amazing time. Ben continued to work while we were on the road.

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I had recently picked up a new Olympus mirrorless camera and a new passion was born. I couldn't get enough of photography. I spent hours learning about it. I woke up thinking about it, dreaming about it. I was obsessed. I started submitting photos for sale to sites like Shutterstock, Istock and Dreamstime. And they accepted some of them! And some got rejected. But people started buying my photos! It definitely wasn't enough money to live off, but I was stoked.

Once the Summer had ended, we sold the RV and headed back to Biggie for another snow season. Ben broke his leg this time around. Not ideal. He also battled with a collapsed lung and some broken ribs. Needless to say our second season was a little different but an experience nonetheless.

In the Spring we spent a couple of months in Canmore, Alberta. The Canadian Rockies quickly became my new favourite place on earth. Ben was on the mend and we were surrounded by these incredible, humbling, powerful mountains. And with my camera in hand, I was happy.

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We then travelled across Canada to the East coast, tent camping along the way. We travelled from coast to coast experiencing all the usual highs and lows that go along with camping. But we actually got extremely lucky with the weather. There was only one night where I thought we could lose our shitty $50 tent to the extreme winds of a prairie storm.

GLNP Milky Way Tent.jpg

During our travels, we had been eyeing off cryptocurrency. We were both really interested but we were waiting on some cash to come through from a sale back home. Once we got to Prince Edward Island, we were finally able to buy our very first coins.

Our work visas were coming to an end so we crossed the border into the States. We spent 3 months exploring there, all while collecting as much crypto as possible. We were on such a high. Our portfolio looked so healthy and we had made tons of profit. No matter what we bought, we couldn’t lose (noobs).

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Once our time in the US was up, Canada was happy to have us again, but this time on 6 month tourist visas. We headed back to Biggie and enjoyed some of the best snow conditions we'd ever seen. And no broken bones this time around.

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Annnnnd then the market crashed. Ouch. We got burnt so hard. But we are still in profit and I'm ok with that. Calling for a 100K May? Haha...one can only hope! At the end of the day, I believe in the technology and I’m excited for the changes that it will inevitably bring.

Quitting my job and travelling around Canada and the US has taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined. And infinitely more about the one I love.
Create the life you want to live, find out what makes you tick, what your passions are, your insecurities, your must haves in life. And don't listen to the naysayers.

So what happens now? We've picked up a new motorhome and we're in the process of getting it road worthy. The plan for this Summer is the West Coast again and a bunch more time in the Rockies. Here she is below. Any name suggestions?

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I look forward to sharing my photography, my stories and getting to know you all.

In a time when social media is all sorts of weird, I'm excited to try this new platform and watch it grow into something beautiful.

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welcome-to-steem (56) · 5 days ago
Welcome to steemit!
I am a bot built for the purposes of welcoming new users! You are receiving this message as you have used the #introduceyourself tag! I know that steemit may seem very overwhelming to you right now but don't worry. There's a learning curve to everything so just be patient and you'll be churning out posts and becoming a part of something great in no time!

Also if there are any questions that you may have, then just ask your questions on any of my blog posts and I'll be more than happy to assist you with whatever questions you may have! I will also be creating a basic starting out guide for all minnows and newcomers on my blog so do give it a read as that might help answer many of your questions!

Have fun and I wish you LOADS of success on here! :)

Also. you can call upon originalworks whenever something you post is your own content like this: @originalworks

Regards
@welcome-to-steem

Hello jessicaoutside! Welcome to Steemit! Hope you'll like the community here. As a start, here are 5 tips that we believe will be helpful to you:

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This is a fantastic introductory post. I'm so glad I found it. You have taken some breathtaking photos on your travels. I'm not surprised that people are buying them. Yes, we are all in the grips of crypto crash right now, but it will improve. I have nothing but bright predictions for you here on Steemit. Best wishes. Btw, I found you through the #payitforward contest. You were featured by @bananamemos. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing more of your posts.

Thank you. I'm really glad you like it.

The last couple of days have been interesting in the crypto world. Hopefully we can keep some of this momentum.

Thanks so very much for your well wishes.

Welcome to Steemit

Thanks very much

@jessicaoutside, welcome and congratulations on making your first post! I gave you a $.02 vote! If you would be so kind to give me a follow in return that would be awesome!

Thanks very much

Well, if the first camper was Annie, the second would have to be something with a B... Bertha? Betty?
Great introductory post. And some gorgeous photography. We're following to see what comes next. Welcome!
Welcome to Steemit191x105.png

Thanks very much! It's good to be here.
A name starting with B. Now that's a good idea. Love Betty 😀 following back

And if the shocks give out, she'll be Bouncing Betty. :-)

Welcome!

Thank you!

Hi Jessica, this is a cool story. I like it a lot. We have a pretty strong Team Australia community going here on steemit to support each other. If you'd like to be part of it, then please check out this link for the instructions on how to join https://steemit.com/teamaustralia/@choogirl/team-australia-new-recruits-26-04-18-and-sydney-steps-up-to-the-plate

If you're keen, since you've already done your intro post, I would just need a fun fact about you, and vote for ausbitbank here: https://steemit.com/~witnesses

Hey Jess, I liked your post so much, I featured it in a PayItForward contest that searches for quality Steemians.

You can see the article here:
https://steemit.com/payitforward/@bananamemos/week-2-pay-it-forward-curation-contest-3-blogs-you-really-should-check-out

Amazing! You are amazing! Thank you kindly x

You're very welcome. Look forward to seeing more of your travels.

Fantastic intro post, you have gained yourself a follower! Greetings from Thailand from me and my wife @suitcasemama who also writes travel posts.

Wishing you all the best as you start your journey here on Steemit! Is your boyfriend Ben on the platform as well?

Cheers! He's not just yet. He's still waiting for his account to be activated. Thanks for your kind words

Cool, then we'll see him in one to fifteen weeks :)

Haha hopefully. He signed up before me. Back in January I think. Maybe it'll be 15 weeks for him

Shooooot, January! Steemit really needs to fix this, my wife had a similar experience. Discouraging people even before they're on the platform :(

Different topic: we're thinking of doing two weeks in west Oz next month, flying in and out of Perth, any suggestions?

Yeah I agree. He has just tried to sign up again. See what happens.

Oh no! I actually haven't been to W.A. so I'm not much help I'm afraid. I've heard nothing but good things about the Margaret River area. Hoping to get over that way very soon

Hello welcome to steemit!! it's really nice to have you here enjoy the platform and explore the community.....wish you all the best.

Thank you! It's good to be here

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Hi @jessicaoutside, welcome to Steemit. Thanks for the fun and cool introductory post. I am here to support a newcomer with a little upvote. Also, I recently added a new post with some tips for new comers like you. Do give it a read and I hope it will benefit you.

I like your intro and I have started to follow you as I look forward to your future posts.

Thanks very much. I'll be following along with you too. Looking forward to learning more here. And thanks for your post. I've upvoted it as it was helpful. Still not sure if it did anything though

Excellent introduction! It seems very likely that you'll ve have interesting stories such as this one to share. Also, these pictures are great, most notably second one with the sun rising up and the snow!

Good luck on steemit and have fun!

Thanks very much. Looking forward to learning more about this place.

That's one of my fav pics too. It was such a beautiful afternoon with all the fog around.

I'll be following along with you. All the best

Thank you!

Welcome to steemit!

Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures!!

Do you plan on going stand up paddle boarding on your adventures?

Thank you! Yeah I love stand up paddle boarding - would definitely be keen to do it again one day

Well, I know you're in Canada, but if you ever make it down to California let me know.

I'm looking forward to seeing your adventures. Already followed you!

Cheers dude. Will do! And followed back

What a great story and adventure. It's all about picturing the life you want and going out and grabbing it by the cojones and you are doing just that. Your pictures are incredible and you seem to have a natural talent for photography. You also taught me a new phrase... Holy dicks! Never heard that one before. We just bought our 2nd RV within a year and have just gone full time so your story really resonates with me.

Not sure if you're on Discord but there are several great communities on there. One of them is the Information Finding Channel and them moderator has just opened up a marketplace where you can add your own store. I think your pictures would do well in there, not to mention the contests.

Great introductory post, thanks for sharing it.

Thanks so very much for your lovely comment! That's very kind of you to say.

And I'm glad I was able to introduce you to the phrase Holy dicks haha! I wasn't sure whether to include it in this or not, buuut it was the first phrase that came to mind so I went with it.

Excellent - so you're on the road now? Where abouts? We're hoping to get our RV back from the mechanics on Tuesday and hit the road by Thursday. Really itching to get moving again.

And cheers for the advice on the discord groups. I don't use it much but sounds like it's the place to be.

Don't censor yourself, that's one of the things that make this platform great.

We just started full time travelling on March 4th of this year and are currently staying in a KOA in Saint Petersburg, FL which is where we are from. Our 10 year old son is in school until May 18th and on his last day we are picking him up and starting to head out to our first workamping experience at Yellowstone National Park.

I'm very new to this platform as well as Discord but it has helped me get some traction on my posts and I have met some great people. There are also games, contests and free lotteries and HOLY DICKS so much more.

Oh fantastic! And workamping? That's a new one for me 😁 you'll be working from the road?

I love Yellowstone. I'm hoping we'll have time to swing by there soon. We might end up there around the same time actually. Depends on which way we end up going. Haven't decided whether to go straight down or to the coast after Calgary. Hmmm...decisions decisions.

We will actually be working for the summer in a general store at Yellowstone National Park. After that we are working for 3 weeks in Wyoming at the annual Sugar Beet Harvest. We are both working to build online incomes so as to be even more portable and allow us more freedom to travel. We want to see it ALL!
If you do happen by Yellowstone during the summer and you find yourself near the Canyon General Store stop in and say hi.

Ah ok cool! Good for you. Sounds like you're living the dream.
And I will definitely swing by the general store if we're out Yellowstone way. I'm sure we will be. Look forward to meeting you then!

We are moving towards living the dream. Our son is out of school on May 18th and then we will be leaving town and starting the big adventure. Take care.

Enjoy the ride and take care. Look forward to hearing all about it.

Welcome, @jessicaoutside! What an inspiring story. I look forward to more blogs and photography on your page. :)

Thanks so very much. I'm glad you liked it. Following along with you ❤

Wow! This is the most impressive introduction post I have read!
Welcome :)

Oh wow. That's an amazing compliment. Thanks very much for reading it. I'm glad you liked it :)

welcome to steemit @jessicaoutside, there are a few of us living in vechiles on here. Take your time and interact with others on their blogs so they know you are here. I have included you in my post introducing new steemians, have fun.

Thanks very much! That's so incredibly kind of you. I'm still getting my head around all of this and your help is greatly appreciated

Diamond Eyed Girl, you are living a dream and my name is Oatmeal and love your photos and I was once in Canada and loved it.

Ah thanks man! Canada is an amazing part of the world. It's the reason I picked up a camera😍 All the best to you

Love snow. Love Canada. In How I Met Your Mother, they talked about Robin, from Canada, and about how nice Canadians are. Love it. You look great in blue.

Welcome to Steem Community @jessicaoutside! As a gentle reminder, please keep your master password safe. The best practise is to use your private posting key to login to Steemit when posting; and the private active key for wallet related transactions.

In the New Steemians project, we help new members of steem by education and resteeeming their articles. Get your articles resteemed too for maximum exposure. You can learn more about it here: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@gaman/new-steemians-project-launch

Welcome to Steemit! Great intro post!

What was that drew you to North America in particular? The reason I ask is because I moved to Canada to settle there permanently, as an immigrant due to the better opportunities that are available here. I grew up in Europe and I'm very happy with my choice of Canada, although I did consider Australia and New Zealand as an immigration choice as well. What I've noticed is that a lot of Australians and New Zealanders have a deep curiosity about North America and many come here on working holiday visas and then find a way to stay here. At the same time, a lot of native-born Canadians have a deep fascination with Australia and New Zealand and would really love to do what you're doing but in reverse. It's a little hard for me to fathom why, as I came to Canada for the economic opportunities but native-born Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders already have that. So what drove you to come to Canada?

Thanks very much! I'm excited to be here.

The main draw for me in the beginning was the snow. It looked so magical over here. It was something so new to me. Now it's the mountains. They create such a beautiful energy that I just can't get enough of. The landscape here is out of this world.
I'm definitely keen to explore New Zealand as well as I've heard it's quite similar.

welcome @jessicaoutside to steemit comunitty a lot of success

Thank you!

Welcome to the Steemit Community darling! Really happy to have you here!! Looking forward to your life stories!

Thanks very much. Happy to be here. Looking forward to following along with you

Dear @jessicaoutside, thanks for your beautiful post, in order to support you i showed your picture in my blog. Please feel free to check the link below and if you like my effort then kindly donot forgot to upvote and follow me too. ;). If you donot like your reference in my post then just comment under that post, i will remove it.
https://steemit.com/life/@sultanmr/best-new-steemers-introductory-posts---page-3-1523747646-0163658

Thanks so very much. That's lovely. I really appreciate it!

Hi from Venezuela...

Hello! Well wishes from Canada

Look forward to readying more about your travels, the good and bad. Been working on trying to get my Wife to agree to exactly this...but she has issues with being a traveling nomad with 2 kids.

BTW, I was brought here as you were featured by @bananamemos in their curation/entry post for the Pay It Forward Curation Contest.

Thanks so very much! I'm definitely excited to get on the road again. Sometimes the bad stuff makes for the best stories :)
Ah I know what you mean. Makes it a bit harder with kids, especially with school.

Bad stuff tends to be the things we can look back on and laugh as long as everyone came out of it unharmed. Well even some injuries can be funny stories....lol.

School is the issue and then she worries about safety as we have 2 girls. Not that boys can't get into trouble, but well lets just leave it at girls just seem to be targeted more.

Haha absolutely. Moments that feel so bad at the time usually turn out to be really fond memories.

And I know exactly what you mean. You can get youself into all sorts of sticky situations when you're on the road. Definitely makes you feel quite vulnerable at times

Holy crap we have mirrored lives.. but you write so succinct and clearly about yours. Great story... And welcome to Steemit. You'll do great here. Check out #thealliance, steemcanada and steemusa.

Looks like you guys are living the life. Thanks very much! Looking forward to getting my head around it all. And thanks for the suggestions. I'll check them out now

Great story, I'm quite envious of what you have done. I have been to Vancouver and loved it. Hope to hear some more stories from you. :)

Oh thanks very much. Vancouver is such a good looking city hey. I hope you can make it back one day. More stories coming soon :)


Welcome to Steemit @jessicaoutside!

I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.

Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How to use Minnow Booster
How does Steemit actually work?

Introbot is hosted and managed with donations from @byColeman to help make your journey on Steemit be truly rewarding. Your feedback is always welcome so that we may improve this welcome message.
Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings from @introbot & @bycoleman

Welcome to Steemit!

What an adventure you've had. Following to see what comes next.

The motorhome looks like a Eunice. Getting on a bit in years but still classy.

Thank you! Very happy to be here.
Oh she's definitely getting on a bit haha. Circa 1977 :) thanks for reading and following

Hi @jessicaoutside,
Welcome! Great intro post and really lovely photos, don’t stop snapping! Enjoy your time on here :)
Best wishes,
@dramamama x

Thanks very much. I'm really glad you liked my post :)

Thanks for sharing your story ~~

Thanks for reading :)

Very exciting your way of seeing life, welcome to steemit, luck !!!

Thank you :)

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I am definitely going to follow you and what an amazing job living your dreams.

Welcome to the place where you get Crypto! And trade... And whatnot...

Cheers dude. It's good to be here.
Following along with you too :)

Keep it positive!

awesome. great photos! especially the tent at night and is that Vancouver? welcome to steemit

Thanks so much. Happy to be here. The cityscape one is New York.

Welcome to Steemit and looking forward to following your travels!

Make sure you check out @teamaustralia and posts by @choogirl!

And for photos head over to @photofeed and @photogames

Thanks very much! And cheers for the advice. Will check them out now :)

Welcome to Steemit and looking forward to following your travels!

Make sure you check out @teamaustralia and posts by @choogirl!

And for photos head over to @photofeed and @photogames

Excited to get to know and follow your journeys! Thank you for sharing 😊

Thanks for reading and following along. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Great intro post!

Welcome on steemit community and wish you much success here.

Cheers! Much appreciated

Hey dear
Welcome to steemit
You can join this discord channel to be taught how to go about steemit and learn business,poetry,art,crypto and get motivated,taught how to make good posts and comment...Meet over 5k+ members and get to make friends from steemit all over the world including where you're from--> click link
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Welcome to #teamaustralia
Cool intro post

Thank you very much! Glad to be part of the team 🤙