Introduce Yourself - My Life on the Road

in #introduceyourself6 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.

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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!

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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!

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

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