What were you doing before you went mobile?

Before Michael and I hit the road full time, we were just another young couple living and working in Los Angeles. I worked in business administration for a community nonprofit, and Michael worked in marketing for an outdoor apparel company. In the three years prior to our trip, we were living in a small rent-controlled apartment in Silver Lake as the neighborhood rapidly gentrified around us.

Why did you make the change?

Both of us had been working full time Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 since we left college. The only economy we've ever known is the post-2008 recession, so once we found decent paying jobs in our mid-20s, we became very risk-adverse. We were playing a very defensive game, and the fear of unemployment guided a lot of our decisions. But while we were able to pay the bills and afford a reasonable lifestyle, we couldn't escape the feeling we were just treading water. Not getting ahead, not falling behind, just floating along.

We had both fallen out of love with the work we were doing at our jobs but felt compelled to carry on with them anyway to make ends meet. We had real passions we wanted to pursue—photography and writing, respectively—but could never devote any time to them. We also wanted the ability to travel, to see the world, and to experience new places. But again, our time—and it seemed, our lives—had already been spoken for. From our perspective, it looked as if our schedules were full from now until 65.

At a certain point, we decided this wasn't a game we felt like playing anymore. We were tired of working at jobs we didn't like, to make money so we could keep on living, in order to continue working the jobs we don't like. So we decided to find a new game, one in which we actually enjoyed playing, one in which we had an optimal chance of winning.

We no longer have the option of holing ourselves up in a private four-walled apartment. Instead, we spend most of our time in public spaces. Whether it's a national forest, a city park or a public library, these spaces have become an essential part of our lives.