Our Story


So, how did we end up here? It's been a bit of a roller-coaster.

Matt was at University in Hertfordshire and Jenna was studying at UEA in Norwich (UK). We met in 2013 when Jenna went to a party at Matt's uni.

The night we first met
The night we first met (2013)
Not long after, we were in a long distance relationship, travelling between London and Norwich when we could.

We eventually moved in together in Norwich, renting a two bedroom flat and sharing with one of Jenna's friends.

Since leaving the TV industry when he left London, Matt has struggled to find his calling. He's had seven jobs in four years, working in retail, hospitality, sales, marketing, and being self-employed. None of the companies or opportunities offered the challenging and interesting future he was looking for.

Meanwhile, Jenna had to leave University after her first year, due to underfunding. That left her feeling lost, unaccomplished and working shifts in minimum wage jobs.

One of Jenna's primary goals was to own her own home. After living to an extremely tight budget, we managed to pull together a small deposit for a one bedroom flat in Norwich. It was only a 5% deposit, and we only had enough because Norwich property is much cheaper than other parts of the country. 80% of our monthly payments went on interest, but that was fine because we were paying no more than what we had been paying in rent, but this time we had an asset that was increasing in value.

We appreciated that for people our age we were lucky to be on the property ladder, but it came with some sacrifices. We were living 100 miles away from our closest friends and family, which had us feeling isolated.

Soon after, Jenna received a generous financial gift from a family member. That enabled us to do some things that would have taken us a long time to save for, like visit our best friend in Los Angeles, refurbish our kitchen, and get married. Even though we still did everything to a really tight budget, the money didn't last long and only gave us short term satisfaction.

Matt & Jenna at Santa Monica, LA, USA. 2016
Matt & Jenna at Santa Monica Pier, LA, USA (2016)
In 2017, Jenna was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E), which affected her ability to do daily tasks. She was left feeling constantly tired, achey, it affected her memory, social ability, and her sleep.

Working three jobs at the same time, one being walking dogs, Jenna had exhausted herself. Matt was working a temporary job in retail while also delivering parcels as a self-employed driver. Nothing worth holding on to.

When friends announced that they were having a baby, it made us reflect on our lives and decide we needed to make a change.

Thankfully, in just two years, the value of our flat had increased nicely. That gave us some options.

We did some research and eventually decided what we were going to do - quit our jobs, sell our home, buy a van and travel for an indefinite amount of time with no real plan.

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