Nomadding and Blogging is harder than we thought. We’ve been moving pretty fast, and certainly internet availability has been more scarce than we’d imagined. We’ll edit this page to keep you up to date on Art Nomads’ itinerary: WHERE we are and where we’ve been, in more or less real time.
We’re WAY behind on those big long 1500+ word posts that Google wants us to write… so we hope to get you caught up, and hopefully allow us to STAY caught up.
But first, if you’re new here, maybe you should check out our About Us page to learn more about who we are.
How we started – Covid changed everything.
Covid sucked. While we and our families managed to get thru it relatively unscathed, it did alter our way of thinking about our life.
We were all set – in training, in fact, to hike the Inca Trail in June of 2020. Then, well, you know. We did manage a couple socially-distanced roadtrips to the Oregon Coast and southwestern US desert.
A few years later, we were older, less happy / healthy versions of ourselves and decided on some major changes.
We started planning what we thought was going to be a one-year Round-The-World trip, using airline miles. As we really got deep into planning, it became more like a retirement/life plan; it stretched to 18 months, then two years, and now… we honestly don’t know.
As “Senior(ish) Nomads”, we have a goal of doing the hard, physically-demanding things, like hiking and diving, while we can. For that, we’ve allowed 2 years of expanded budget to include bucket-list things like safaris, hiking the Inca Trail and Nepal.
After, we will sadly need to cut waaay back and slowmad, likely living in places for weeks or months at a time to keep our budget in line.
This probably means we will need to revisit some countries later in life to enjoy them more fully. And cheaply.
Anyway, back to our travel timeline.
We created a timeline for selling all (or most) of our stuff, including our Utah home. After 6 yard sales, a couple auctions and some private placements, we finished in summer of 2023.
The HighLine Roadtrip: Mountain hikes and art in the Northern US
On August 28, we hit the road with a packed (I mean PACKED) car, and headed north to visit favorite (Grand Teton) and new (Glacier) National Parks, and across the Northern Plains states, on what I’ve taken to calling the HighLine Roadtrip.
We found a decent mix of nature and art, owing mostly to university galleries along the way. We found some surprises along the way, like Bozeman, MT, which has a pretty robust contemporary art scene. Must be all those California bazillionaires moving in.
We continued across to Green Bay, down through Milwaukee and Chicago, before heading into Michigan to spend a few months with family whom we wouldn’t likely see for awhile. We also wanted to see if Detroit’s arts resurgence was holding ground. (Spoiler alert – it’s doing just fine)
Testing, Testing: Are we really going to do this?!
We wanted to test the idea of traveling for years with just what we could fit in our backpacks, accounting for all terrain, activity and temperature conditions. That means from -10F to 100+F, snorkel gear to hiking to fancy schmancy. All in one 45L backpack each. Would we really have what we need? What about connection? Finances? Were we insane?
Costa Rica: Hot & Active
In mid-November, we headed to Costa Rica for 3 weeks; we did some city stuff (don’t sell San Jose short as an arts destination), as well as hiking, rafting and beach-ing. We saw some of the wildlife Costa Rica is famous for, and had our first “mysterious disappearnace” of gear. Mr.’s favorite overshirt and daypack went missing. hmmmmmmm
Miami: Hot & Fancy
We returned to FL, pressed our dress clothes, and hit the opening of Art Miami/Context mere hours after landing. We followed that up with a solid week of art fairs & galleries, museums, public/street art, and walking. LOTS of walking. We wrote about how you might want to handle ArtBasel / ArtMiami / Miami Art Week madness.
Florida: Last Call & Final Prep
We spent the holidays with family and friends in Florida whom we were unlikely to see for a long time. Replaced & changed gear, got final paperwork, logistics and finances in order. Bought tickets.
On March 25, 2024, we left the US … for the foreseeable future.
March 2024: London Calling- our first *real* nomadic stop
We spent about two weeks in London, where we took in all the art we possibly could in the Mayfair, Chelsea and SoHo areas, while being stunned at the high cost of food and drink. Never would we have thought a pint of beer would be 6-10 pounds!
In a sort of synchronicitous, back-to-our-beginning moment, we took in a fabulous Edward Burtynsky show at Saatchi gallery. We learned of him on our first extended SE Asia trip in 2009, this felt like a sign.
We also took in an interesting Yoko Ono show at Tate Modern.
With no language barrier, this starting point allowed us to sort of ease into a whole new way of life, and we’d recommend this approach. So much more to see in Great Britain; we’ll be back.
April-August: Italy – La Dolce Vita and Art
After London, we spent 4 months in Italy, arriving early April and settling into an apartment in Asti, a small but pleasant comune about 30 minutes by train from Turin/Torino. Mr. has familial ties, which allowed a brisk path to dual citizenship, one which has since sadly closed. We enjoyed good food and wine, local festivals, and The Sweet Life – for a time.
Art called: we attended art fairs in Turin, Milan, and the Venice Biennale. We added a couple weeks in Switzerland for Zurich Art Weekend and Art Basel thrown in for good measure. Again with the super-pricy food!
We did NOT plan early enough to hike in the Dolomites, as we’d hoped – if that’s on your list, plan to book lodging at least a year in advance. While disappointed, we assume the Dolomites will still be there in a few years, and we’ll work to be in shape to hike them. We did very much enjoy a “consolation prize” visit to Domodossola near the Italian/Swiss border.
August to December: On To Africa
Egypt: Diving into history
In August, we headed to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt – in the Sinai peninsula, to complete scuba diving classes / certification in the Red Sea, where so many folks have said it’s the absolute best. We can’t confirm that yet, but can confidently say the water was warm, the visibility amazing, and the seafood as fresh as you could wish for. It’s also blazingly hot in August, with most days well over 100F, up to 115. Thankfully, we were mostly underwater during the days.
We also booked time in Alexandria. While we enjoyed some of the historic sites, we now understand why most tours do it as a day trip from Cairo. We did have some amazing meals there, for literal pennies. We’d hoped to dive the underwater ruins of Cleopatra’s Palace; we learned they’re are now a “dig” and off limits to recreational divers.
Strangely enough, we really only spent a half day in Cairo – just enough to see the Egyptian Museum; we’re planning a return to see the southern temples, Giza pyramids and the new Great Museum to close out 2024.
Tanzania: Low Tide to Mountain Highs
Zanzibar
From Alexandria/Cairo, we headed to Zanzibar for a change from city to beach time. We kicked back for a week on Nungwi beach in the north, eating fresh seafood, diving and snorkeling. A bonus to the snorkeling trip was boat-racing dolphins. They won. We then spent a few days in historic Stonetown, before heading to Arusha on the mainland.
Arusha / Mt. Meru / Safari
In Arusha, we met up with friends from Utah, and hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro’s little brother, Mt. Meru. Just shy of 15,000 feet, it still counts as a “15-er” in our book and ranks as one of the most challenging and rewarding things we’ve done to date.
We sadly parted ways (after all, we hadn’t seen these friends for a year, and who knows how long it will be until next time) and set off on our first-ever safari!
In just under a week, we toured through 5 national parks, including Northern and Central Serengeti. We spotted 4 of the Big Five, needing only a Leopard sighting to complete the list, but that would have to wait.
South Africa – Cultural Enclave
Switching out of adventure mode and back into Art, in early September we hopped over to Johannesburg to cover the JNB Art Joburg fair, one of Africa’s oldest and most established fine art fairs. A compact, boutique-level fair, Art Joburg offers a good look at contemporary art in Africa, with themes and materials thoroughly representative of the continent. We enjoyed the fair, gallery openings, and some really pretty fantastic food.
Botswana – Call of the Wild
But the elusive leopard kept whispering… taunting us… so we set out for an 11-day safari in Botswana. On our Tanzania safari, we overnighted in lodges. For this one, we stepped up the adventure a notch and tent-camped in 5 different parks, including the famous Chobe National Park. Our guide was fantastic! He listened to us well, and worked the radio to find us the animals and activities we added almost daily to our “must-see” list. A bit worried about the trip’s rustic nature before we embarked, now we relish the time spent in the parks, under the stars and among the animals (dining with elephants a mere 30 feet away!). And yes, we saw leopard(s) – 14 times!!
Zambia / Zimbabwe – Natural Wonders
More Adventure awaited us just across the border from Botswana’s Chobe NP in Zambia and Zimbabwe, where Livingstone town, Victoria Falls, and the mighty Zambezi River treated us right! History, nature’s majesty, some fine craft beer, and the adrenaline rush of rafting the #1 ranked river in the world. We got wide-eyed and wet, and loved it.
South Africa, part 2: Whales, Wine and Walks
Hermanus & Wine Country
It was now September 22, and all this adventure meant we (and our laundry) were long overdue for some city time and … ahem, soap. We headed down to the southern coast of South Africa for the annual Hermanus Whale Festival.
The seas were far too rough for us to dive with them, but we spotted several mother-calf pairs, sea lions, and even boat-raced some dolphins. They won, again. We got lucky and fell into a flower festival in nearby tiny Stanford (it’s actually kind of a big deal), wandered stunning coastline paths, climbed a lighthouse and tasted some of the best wines, ever. I think we’re a little in love with this area. So much so that we plan to visit again later in November.
Cape Town
Hermanus is NOT a big city, and while it has dozens of art galleries, we headed to Cape Town for a proper mix of art and adventure. While we still had our car, we headed to Simonstown and the Penguin reserve. The following day we hiked ourselves silly, doing both up AND down Table Mountain, starting from the lovely Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, up Skeleton Gorge and down Plattekilp Gorge. After something like 8km, over roughly the same number of hours, we definitely earned the massive beers and burger we enjoyed afterwards!
Sometimes, those “must do” lists are spot on: we enjoyed a couple delightful free walking tours which introduced us to neighborhoods, restaurants and hotspots we would have otherwise missed. Capping the visit was a museum and Cape Town’s monthly First Thursday Gallery Walk.
Our art needs temporarily met, and knowing we would be returning later in November, it was time to switch gears again…
Madagascar: The road (really) less-traveled.
In early October, off we flew to Madagascar, for a 41-day long tour of the Red Island, eager to meet lemurs, baobobs, and chameleons. Via rivers and roads, we visited nearly a dozen National Parks and private reserves. We discovered lovely people and landscapes both stark and luscious.
We did indeed meet lemurs, and in fact had them drinking (water) out of our hands. For wild animals, they are surprisingly gentle and patient, and we’re maybe a little in love with them, too.
We were delighted to find beer was generally less than $1USD for 50cl bottle.
Nosy Be
We spent 3+ weeks on the main island, followed by a couple weeks on Nosy Be, the definitely-more-touristy island to the northwest… but which is still pretty chill.
