Living The Dream: A Life With Intention

What was the first country you visited? Who with and why did you choose it?

Jenna: France. In college, I studied abroad and spent time in both France and England; Paris was our first stop.  I picked this course because it fit into my psychology minor and I couldn’t resist Paris!

Micah: Dominican Republic. I went to photograph a mission trip, so I didn’t really choose the destination—it was picked for me.  I ended up having a great time, as we were able to connect with the locals while we helped build a basketball court for one of the schools. 

When did you start a travel lifestyle? What inspired that change?

Jenna: I grew up traveling with my family and never stopped! We went on at least one “big” trip a year and many weekend getaways as well. When I went to college, I started traveling as much as possible and my love of travel has just grown stronger and stronger.

Micah: I started the travel lifestyle when Jenna and I started dating in high school—she pulled me along on a family trip and I instantly became hooked! We have been traveling together ever since.

Do you have a base you travel from? Or is it continuous travel? And why do you choose that style?  

We have a home base. As much as we love traveling, we also love having a home base to work on our creative projects, such as building furniture, other items for our home and creating jewelry.  It also enables us to be close to our friends and family for holidays and special events.  Also, Micah is a commercial photographer and videographer, so having a home base helps keep his local client relationships in tact.

How do you fund your travel lifestyle? Is it something you do when travelling or are you a saver?

Travel hacking is one of the main ways we afford our travels—redeeming miles and points for cheap and free airline tickets and hotel rooms really helps keep our costs down.  I try to save up some money for the rest of our expenses, but essentially, I work to travel!

If you could tell yourself one tip before you started your travel lifestyle, what would it be?

Jenna: To go with the flow more. I used to get pretty crazy about schedules and always try to fit in as much as possible.  However, I am learning to relax more now that I am working for myself and don’t have to travel within a limited vacation timeframe.

Micah: I would tell myself to learn to pack better—after lugging around huge suitcases of stuff I didn’t need, I realized minimal packing is the way to go—you really don’t need that much when you travel.

What does “Living The Dream” mean to you?

Jenna: To me it means living life with intention, finding my purpose, and doing what makes me happy in life.  First and foremost, that means traveling and having a flexible schedule that allows me to explore.  And, currently, it is also running (and revamping) my online store, Perrin22.com, working on my travel blog and doing freelance work in between.  It’s all a crossroad between everything I love.

Micah: Being happy and living with the freedom to pick and choose the jobs I want.  A flexible schedule helps allow for spontaneous adventure.

You can find Jenna & Micah  here -

Website: Wander The Map

Twitter: @WanderTheMap

Travel. Adventure. Photography.