Alex and I met one cold, wintery night in Minneapolis, MN. Alex grew up in Wisconsin while I am a North Dakota girl. But somehow, we were in the right place at the right time, finding each other in Minnesota, the middle of where we each were from. We felt as if our introduction was a precursor to our life now, going on out eighth year together, we have to meet in the middle. Life is all about compromises and this is no exception when you live in a 20ft by 6ft home on wheels. Although we have almost everything necessary to live a comfy and simple life, it has it’s difficulties. We have learned you have to make the most of the good experiences and let the unhelpful situations roll off your shoulder. This is as true in life as it is in disc golf.
As our relationship blossomed, we spent four weeks backpacking through Central America and immediately felt hungry for more travel and the unexpected experiences that accompany it. Somehow we found ourselves in New Orleans competing at our first PDGA disc golf tournament, we just walked up and asked what was going on and if we could sign up, not knowing that this new found hobby of ours would soon become our full time job! On our way back to Minneapolis that year, we decided to make a list of all the courses between New Orleans and Minnesota and played as many as we could on the way home. At that point we became absolutely hooked. When we got back to Minneapolis we decided to start renting out our apartment online in order to play as much disc golf as we could!
In 2015, we bought an RV older than me or Alex! Our 1982 Ford Econoline van. We embarked on a month long trip to Michigan for the PDGA AM World Championship and from there, we began our journey of what we like to call, Disc Golf College. We worked for another 6 months to save our funds, gave up our apartment and began our new simplistic, nomadic life.
In 2016, we began our four year commitment of traveling the US in a 1982 Ford Econoline RV playing in PDGA events as amateurs, building our routines and skillsets that would later translate into our professional careers. During this time, we gained much knowledge about life on the road, as we did about disc golf, coming across new challenges in both areas every day.
After many miles, a few popped tires, and several instances of overheating, we finally decided to retire our first RV home. But in early 2019 we began the year on a new foot and a fresh start with our new Ram Promaster! We spent three weeks building it from the ground up, adding essentials to make it into our new and improved home on wheels. (A year later and we are still working on improvements and finishing touches.
Along the road and on the course, we continue to come across different people traveling all walks of life. When people ask Alex and I, “how’s it going out there?” Most likely our response will be, “living the dream.” We have had the opportunity to travel hundreds of thousands of miles across the United States, see sensational views all over the country and play equally sensational disc golf courses from state to state. We have experienced hospitality by countless locals for dinner, drinks, and the kindness of offering us warm showers or spot to stay. That was when living the dream became more about human contact and generosity. Having these experiences with people on and off the course is what makes us truly living a dream today.
The first three years on the road were tough, we didn’t have much before we set out on our journey and it has lasted far longer than we expected. But we fell in love with this life. Waking up in a new spot, to a new view, and new course. You just can’t beat it. On the flip side, we may have been woken up at a Walmart parking lot at 3am and told there was no overnight parking a few times but regardless, it has been an adventure.
We are entering into our 2nd year in our new van and 6th traveling the US and playing in disc golf tournaments now professionally. We continue to host our Events, Clinics, 2 Disc Challenges and share our love of disc golf, so if we are in your area please sign up, come meet us, and support our tour!
