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Grant Hickman • June 9, 2024

Observations: L.A.

Throughout the course of our time here in Los Angeles, we've spent the time comparing to our lives back at home in Colorado, absorbing the culture, and trying to get a feel for what it really feels like to live here. Some of the things we've seen, heard, or unfortunately smelled may stand out but don't fit squarely into a post of their own. So we're collecting some of our random observations here...

#1 - The skyline of San Pedro is filled with AT-ATs, or brachiosauruses.

#2 - Bikers (of the motorcycling variety) have a true deathwish out here.

#3 - It's important to define your "bubble" - where you can realistically get out and explore during the work week. There are so many things out here to do and they aren't FAR, but if you think it's easy to get to them you would be so wrong. The bubble for us has been 20-30 minutes of drive time and for San Pedro that puts us as far as Ranch Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Torrance, or Long Beach at the most. Malibu, Santa Monica, DTLA, Hollywood, Laguna, Irvine... fuggettaboutit.. that's gonna be an easy 1 hr drive or more each way. Out of bubble - you need prep time to make it happen or plan it for the weekend, and account for traffic. So much time in the car!

#4 - Don't fret though... on every corner you will find a burger joint, an ice cream shop, and a donut shop.

#5 - We need to spend more time back at home on our backdoor area - pergola, firepit, some types of greenery and lighting, a hammock. The after hours hangout sessions outside of the house in a quaint backyard has been hard to beat.

#6 - You will smell a dead seal well before you see it.

#7 - We've never seen the actual end of so many freeways. In one day you could get to the "End of the freeway" sign for the 110, then later end the 10 and the 405 on your way up the coast. Is this where freeways come to die?

#8 - Folks here are super friendly and approachable, but if you meet them on the road, they won't hesitate to kill you and your entire family in cold blood.

#9 - But for real, we've had complete strangers strike up conversations much more easily it seems as we go about our day than expected, very genuine people. More authentic, or at least different, than at home in Colorado. It's like people will go out of their way, unprompted, to strike up conversation. Different even from what I recall from living in Tennessee.

#10 - On the other hand, there are some oddballs... we watched a guy in Malibu walk down the middle of a lane on PCH as he walked to the bus stop, unconcerned by traffic. When cars came to a halt behind him, they of course would honk at him to move to the shoulder. His response, of course, is to turn around flip them them off with both barrels.

#11 - On a different day in Malibu, we visited Escondido Falls - a #1 destination waterfall hike near L.A.. It was a fairly short stroll through a lush forest. A creek meandering alongside the trail. We get to the waterfall - it's super nice, great waterfall. Perfect spot for... you guessed it, posting up a tent right smack dab in front of it. Bro sat in his tent while people filtered in to get there Insta-perfect shots right in front of his tent. He decides to mosey out and take a splash in the waterfall, dipping his head in the fall and shaking his long locks like it's Maybelline. Then he returned, satisfied, to his private personal viewing location.

#12 - For our dietary restrictions, it's easier to find vegan than gluten-free. The food scene is remarkable - you'll find experiences here you'll never find back in Colorado. Back home, we can find good food experiences, but you have to seek it out. Here, you can stumble upon something new without a plan.

#13 - We're overstimulated... sights and sounds and smells. Working normal work weeks, while planning where to go tonight, this weekend, 6 months from now. Who can we see while we're here, who should we be coordinating with for 2 weeks from now? What do we need to fix now with the house for tenants back home? Did I just hear gunshots or fireworks? (narrator: it was gunshots). TAMALES! Hot TAMALES! .. coming from our back alley. Is that Christmas music? No it's an ice cream truck. Is there someone breaking through our front gate? No it's the electric company coming to check the meter at our AirBnB. Can we finally rest? No, time to take Copper and Bennett out to get some energy out. Who DDT'd my bank account?

#14 - Speaking of dog walks... no open spaces here. Walkability is nowhere near the same. If you want to go for a stretch, your options are limited and you'll have to get in the car (at least that's the case from our place in San Pedro). That has been a challenge for us and our standard routine.

#15 - Vanity plates are everywhere.

#16 - TV is overrated. We made it a goal to lean into "No TV", especially with our first AirBnB having no TV. We have monitors and laptops, but we've been intentional about fully experiencing where we are. Some days, especially towards the end of our first month, we've felt the nonstop schedule catching up with us, but resting in the backyard, reading, taking the dogs for a stroll, picking up the guitar... there's plenty else to do. It's easy to fall into the routine of TV but we hope to take this learning back with us.

#17 - It is "vibrant" here. We've enjoyed the fact that there are many different types of people here. And the city life has a different speed, it's louder, and there's just a lot going on all the time. There's colorful artwork and graffiti throughout the city (often very well done). But we've joked at times when things are also "vibrant" in less appealing ways. When overhearing the couples arguing, cars backfiring, fireworks(?) going off at 4 am, or when a neighbor's gutter is being replaced like 5 ft away while trying to work.

#18 - We miss our king bed. We have had better sleep.

#19 - It's actually been pretty cold here, at least in May. We've learned a lot about the "May gray", the marine layer that keeps the coast covered most of the mornings in May. The temperature can change quite quickly from overcast, cool, and windy, to very warm, sunny, and humid.

#20 - We miss the crispness of the Colorado morning air. There's something more refreshing about the air in Colorado. We miss the ease of getting out for an amazing hike, and to get out and not have to sit in an hour of traffic to get somewhere (at least generally speaking). Maybe it's possible here but much harder from San Pedro.

#21 - It's been awesome being close enough to some long-time friends I haven't been able to see in forever, and near Annie's family. Getting out to see people we know and getting to spend quality time is a great perk of this experience. There's less pressure than if we were just out on vacation for a week and trying to fit it in. It's much easier to meet up for a casual hike or bite and catch up!

#22 - We are still adapting to the mindset of traveling for vacation to traveling for a year. There's plenty of tension to take advantage of where we are and fit in all the things and to see all the people, but we know we have to build in some rest time. We know it. We will do that... we will, right?

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Seattleites for a Month: From Ballard to Cascades

By Grant Hickman • February 2, 2025

At the end of August 2024, we ended our time in Bend and we had a full schedule ahead. We loaded up and struck out to Nehalem/Manzanita, Oregon – our first time at the Oregon Coast. We met up with Annie’s family for a weekend stop on the way up to Seattle for the month of September. On the way to the coast, we stopped off in Newport at the brewery that produces one of my all time favorite brews - Rogue Dead Guy Ale. We bought a palette of beer (practically) and took the pups for a stroll on the pier, catching harbor seals - the pups of the sea - as they floated beneath us. Copper and Bennett caught whiffs of their sea brethren but couldn’t quite put their noses on the scent–one they were well acquainted with from our time in Pacific Grove and the abundant marine life there. In Nehalem/Manzanita, we celebrated Annie’s birthday with a homemade vegan Biscoff cake and spent time with baby Fiona, the newest and most potato-like member of the Elliott family. When the potato slept, we explored the town and enjoyed the beach, marked by amazing beachside cliffs, crested by sunset rays flashing through the coastal fog. The trip was too fast as it was only a few nights before we were off again as we crept our way up through the PNW forests to Astoria, OR and then on to Portland for an overnight hotel stay–one of Bennett’s favorite stops on the road. Bennett loves hotels for some reason. An overnight stop in Portland meant one thing: McMenamins. This iconic spot served as the perfect gathering place to meet up with friends and coworkers. Breweries, a cigar bar, apple trees, and sprawling outdoor spaces—what more could we need? Shoutout to Jax and Nick, Dave, and Becka for coming out to join us. After a couple of pints and plenty of laughs, we hit the road again, Seattle-bound. Spirits high after getting to catch up with some old and new friends, it was time to get serious – next up was Seattle, WA and the dance card was booked solid. After settling into our new house–a small one-level, 2 bedroom Airbnb with a spacious yard, dwarfed on all sides by multi-level townhomes, we kicked things off with more Elliott family time. First up, we all reconnected at a brewery on the water to bring in Annie’s younger sisters to the crew. During their visit, we spent plenty of time at Catherine’s (Annie’s older sister) home in the Magnolia neighborhood. Everyone braved a vegan tasting menu ( vegan tartare, anyone? ) for an extended birthday celebration, explored the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPoP) and took plenty of photos-especially of the new addition to the ranks of the fierce Elliott women. From there, Seattle went hard. Somehow an Isle paddleboard arrived at our doorstep - not sure how. But we figured we might as well take it for a spin and see how well Bennett could manage. You could say it went swimmingly. Though we do think a seal was becoming very interested as it followed Annie and Bennett into shore at Golden Gardens. The paddleboard plan was short-lived however. We only got in a few spins before the cold came in. At least we’re set up for next summer!

Brilliant Bounty of Bend

By Grant Hickman • October 30, 2024

Flashback to 2021 - Annie and I are walking along a gorgeous river, with Copper and Bennett leading the way. Assorted breweries and restaurants were strewn across the riverside. The sun was shining, the people friendly. We had some beers at a brewery, while another next door celebrated a grand opening. We spent only a quick night in a quaint AirBnB, right alongside the Old Mill District - what that meant we didn’t really understand. We woke up in the morning, had this amazing breakfast and set our targets homeward to Colorado. In 2021, we roadtripped to Seattle for a few weeks (dogs in tow) and we picked a few overnight locations to stop at on the way to and from, and Bend was one of those locations that really stood out. After that short stay, we were hooked and knew right then we’d have to come back. Not long after arriving back in Colorado that year, we celebrated Christmas at home then visited Little Rock to celebrate with Annie’s grandparents–another short road trip with the whole family. And on our return home, I recall doing some work with my laptop spread out in the back of the Jeep, with Annie driving. I’m uber-focused on my work, going through a lot of prep materials as I was still gradually onboarding for GitLab at that time. That’s when Annie interrupted me from the front, saying “your..brother is calling me?”. He was wondering if we were okay, that mom was frantic, that something could be wrong. That’s how we learned that Colorado was on fire, and it was seemingly very close to our house. I recall a lot of emotions as we considered if our house could be in danger, if we could be homeless, or how many others would be impacted. We learned as we got closer that our concerns may have been a bit over the top. The wildfire was not that close, though it wasn’t a complete non-risk. We did have close friends who had it much worse and friends of friends who lost homes. It was a scary time and definitely shook us a bit. It’s with this backdrop we flash forward again to 2024. On our travel north from the California redwoods to the Oregon pines, we skirted the Park fire in northern California (the fifth largest in California’s modern history). We stopped in Redding and saw a number of firefighters passing through, staying at our hotel to help with the nearby fire. We continued on past Mt. Shasta (and the portal-IYKYK), past Klamath Falls, and on to the winding Deschutes River. As we drove through the pines, the skies were thick with smoke coming from the west. It felt like there were fires everywhere around us. We started to unload and take in our new abode for the month, near Tumalo in the north part of Bend. Two days later, another spark took light 2 miles away from us. We could see the smoke plume and we monitored the FireWatch app to see if we’d just have to pack up and go after all. Fortunately, as time passed and water bombers passed directly above our heads, the summer heat dissipated, rain came, and the fire was contained. We could finally breathe a sigh of relief and actually settle in! The location - stellar. The yard was huge (and securely fenced). We had a lovely pergola, hot tub, outdoor couch, hammock, and some other hammock-chair thing. An outdoor table, firepit (which we decided not to use). We were inspired that we must take some of this back into our own yard space one day and took copious notes.

Final Call in City of Angels

By Grant Hickman • July 31, 2024

The sands trickle through the hourglass as our time in L.A. comes to a close. The flames flicker in the corner of our cozy San Pedro cottage - the sounds of raccoons chattering, tires screeching, and gunshots (or fireworks) popping lightly in the distance. We’re pretty sure they’re fireworks. While we blew through the bulk of activities in the first month, we were able to shoehorn a few more points of interest into our final weeks in L.A.

Los Angeles: A Diverse and Eclectic Tapestry

By Grant Hickman • June 29, 2024

So where did we leave off in our last post? Ah, yes - Yamashiro… crispy rice cakes and gorgeous views of Hollywood 😋 What we discovered over the next few weeks is that L.A. not only has a lot to offer, but it also provides access to a wide range of activities. It’s not that surprising, but it’s different being able to experience and take advantage of it. We’ve pulled together a few highlights from mid-May to June. Disregard the fact that we’ve fallen behind in documenting our adventures as we’re now in Pacific Grove. We’ll have to catch you up.

A (Work) Day in the Life

By Annie Elliott • June 24, 2024

Saturday, June 22, was a perfect encapsulation of the workdays on the Monterey Peninsula. Since before we left, our work week has been Tuesday-Saturday, originally intended to take advantage of the smaller Monday crowds on the mountain during ski/snowboard season. We haven’t changed it since hitting the road, and it’s continued to be a great setup to explore more popular areas on less crowded days. At any rate, here are the mundane details of our workday should they be of interest. Annie has been feeling pretty sick the past few days (Covid? Flu? Bad cold? You know the drill), so Grant gets up with dogs and lets them out in the yard (making sure to keep a close eye on Bennett in particular, who has decided we do in fact live here now and that this is her new neighborhood to terrorize). He makes his tea and heads upstairs to the office–our new place is a 3 bed/2 bath, which is quite the expansion from the 1 bedroom bungalow in LA. Eventually Annie gets up as well, makes her mate (IYKYK), and eases into her workday. Dogs get breakfast and around noon we decide to go on a W.A.L.K. It’s a gorgeous day with lots of blooming flowers this time of year, and clear blue skies. We stroll around the neighborhood blocks, still exploring our area, and feeling thankful to be able to just pop out the front door and walk anywhere we want-a luxury we didn’t fully appreciate until we didn’t have it.

Settling in and #deinfluencing

By Annie Elliott • May 22, 2024

We are a full two weeks into our travels, and have begun to resume some semblance of old habits and routines. For our first week, we were still in vacation mode and with very particular goals around adventures and eating out. I was determined to take advantage of LA’s legendary food scene by mapping out the best vegan stops and picking up any vegan option available at coffee shops and bakeries along the way. I quickly became overwhelmed and had to filter my standards even further. Grant has still yet to achieve mercury poisoning from eating seafood, but he still has time to achieve his goal. We have also discovered that he can have sourdough bread, so that has taken on a large portion of our coffeeshop criteria and filters. The first week, we took advantage of all LA had to offer, driving from Laguna Beach to Malibu and back over several days, watching beach sunsets, hiking along bluffs, and checking stops off our “LA Eats” google list. We hiked up to the Hollywood sign, saw old friends of Grant’s from his college days, visited said college and even took some pics in front of his freshman dorm. We found Dole Whip at “BuYo” (Malibu Yogurt for the uninitiated), and lived in a dream world where jobs, money and dietary restrictions were only concepts, not really tangible structures with potential consequences for carelessness. Here are many of the things we got up to over that first week: Point Vicente hike (near our AirBnB and will likely become a staple) LA Zoo with friends Magic Castle with family Malibu: Lily’s (IYKYK), Zuma Beach / Point Dume/Pirate’s Cove , Pepperdine, BuYo Santa Monica pier, beach and promenade Laguna Beach- Nick’s and The Deck with family Brentwood and Alisa Viejo to hang with friends Korean Friendship Bell Rosie’s Dog Beach Notable eats: Din Tai Fung , Pura Vita , Erin McKenna’s Bakery , HiroNori Craft Ramen , Hug Life , San Pedro Fish Market

Leaving Colorful Colorado

By Grant Hickman • May 7, 2024

Seven years ago, we took a leap. We left Nashville, TN to move across country, bringing our jobs with us and hoping for the best, never looking back. We've missed all the friends and family we left behind, but the adventures we've had and memories we've made are irreplaceable. If nothing else, adventure and wanderlust are shared components in the DNA of our relationship (among many others). The new and the novel are the spice of life and something we love to share together. While we may revisit old adventures here, the main subject is that of new adventures. While we love our home and the life we've been building in Colorado, when the opportunity came up to trade "stayin' put" with a richer experience of, ...well, not - we took it! Follow along as we take a year (or more?) and take our jobs and lives on the road. Ten (or more?) locations across the upcoming year - two thirty-somethings, working and experiencing day-to-day life with our two pups, trekking across the Western United States and getting a dose of the different cultures and all there is to offer. Ok, so I know you've got questions... let's get into it! What exactly are you doing again? A minimum of one year, 10 AirBnB locations / 10 cities. Two dogs, two laptops, two cars, the two of us, and probably too much extraneous shit we're dragging around with us. We've rented out our home in Colorado and we'll be working remotely and experiencing the local cultures - not a year of vacation, but a year of life - likely dealing with common day-to-day stressors, trying to fit in exercise, making dinner, walking the dogs, and getting up early for last minute meetings. But, when we pop out to the grocery store or go for a neighborhood stroll, the scenery will be slightly different each time we go! Umm, but why? It may require unnecessary logistics, lots of additional planning, as well as cost. It has meant emptying all our belongings from our house and letting many things go. It has required dealing with multiple contractors to get our house "rental ready". And all of this before we even stepped foot in a new city. Why not just take a typical two week vacation somewhere nice and leave the hassle behind? Good question... it IS a lot, but at the moment, our jobs/careers are more flexible than they've been in the past and this grants us an opportunity we may never have again. There's something refreshing about shaking things up, trying something new, living multiple new lives in new destinations. Meeting up with old friends and hopefully many new ones. Connecting with distant network connections in new cities and seeing their city through their eyes. Embedding ourselves into these new communities and experiencing it along with the stress, not just seeing the detached pristine beach pics, but lounging on the beach after a stressful work day. Accessing a local bike trail to blow off steam. Coworking from a different coffee shop alongside faces I'd never see otherwise (not to mention I may never otherwise look up to notice). So essentially, it's an experience. One that I think we're unlikely to forget and may even build us towards more unexpected opportunities. How did you decide to do this? How do you plan something like this? This idea has been percolating for a while now. For one, as a Product Manager of a fully remote company (GitLab), I've seen many other peers shape their work schedules and lives to better suite their interests. For me, my interests include snowboarding, mountain biking, fly fishing, hiking -- many activities that happen to take place near mountains. We've entertained the idea for a while of moving more into the mountains, exploring an investment property, or somehow finding more creative approaches to enjoy mountain activities more easily, without breaking the bank. We started exploring the idea of a small "PoC"... a proof of concept to see what it's like to live in the mountains. Could we rent a place for a month? Three months? Well, that blossomed into this grander idea... if we are leaving our house vacant, why not rent it out? Why not experience more than just three months somewhere new? And so, here we are... From ideation to execution, we're probably looking at roughly 2 years of knocking the idea around and a good hard 3-6 months of practical hands-on preparations to make it happen. We contacted a local property management company, which was a really important step to take on early in the process. There are factors like timing the market to get the best rent for your home, and in a time when there is more activity... more renters looking for a rental home. They walked through our home and identified improvements we'd likely need to make and the pricing structure for our agreement. It's common to see a 10% property management fee per month, along with costs to get the home listed and upfront fees. Another key step, and one I'd recommend starting right away if you have any designs to do something like this... Marie Kando ya shit. If you are anything like us, it will take multiple rounds of letting go. We got really well acquainted with our local Goodwills, "buy nothing" groups, as well as landfills. Stuff we've accumulated, stuff we've built, stuff we've been asked to "hold onto"... lots of choices had to be made. We also rented a storage unit for the remaining things we decided to retain. It's safe to say we could likely let go of a lot more, but we did our best! One potential travel hack we came up with, as our plan consisted of booking primarily AirBnBs, it's known that you can get discounts on AirBnBs when you stay longer. "Long-term stays" which typically start after 28 days provide the deepest discounts. Seeing as how our plan included booking multiple AirBnBs upfront and in advance of our travel, that requires capital to put down deposits prior to us receiving any income from our home rental. To handle this more smoothly, we looked around for 0% APR credit cards and tried to find a card that also provided some benefits aligned with our travel plans (e.g. gas, groceries, travel insurance). We ended up going with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card but there were a few potential options. We didn't luck out and find any that paid additional points on AirBnB bookings but there are different perks out there and I'd suggest doing your own research based on your specific circumstances. In our case, we could put down deposits on around 6 of our bookings, and plan to have rental income to pay it back down well in advance of the terms. Planning the route Planning the route took a few rounds of ideation and thoughtful discussion. We identified the activities and locations that sparked our interest, as well as the constraints. I wanted more mountains. Annie wanted more beach. We both wanted locations with nice (enough) yards and space for our dogs. We wanted space for an office setup, to be able to work full days as needed. We wanted places we could get out easily to hike/walk and experience the sights, but we also have a budget. The goal was to try to find locations that kept us as close as possible to break-even - keeping costs as close to the rent intake from our home as possible. There are likely ways to keep the budget lower, but for all we were looking for, rent has been more of an approach to subsidize our experience. There's no additional savings from this plan. Many have asked if we're taking an RV, but to be able to live/work, the RV concept felt a bit cramped for all four of us. For others, this may work perfectly for you! AirBnBs could also be much cheaper if not looking for dog-friendly stays with more than a small strip of yard and an extra room for an office (which we still didn't find for all of our stays). So for us, we landed on locations across the Western United States. We mapped a plan to take two vehicles with dogs and travel point to point, keeping each leg of our drive as minimal as possible. We also considered which seasons we'd want to be where and had to make some concessions and decisions to narrow it down. Ultimately, we landed on the following map: