About Us
In April of 2021 Gregg and I (Alise Saunders) set out on an epic journey! With no home to return to, having sold or gifted most of our belongings, with our two cats in tow, we stuffed what was left of our possessions into our car, and set out to travel the US and then the world, as Digital Nomads.
What's a Digital Nomad?
A digital nomad is someone who works but also moves around and travels; someone who isn’t stationary. After building my virtual (completely online) bookkeeping business, I realized I really didn’t need to work from our Dallas, Texas, home. I served clients all over the United States, never having met most of them. So why not get out of my comfort zone and live my travel dreams at the same time! COVID really taught us we could live and work anywhere in the world. Needing only a laptop, Wi-Fi, and my mobile phone, I can run my businesses from a lounge chair on the beach, during a hike on a mountain, or from the office of our rented Airbnb.
We create amazing FREE Destination Guides for Digital Nomads to take away the stress of planning that next great adventure and also give inspiration to those who are afraid to break free from the inherited fears and decision patterns that prevent them from leading lives of passion, purpose, and joy.
In our FREE Destination Guides for Digital Nomads we share tips, resources, and recommendations along the way—about where to stay, what tools to use, what sights to see, what food to enjoy—knowledge that we think will help our fellow digital nomads discover unknown destinations and have unique experiences.
nature is healing
After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013 and working my way back to better health through diet, healing through nature baths, and doing the work to heal my stored emotions, I am no longer interested in running in being a corporate robot or doing the same repetitive job every day just to pay the bills. Life is short, and I want to make the most of it now.
Years ago I wanted this life of travel and nature bathing, but Gregg and I both had many limiting beliefs that kept us from setting out on the road. Back then we had even put a deposit down on a travel van. But when the day to pick it up arrived, Gregg felt we were not ready to make the leap (and it was too small to live comfortably with two cats).
That is why, in 2020, as the impact of COVID-19 hit home, and many of us realized how fragile the life we take for granted really is, I implored my husband Gregg to give up his 12+ hour workdays in the hospitality industry, so that we could sell everything and travel around the world. At first, he laughed off my suggestion and said that would be a great idea for when he retired.
Traveling to a Better Life
Like most people we meet on the road, back then, Gregg was putting life on hold for the dream of “someday”. But for many, someday never comes.
Gregg has shared with me how his parents had often talked of traveling together in retirement, only to grieve his mother’s death from cancer before they could ever live that dream.
He looked at me, with his mind spinning with dollar signs and fear, and took a breath, then took a leap of faith …and supported me just as he always has through every step of our unique partnership. We were going to do it!
Our Plan to Make Travel a Way of Living
Living the digital nomad life is truly freeing. I used to feel full inside because the stuff I owned made me feel full, but without the trappings of belongings, I was able to identify areas I needed to love myself, finally feeling full and complete because I am ME!
Traveling to places that call us to experience and honor Earth’s beauty like the shores of Costa Rica and Greece, the mountains of Glacier National Park, or the wildlife of Yellowstone National Park bring us joy and we will keep going as long as our heart’s desire is travel.
In 2023 we will be traveling to Europe and continue to share the digital nomad life.
Serving My Bookkeeping Clients Virtually
As we pursue our journey, I will continue to do an outstanding job for the clients of my bookkeeping business. I’m so grateful that they understand that no matter where I am in the world, I will always provide them with excellent service. I will also continue my coaching business, and I hope that, as a survivor who has worked all her life to break out of the patterns of the past, I am setting an example for my clients.
Last but not least, our hearts are full of gratitude to all those that helped us get here, from our kid’s to our friends and family, and all those who are wishing Gregg and I well as we follow our bliss.
About Me
A 20-year veteran of the hospitality industry, I worked my way up from front desk clerk to a regional position, acquiring experience in reservations, revenue strategy, human resources, and accounting along the way. I did this all without a college a degree, having turned down a full scholarship to college to marry my high school sweetheart and become a mother soon afterwards. Now, after years of making everyone else’s vacations amazing, I finally get to create my own life, a life I don’t need a vacation from.
I have a son from my first marriage who is now 27 years old. In addition, I have three “soul” children, teenagers and young adults I have taken in and mentored, all of whom Gregg and I have offered to legally adopt. Whether every adoption is finalized or not doesn’t matter. Family is who your heart tells you your tribe is.
My work successfully coaching these young people led me to establish my coaching business, which I started in December 2016.
Gregg and I have been married for 13 years. This is the first relationship I have been in that felt truly healthy, in which I have had the love and support to break the victim-centric, survival-focused models of my rough childhood. He is so kind and supportive. He says my crazy ideas push him out of his comfort zone, and he goes all-in with me, for example, when we saved all our money and moving into a small apartment so that I could leave the corporate world and start my own business. I have been magnetically drawn to him since the day we met, and I feel this truly is a soul connection to the exact partner I needed to begin the journey to heal my soul. People may remark on our age difference of 18 years, but when it comes to the core values, we deeply respect each other, which we show every day in the way we support and communicate with each other.
We are parents to two Siamese cats, Sampson and Delilah, whom we fostered during the first year of our marriage and later adopted, becoming woeful “foster failures.” These two lovelies will be hitting the road with us—and probably providing some comic relief from time to time in blog posts.
About Gregg
I was born in the United States but grew up overseas, spending most of the first 25 years of my life in Hong Kong, where my father worked. I also lived for two years on the Island of Borneo in Brunei and had a stint in Hawaii. From the time I was six years old, my parents took me with them on their travels to different countries, wherever my father’s job required him to be, and I became exposed to different lifestyles, cultures, beliefs, and of course, amazing food that fascinated me and delighted my imagination at that early age. These experiences created the person I am today.
Like Alise, I am a veteran of the hospitality industry, having spent more than 40 years in hospitality in high-level management roles. My travel experiences and formative years in Asia have been instrumental to my success. Since I have traveled little in the United States, Alise and I have dedicated the next two years of our lives to U.S. travel. I am excited to learn and share our travels in this beautiful country with “Tales from an Untamed Soul.”
Communing with nature has always been an important part of travel for me. In the past ten years, I’ve taken up road cycling, which allows me to experience many types of terrain and to be surrounded by some of the breathtaking wonders of the world. Prior to cycling I strived for these same experiences as a long-distance runner, completing seven marathons as an adult. Unfortunately, an old rugby injury from my college days forced me to hang up my running shoes and turn to cycling.
I’ve met some very interesting fellow cyclists since getting into the sport. I travel with two bikes, but my favorite bike right now is the Argon 18 Nitrogen Pro—an amazing bike, 100 percent carbon, with accurate Bluetooth shifting. I ride on Continental Grand Prix 5000 outer tubes with a 25mm profile, which are durable with great puncture resistance.
I feel calm and in the ‘zone’ of riding, like I did with running, where everything is in sync, and I feel as though I’m one with the universe. The miles melt away, and I don’t even realize how far I’ve gone. My body even recovers faster, healed with joy and excitement from the ride.
In April 2021, I left the traditional workforce I’ve toiled in my whole adult life to be a support to my wife as she continues to develop her bookkeeping business and her life as a digital nomad. I’m not sure what made me say yes to selling everything and setting out on the road with no home—if it was the misery the nine-to-five had become, or if I just came to realize how her crazy ideas and dreams have pushed me out of my comfort zone to become a better man. Sure, part of me thinks about how we will make it—but I know we will figure it out. So, I’m choosing to LIVE, to dream, to hope—rather than to let all the fears, the mind tricks of the “shoulds” or the “what ifs” keep me from even trying.
Thank you for coming along for the ride.
ALISE'S Recommendations
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