My name's Jess Harrison and I'm 32. I'm an Aussie but I haven't been home in years. I've been exploring North America for the past few years with my boyfriend Ben. Here's my story...

When I was 29, I quit my job, sold my things and bought a one way ticket to Vancouver, Canada. Thinking back on it, we didn’t even know what we were doing but we both knew it was time for a change. I was miserable and didn't even know it. I was pretty content in my bubble and I stuck to the same old routine every week. Wednesday night was washing night. Saturdays were for cleaning the house and mowing the lawn. Sundays were spent escaping the world and chain smoking. The thought of work the next day would have my stomach in knots. When did money and security become more important than happiness and health?

So...we both applied for work visas in Canada which would allow us to stay for 2 years. This was quite a long winded procedure but that's a story for another time.

Ben's a web developer so we knew that as long as we had internet, he'd be able to work anywhere.

We spent a few weeks in Vancouver and then decided to spend some time in a place called Big White Ski Resort. Here we learnt how to snowboard and we ended up staying for the whole season. We loved it! Being from Australia, we didn’t have much experience with snow and it’s now a huge part of our lives.

When Summer rolled around, we purchased an old Ford Frontier motorhome. We toured the West coast of America and Canada for 4 months with Annie, our home on wheels. Holy dicks what a ride. We had such an amazing time. Ben continued to work while we were on the road.

I had recently picked up a new Olympus mirrorless camera and a new passion was born. I couldn't get enough of photography. I spent hours learning about it. I woke up thinking about it, dreaming about it. I was obsessed. I started submitting photos for sale to sites like Shutterstock, Istock and Dreamstime. And they accepted some of them! And some got rejected. But people started buying my photos! It definitely wasn't enough money to live off, but I was stoked.

Once the Summer had ended, we sold the RV and headed back to Biggie for another snow season. Ben broke his leg this time around. Not ideal. He also battled with a collapsed lung and some broken ribs. Needless to say our second season was a little different but an experience nonetheless.

In the Spring we spent a couple of months in Canmore, Alberta. The Canadian Rockies quickly became my new favourite place on earth. Ben was on the mend and we were surrounded by these incredible, humbling, powerful mountains. And with my camera in hand, I was happy.

We then travelled across Canada to the East coast, tent camping along the way. We travelled from coast to coast experiencing all the usual highs and lows that go along with camping. But we actually got extremely lucky with the weather. There was only one night where I thought we could lose our shitty $50 tent to the extreme winds of a prairie storm.

During our travels, we had been eyeing off cryptocurrency. We were both really interested but we were waiting on some cash to come through from a sale back home. Once we got to Prince Edward Island, we were finally able to buy our very first coins.

Our work visas were coming to an end so we crossed the border into the States. We spent 3 months exploring there, all while collecting as much crypto as possible. We were on such a high. Our portfolio looked so healthy and we had made tons of profit. No matter what we bought, we couldn’t lose (noobs).

Once our time in the US was up, Canada was happy to have us again, but this time on 6 month tourist visas. We headed back to Biggie and enjoyed some of the best snow conditions we'd ever seen. And no broken bones this time around.

Annnnnd then the market crashed. Ouch. We got burnt so hard. But we are still in profit and I'm ok with that. Calling for a 100K May? Haha...one can only hope! At the end of the day, I believe in the technology and I’m excited for the changes that it will inevitably bring.

Quitting my job and travelling around Canada and the US has taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined. And infinitely more about the one I love.
Create the life you want to live, find out what makes you tick, what your passions are, your insecurities, your must haves in life. And don't listen to the naysayers.

So what happens now? We've picked up a new motorhome and we're in the process of getting it road worthy. The plan for this Summer is the West Coast again and a bunch more time in the Rockies. Here she is below. Any name suggestions?

I look forward to sharing my photography, my stories and getting to know you all.

In a time when social media is all sorts of weird, I'm excited to try this new platform and watch it grow into something beautiful.