Hey everyone, we have some exciting news to share...we're moving to Portland!

As with most of our life decisions, we have been thinking about this move for a while now but decided it was time to make it happen. We signed a lease on a Wednesday and hit the road with our cats on Thursday.

It can be hard to keep our friends and family in the loop while trying to relocate across the country. So, here's a little update on what's going on.

Back in April, our current travel therapy job was cut short due to the pandemic and we decided to head back to Ohio. We lived with family and loved our time being home but now it's time for us to get back to the real world.

So we're relocating to Portland! We get this may seem a bit crazy so let's start at the beginning...

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Falling in Love with Portland

Since the day we started traveling, both of us fell in love with the West Coast. We love the scenery, the adventures, the atmosphere...everything.

If you know Phil then you know he has a love for rain so naturally, he would gravitate towards the PNW (Pacific Northwest). Luckily for Phil, Kelsey LOVES the vibe of the PNW area so for years we would take yearly trips to Seattle.

Somewhere along the way, we decided to stop by Portland during one of our Seattle trips and LOVED IT.

We love both cities and feel they both have a huge place in our hearts but when talking about where we would "settle down" one day...Portland was always the winner.

When it comes to Seattle we really like one area...by Pikes Market. With Portland, we like all the areas (okay maybe not all the areas but you get the point).

Pearl district is always a favorite but anywhere in downtown Portland fits our lifestyle perfectly.

If you're still curious about "why Portland" here are some of the main reasons.

1. The vibe of the city is amazing
2. Greenery is stunning
3. So much to do that fit our lifestyle
4. The airport has great flight deals
5. Close to several other airports with international flights
6. A great public transport system
7. Lots of hiking and running paths
8. SO MUCH VEGAN FOOD
9. We just love it

So Why Move Now?

Why now? This has been one of the more frequently asked questions.

We get it, even if you knew we eventually wanted to end up in Portland you might still be wondering why it suddenly happened.

Truth is, we ALMOST bought an apartment in Portland last year. No joke. We made an offer and everything.

The owners counter offered and it made us both stop and think about what we were doing. Since we had recently paid off our student loans at the beginning of 2019, we didn't love the idea of going right back into debt.

A new plan was made to rent first, really figure out the ins and outs of portland then buy somewhere down the road. The idea was to move in early 2021.

A pandemic in 2020 was what made us move up the timeline.

Not to get too into the world of physical therapy but since we are traveling therapists, moving to Oregon allows us access to more states to work in.

Every state we want to work in we need a new license...but recently some states joined a compact making it easier to work in the other compact states.

So if we live and have a license in one of the compact states, we now get access to about 25 more states.

Since we wanted to move to Portland at some point anyway, it made sense to move up our timeline and then get more access to job opportunities.

Are We Settling Down?

Don't worry everyone, we're not settling down. We're still going to be crazy, traveling nomads but this time with a home base in Portland.

We are still going to be traveling physical therapists but will have Portland as our permanent home. This way we can spend time here throughout the year and always be our place.

When the pandemic subsides we will go back to our adventures around the world but again will have our home always waiting for us.

Are We No Longer Minimalists?

We are still minimalists and probably always will be. Our apartment is a studio with about 500 sqft but compared to our time in a 94 sqft travel trailer this seems like a mansion.

The goal is to furnish the apartment keeping up with our minimalist ways and making sure everything we own has its purpose. Currently, everything we own fits into our crossover SUV and we want to keep it that way...with the only exception being furniture.

But again, we're not going to go overboard and want to make sure "everything we own brings us joy". If you ever see us with too many throw pillows feel free to stage an intervention.

And that's the story. We are excited about our move and love this new adventure.