Our Story

Karen and I are full-time travelers. We immerse ourselves in cultures, people and environments around the world to quench our thirst for learning and tasting the variety of life. We both spent 20+ years working in the corporate world, loving what we did but taking every opportunity to explore a new corner of the world. In early 2012 we decided to give up the stability and safety of corporate life to follow our dreams, spending the next 2.5 years visiting over 60 countries, living out of backpacks and being foot-loose and fancy free.

In 2014, we returned to the US and made our home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Karen returned to her career in cybersecurity, while Garrett rejected the corporate world and joined the tourism industry as a Tour Director. We enjoyed six wonderful years in the Bay Area.

By Nov 2020, we gave up our apartment and most of our possessions to hit the road aga in in, this time in our Mazda CX-5 with all our stuff stowed in the back. We have been continuously traveling since then pet sitting, living in Airbnbs, and even camping from time to time.

We're glad you stopped by to learn more about us and this crazy life we're living.  We hope by reading about our experiences, you'll be inspired to look at life differently, question your assumptions, and find the path to your dreams.

Karen Ethridge

A retired cybersecurity professional, Karen dedicated her career to helping people stay safe online. In addition Karen
* Served on the Board of the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati
* Helped low-income families understand and file their taxes
* Tutored underserved students in reading and math
* Was a volunteer diver at Newport Aquarium, taking care of tanks full of fish, otters, rays, eels and huge sharks. Yikes!

For the past several years Karen has coupled traveling the globe with working part time for TrustedHousesitters, helping bring the joys of pet sitting to people around the world. Karen is pet first aid certified.

Garrett Ethridge

Garrett is a Tour Director who spends about 5 months each year leading group tours throughout the United State and Cuba. Since 2014, Garrett has led over 150 tours for students and adults of all ages, including a variety of activities such as kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, camping, and river rafting.

Prior to becoming a Tour Director, Garrett spent 19 years at Fidelity Investments in a variety of management roles. He was the Chairman of the Board of Four Paws for Ability and was also the Treasure of the San Francisco Tour Guide Guild.

These days, when he's not exploring the world with Karen, Garrett can be found leading tours of national parks in the western US, music in the south, and US history along the east coast.
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