Nomadtopia Radio

American writer Mel and Italian filmmaker Armando met while she was living in the Czech Republic and he in Bulgaria. A couple years later, a few spontaneous decisions found them living and traveling together in a VW T4 Westfalia, and they’ve now been on the road since 2012.

Billy and Akaisha retired at age 38 in 1991—long before Skype, email, and online bill pay!—and have been traveling the world for the past 25 years. They typically set up housekeeping in a foreign location for a while and then hit the road again for more exploring. Sometimes they house sit, or rent apartments or live out of an apart/hotel for months at a time. Over the years they have survived financial crashes, bear markets, and the Great Recession, and actually have more money today than they did when they first retired.

Originally from Spain, Carlos Peñalba is a passionate traveler and photographer who quit his job in New York to backpack through Asia for a year. It turned into an 18-month journey, during which he was also launching a new freelance career. After leaving Asia and as he tried to figure out what was next for him, Carlos wrote a memoir about his adventure, The Year I Became a Nomad: A Journey through Asia on a Quest for Freedom, Love and Happiness.

A former social worker, Nicole is a business strategist + coach who helps entrepreneurs make money doing work they love and create multiple income streams through her program the Authentic Affiliate Academy. She lives in New Jersey full time but travels regularly and takes one-month international trips to experience new countries and escape winter.

After 4+ years living in Argentina, developing location-independent skills, and taking a few trial runs, Louise is back on the nomad train. This year will be full of new (and old) countries, as well as the first time nomading with her partner. They only have tentative plans/ideas of where they’re going through winter. After that they’re not sure; they may even pick a base to stay for a while (but not Buenos Aires!).

Before she made the switch to digital entrepreneurship, Michelle had a long commute, was stressed out, had family problems that prohibited her from leaving her job, and felt rootless. Then, she began blogging about personal finance and was introduced to the idea of digital entrepreneurship and lifestyle design, fell in love with the idea, and never looked back. Now she is growing a digital business helping people who are working on quitting their 9-to-5 but can't quit yet. And although Michelle loves to travel and live abroad, right now her goal is to get further connected to her community in Denver.

Barry and Simone started their location-independent life by accident in 2012. They now split their time moving between Scotland (where they met) and Australia (where she is from) each year, by spending a few months in different locations each time. While they travel, Barry runs several businesses and Simone sometimes works with him, sometimes teaches English, and sometimes temps as an executive assistant.

After starting her most recent business while living in a van, Rebecca has created a flexible lifestyle that allows her to balance rock-climbing trips, running retreats, and other adventures with time at home.

Ebonie is an author, a coach, and an entrepreneur. She’s currently settled in Brighton, England, but incorporates a lot of travel into her location-independent business and lifestyle. Tune in to learn about the 1% that’s not location independent and much more.

Emily set herself up as a location-independent freelance writer so she’d be ready to go anywhere her husband's job might take them, and they’re currently living in Maputo, Mozambique, with their two-year-old daughter (and another baby on the way!). Although she considers herself a digital nomad by circumstance, not by choice, Emily loves living overseas and working remotely.

Amy and her husband made the transition from living the typical life in suburbia to organic farmers in New Hampshire to now location-independent entrepreneurs. They are currently on a two-plus-year road trip across the US and Canada with a focus on discovering great real food spots and natural beauty, connecting with their online community, and more.

Jeremy and his wife, Winnie, achieved financial independence and retired in their thirties so they could travel and start a family. With their one-year-old son they now travel slowly, eating their way around the world.

Amy has found a way to make her love for travel a lifestyle by running a travel blog and a travel planning service while keeping a full-time remote job. She has been to more than 22 countries, mostly traveling solo, and is considering setting up a base in Hawaii.

Erin sold everything she owned and left the UK in 2010 to travel the world with her partner, Simon. They mix living in one place for a few months with faster periods of travel and have travelled to more than 30 countries with just their carry-on backpacks while running a popular travel blog, Never Ending Voyage, and creating iPhone apps like Trail Wallet.

After years of squeezing every minute of travel possible into her vacation time, Melissa loves being her own boss and working from anywhere, which means she doesn’t have to ask for permission or time off to continue exploring. You’ll find her enjoying her home base, Portland, Oregon, when she’s not roaming the globe.

After trying out a number of different living arrangements, including Berlin and living in a van in the U.S., and setting everything up so she could live and work anywhere, Nicole and her partner ended up in the tiny island nation of Malta, where she’s loving life and running her location-independent web design business.

Tommy started his adventure abroad teaching English in South Korea. Eventually he landed in Medellin, Colombia, which is now his home base for further travels while he runs a content marketing agency and helps freelancers transition from side income to a full-time living.

After starting a successful online business (and getting burned out and losing sight of their bigger goals along the way), Nick and Gen decided to try out a more nomadic lifestyle. They discovered that it allowed for more inspiration and creativity (and time off), so they sold everything and now run two full-time businesses together while traveling full-time.

Since having their daughter in 2013 (and with a second child on the way), Hannah and her husband, Chris, have seen their travel lifestyle change to involve longer spells living in one new place rather than constantly traveling like many nomads do. They occasionally return to their flat in the UK for a few months at a time, and spend other periods focused on travel and living overseas.

Since he became a nomad in early 2011, Eli has been changing locations every two months. He almost always chooses to go to new places rather than ones he’s been to before, and over the years he has created a set of “rules” to guide his lifestyle that allow him to work on his businesses, connect with locals, and explore his surroundings.