About Us: Meet Gracen and Austin!

Hey there! We’re Gracen and Austin (The Happy Nomads). We’re so happy you’re here!

I, Gracen, will write the majority of our blogs. I love writing, researching places/things to see, cooking, and being in nature. Austin is a graphic designer; he created our website and designs our content. He loves art, music, photography, and nature too!

Gracen, Austin, and Bae in White Sands National Park, 2023

We have set out on our full-time RV adventure in hopes to share with others:

• What it’s like to live on the road

• Things to do in various places

• The beauty of the U.S. National Parks

• Tips for traveling full-time with pets

• Our minimalistic lifestyle and ways to be eco-conscious

We met in college just before the pandemic in 2020. After facing financial struggles and uncertainty, I bought my first travel trailer in November to live in full-time without a vehicle to tow it. Following my wildlife biology studies at UT-Austin, I landed a job with the U.S. Forest Service in California in early 2021. We moved my RV to California, where I lived for 6 months while Austin completed college. Four years later, we now call the RV our home!

Gracen and her first RV in Foresthill, California, 2021

After my seasonal job in California, I moved back to Texas while Austin finished his degree in communication design. We moved into a rental house together in 2022 and after 6 months, we decided to move into the RV and get on the road. We realized that life is too short to be sitting in a stressful commute, working jobs we didn't love, and wishing we were doing the things we're passionate about. Since we already had my RV, we decided to purchase a truck so we could take our pets with us wherever we go.

We have an 11-year-old Border Collie/German Shepherd named Bae, and a 4-year-old orange tabby cat named Keke. I rescued Bae when I was 16 years old, and she’s my best friend. It's a dream come true for me to be able to bring her along on our adventures. We love showing her new places and being active together. Our cat, Keke, is definitely a character and adds a variety of spunk and craziness to our life on the road. People may think that having pets on the road is too difficult, but we can’t imagine it any other way, and we wouldn’t want to. Both Bae and Keke love the outdoors, and they’re happy to be with us on life’s journey.  

Keke and Bae!

In June of 2023, we left Texas to begin our journey towards the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by the end of July for Austin’s family reunion. We stopped in Colorado for a few weeks and visited Rocky Mountain National Park. Then we headed north through Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin before arriving in Michigan. After the family reunion and visiting Pictured Rocks National Seashore, we headed towards Glacier National Park in northern Montana. I've wanted to visit this national park since I was 18 years old, and it was more amazing than I could've imagined.

Going to the Sun road, Glacier National Park, 2023

Now, keep in mind, we didn't plan anything for this trip. No reservations, no idea what we were doing, nothing. Everything after Michigan was extremely unplanned and (we think) even better because of it. We loved Glacier NP, so we stayed for two weeks until we were ready to move on. Then, we decided we’d like to see Yellowstone NP and headed that way. We visited the Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City, Arches NP, Zion NP, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon before heading back to Texas for the holidays. It just goes to show that when your house has wheels, you can be wherever whenever, and that is simply freedom to us.

Some of the National Parks we visited last year!

It was a magical year! But we can say it didn’t come easy. This lifestyle took a toll on us, and when we got back to Texas in October, we decided to stay for 6 months and look at apartments/rentals before the summer. When the holidays were over and 2024 came around, we were ready to get back on the road. We didn’t want an apartment and we couldn’t afford to buy a property (in this economy??), so we went through ALL of our belongings, reorganized the RV, made some improvements, stuffed our storage unit full, hugged all of our people, and left Texas again in May of this year.  

Boondocking near Wind Cave National Park, 2024. Our current RV

We went straight to Colorado and spent a month there (a blog to come on all things we did there). And now, we are back in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for Austin’s family reunion!

What questions do you have? We’d love to answer them. Who knows, your question may even spark an entire blog post 😊  

Happy travels! 🚐❤️