Jade Boyd: Welcome to the podcast, Brooke.

Brooke Happe: Hello. Thank you for having me.

Jade Boyd: I am so excited. I was just saying before we hit record, I’m just like personally excited to have this conversation with you cause I have so many questions, and I’ve heard your story before, but of course I have so many questions digging into all of the reasons why you’ve gotten to where you are today and just how you’ve built a life and a business that is so aligned to what’s important to you.

So for those who are listening and don’t know you or your story, would you mind starting off by just telling us a little bit more about who you are, what you do and overall how you got to where you are today?

Brooke Happe: Yes. So, I always dreamt of being a physical therapist, owning a women’s health clinic. So I followed my dream, you know, as a young child, I got my doctorate in physical therapy and, was starting to practice in Iowa where I lived, grew up. and started having children, you know, times being a mother definitely changes you. And I was just being like pulled and called and trying to listen to my heart to, you know, you’re only gonna be able to be with these kiddos for so long. And these are just, pretty important in times in their lives. And so I stepped away from my career, back in 2015 when I was expecting our third child and I did a lot of manual therapy for physical therapy.

And so I thought, you know, as a lifelong learner, I’m going to teach myself something new. I mean, I was, you know, busy enough, but let’s just add something else

to, to the plate. And so I picked up a crochet hook, bought some yarn at the local store and just started kind of making beanies and donating them to the local Children’s Hospital in Central Iowa, where we were living at the time, and I was really struggling with going from like a medical professional, getting ready every day, having a very structured, strict schedule to a stay at home mom of three kids.

And so, I just want to feel better about myself. I used my new hobby of crochet to make like a slouchy hat and throw it on go drop the kids off at school and other moms started asking like, you know, where did you get this hat? It’s so versatile. And I was like, oh, I just made it, you know Like you should just open up a shop sell it, you know at local events, Iowa has some great outdoor you know local events that support small businesses and so I started B.E. Happe which is like a play on my name and my married name. And that’s kind of where my business started back in 2016, slowly just making beanies when I could with my kiddos and in 2018, our middle kiddo was sent, , went to the hospital, , with a virus that kind of went straight to his lungs and it was just a very scary situation that, you know, as a mother you go through and so he did like nine days in the PICU and it was just one of those moments that it was like You know, we’re, we’re chasing this end goal, these goals that we have, but we’re missing that journey in between. And it was just an eye opener for my husband and I and so we decided let’s take like this life and, and let’s test out our, our boundaries and let’s really dive into intentional time with our children.

So we sold everything in June of 2019. And hit the road. We sold our house, sold our home in Iowa, lived in an RV and traveled the country. and that was in 2019. Like I said, fast forward, I’m running the business, homeschooling, traveling the country, and we just settled down. We got a home base in Texas just like a couple of weeks ago.

but we’re going to still travel part time and really focus on, you know, continuing to travel, show our kids the country and be intentional with this time that we have with our children.

Jade Boyd: So I definitely want to get into what led you to settle down, but starting at the very beginning, I have to know what was going through your mind at the time that you decided to sell everything. You mentioned it very nonchalantly, like, yeah, we’re just going to sell everything and get up and move.

But what was that time actually like for you guys? Was that an easy decision to make? Was it hard to deal with others thoughts and opinions? I’m sure that there were people with opinions. I’m so curious.

Brooke Happe: Yeah, you know, I mean, I think that like our why for this decision to have a health scare with your child and know that life is so fragile, the overall why and the underlying why of like, no, we need this time with our children in the back of our minds is just kind of like, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says we know that that’s this is what’s best for our family in this season of life.

So I think overall, I’d say no, but logistically, you know, we took about a year to be like, yes, you know, financially, this would make sense. You know, we’d start homeschooling. And so we took a good year to kind of from the time that that happened to when we actually sold everything was about a year to just make sure that we kind of had everything in place.

But yeah, I mean, you know, anytime that we felt like we were maybe getting some pushback or people were like, why are you pulling your, you know, your kiddo outta school, this was 2019 people kind of homeschool was, it looked at it differently. and so, you know, I think just looking back and saying, no, this is our why, we’re doing it for us, and, that was kind of the, the thing that just always, we always held onto.

Jade Boyd: I think the other thing that strikes me about your story is that so many people have a moment like that, especially with health scares, whether for themselves or somebody in their family or a kid. And it does cause them to reflect, but I oftentimes see that people really quickly fall into their regular patterns. Like they have that moment of clarity, but then they go back to life as usual. And I say they, but like, I’m the same way, right? I have those moments of clarity where like, why am I doing things like this? Or like, this is really important. And then after that moment, I just slip back into the habit, but you’ve obviously made a huge life change that has lasted for many, many years.

It wasn’t just like a six week road trip, even like that’s a small thing, but how has that kind of changed the way that you think about life and do life overall?

Brooke Happe: Yeah. I mean, after that, like I said, after that health scare and, and knowing almost like your, your why and wanting to, to figure out that journey of in between, you know, we kind of sat down and said, this is our end goal, but what are our little things that we want to hit in between? And I think that’s kind of where the living intentionally and, and making deliberate conscious choices every day that kind of align with your goals, your values. you know, your beliefs rather than passively just going through your day or always reacting to circumstances. So I just think it’s, it’s one of those things that every time that something comes about, you make a choice and you can decide which way to go on that knowing what your goal is, that little teeny tiny step before the, you know, the big goal or the ultimate goal that you’re trying to achieve.

Jade Boyd: What does it mean to you to live intentionally? Cause I do feel like that phrase is something that’s thrown out and we don’t think a lot about what that actually means, but also have you always lived intentionally? Is that just a characteristic trait that’s always come naturally to you? Or is that a skill that you feel like you’ve had to build?

Brooke Happe: I definitely think like motherhood has, has changed, you know, that because you, you know, the phrase, that the, the days are long, but the years are short. It’s truly like a reflection of motherhood. And that it’s like, I mean, my kids are almost 13, 11 and 9. And it’s like, I feel like yesterday I was just expecting.

So I think just seeing how fast life goes, you know, especially as a mother, is just, is something that you really have to kind of be intentional about and really just make those deliberate choices, and say, yes, this aligns with, with our family or, or my individual belief. No, it doesn’t and, stay true to that versus just going through the motions almost.

Jade Boyd: What do you feel like has helped you stay intentional for so long? Going back to like, we fall into habits and it’s, it’s so much easier to live by default or do the things that our family and friends or even culture in general expects us to do. But it’s really hard to live as like, I would say counter culturally as you’ve been living for such a long amount of time.

Brooke Happe: You know, I think the one thing is like seeing the joy and the excitement, and, and the feeling that we get when we see new places, you know, do new things back when we were considering traveling full time in December of 2018. We’re like, let’s test out this, like what, let’s make sure that we want to do this. So we took our camper because we were weekend campers and we took 21 days, went from Iowa down to Florida over like Christmas and holiday break. And I’ll never forget the moment that my, my son who was I think I was seven at the time, saw the welcome to Florida sign and palm trees, like his jaw dropped. I got a picture of it and like lives in my mind, and I’m like, it doesn’t matter how hard the days are these new experiences and seeing this expression on his face will be worth, you know, any of those hard days, those bad days, the days where we’re in a, 40 foot RV and it’s raining, because those are the moments, you know, that I’ll always cherish and those are the moments that like literally feels like yesterday, you know, was it was happening.

So, I think it’s just those feelings and really like, really reflecting on, you know, each day or the moments, you know, that happened that like, that bring you joy. I think, like you said, you know, we get into this, this vicious cycle of every day is the same or a passive going through the motions type thing and we are humans and we like that, that feeling of joy and happiness. And so trying to dig into that and to, to do more things that bring you joy. I think you kind of build, you know, build off of that and to be more intentional and, oh, I need to do that because I really enjoyed that. It gave me that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling.

So I think it’s just kind of like really reflecting on what makes you happy and what brings you joy.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. I love how you pointed out that it’s not always easy, like specifically your situation. I’m sure living in an RV is not always easy full time with so many kids, but also that like living intentionally doesn’t mean that everything is all sunshine and roses. When we think of the phrase, it’s easy to assume that living intentionally is like the Instagram aesthetic and everything is perfectly serene and it’s like your ideal life. Right? But when we choose to live intentionally, oftentimes it’s like the harder choice, which is why living by default is so much easier. But I would love for you to speak more to like living in an RV and how challenging that must be. How has that challenged your beliefs of like what you really need, living in such a small space with limited capacity, but also running a business from that space, which is insane to me, it seems like it would really force you into simple living. So I am curious from like a minimalist perspective, how has living in an RV challenged you and your family?

Brooke Happe: I mean, we told ourselves when we started this adventure, being from the Midwest. We grew up in Iowa, both my husband and I. So we were over the winters and the cold weather. So we told ourselves we were going to chase sandal weather. So for us, that took, I would say a bit of, the stress of worrying about being in a small space during cold weather. Yeah, we run into rainy days, we run into the cold, but we do our best to honestly change 70 plus degrees. So we wanted our kids to almost have a little bit of that, like country, you know, whatever the phrase is now, 90s kids where they were just out playing. And so for us, that helped us simplify because we knew we wouldn’t need winter jackets, the toys that we did bring were multi purpose. They could get wet. They could be in the sand. They could come inside after they were washed. So I would say for us, knowing that we were chasing warmer weather, that definitely simplified what we needed in the RV. But yeah, you know, I think it’s just pursuing, focusing on pursuing what you want. We wanted the warm weather. We wanted to be able to be outside with our kids. And so living in a smaller space or living with less, there’s just less to worry about, less to clean up. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get dirty fast. Like it still gets dirty very fast in a tiny space, but I’m, you know, not cleaning up 50 toys or it takes two minutes for the kids to pick up all their toys.

And so, you know, I think it was, like I said, it was just, It’s one of those things where we knew our why, we knew our intention with it. And so that really helped to be more minimal or not necessarily be attached to like the physical belongings.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, which, for somebody living in the Midwest, I always think about one of my friends who owns a home organizing business and she’s moved states a couple of times. And I just remember her saying that moving to Iowa, she’s never restarted her business faster because of how much stuff we own and like these gigantic houses and then people retire or pass away. And it’s just so much stuff that we’re used to living with. And part of that I think is four seasons and needing a lot of things, but also when you don’t have a gigantic house and you don’t have space for those things and also have a lot less need for a lot of the things to take care of your house, it just makes sense that that would make life a lot simpler and a lot easier, but it is so hard for us in the Midwest specifically to feel like we need the bigger house and even Caleb and I have struggled with this and we have, we have had goals in the past of like, what if we lived in a sprinter van and traveled and we’re going to have kids so that sprinter van is probably out. RV is still on the table, but even thinking about we have a 1600 square foot house, but it seems small for having a kid. And then we look at like his sister lives in California and they come to her house and they’re like, oh my gosh, you have like a whole second house in your basement. And it’s just like the perspective, it makes a huge difference.

Brooke Happe: Definitely.

Jade Boyd: I’m also curious living and like traveling and seeing so many new places. You mentioned that that’s kind of your why and your kids just have benefitted so much from seeing and experiencing so many new things and spending so much time outside, I’m curious, I am obsessed with this principle that when you make one small change in your life, it has so many different ripple effects to other areas of your life, and I’m curious how traveling and seeing new places has affected family overall, because of course it’s an exciting thing, it’s like, like a constant vacation, I know it’s not like that when you, when it is constant, but what are some of the ripple effects that you’ve seen? Maybe even unexpected things that you’ve seen in your family or in your health because of your choice to live a little bit counter culturally.

Brooke Happe: Yeah. I mean, definitely just the time together has strengthened. I mean, if you say like, what’s your favorite thing, the bond of my, of my children is like, I would, you know, there’s, I can’t even like speak on it because it’s, it’s absolutely incredible. You could give them the whole beach, you could give them the whole playground, acres of a playground, I mean, they’ll be right next to each other playing.

And that’s something, you know, that I think the gift of time that, Not only did we give them new experiences and, and new places, but we gave them time together to build a relationship because at the end of the day, friends will come and go, , but that relationship is, is important. and so that would like, I would say the new experiences and things, they were able to experience that together and they’ll always have that bond.

But I also think too, you know, just, you know, there’s something about that the joy of doing new things and seeing new places that just is so exciting, you know, something that puts you out of your comfort zone. It makes you reflect, it makes you learn new things and so they have also, you know, as a family and also at the kids have learned new things, you know, they’ve learned new cultures, they’ve tried new foods, they’ve met people. You know, probably my second most favorite thing is that they’re exposed to all different backgrounds of people of, you know, not everyone RVs, you know, simply because they want to go see everything and it may be, you know, a financial situation that it’s almost more of a forced thing. It may be, you know, an unfortunate situation where now they’re traveling with a grandparent. You know, there’s just so many different reasons for why people are choosing RVs, or, you know, are doing the RV lifestyle or traveling. And so they just get a different perspective. And I think it’s kind of made them realize that there are a lot of choices in life and that there’s not just one path.

They’re seeing people work from the road. They’re seeing people take a year off. They’re seeing people retire early because they just know that life is short. And so they’ve just, I feel like their world has kind of been opened up. so that is, is one thing that like, Other than their bond that I, you know, just so, so grateful for and what this travel aspect has done for our family.

Jade Boyd: Does it still feel new and shiny after having been traveling for so long to your kids or to you when you’re experiencing new things or meeting new people? Is it as exciting now as it was when you were first starting out?

Brooke Happe: Yeah. Yes. Now that we do have a home base, we will leave like in a couple of weeks and do an RV trip. So I’m interested to see what it feels like. We’re all getting a little bit of the itch to get moving in a change of scenery, but yeah, I mean, even when we go, we try not to go back to the same places simply because seeing new things is, is great, but there are also places that we absolutely love. And so we do go back to some of those places, but you know, I think every time that you go to a place, whether it’s your favorite ice cream shop or something, there’s always something that you, you can take away from it or you learn, you know, about it. And so I think it is all about that perspective and that intention of like, what choice am I going to make today? Even though I’ve been to this ice cream shop 50 times, you know, I can get something from this. It’s my choice to, to feel something and to not just go through the motions of get ice cream, you know, ask about someone’s story. Why are they working here? How did the business start? You know, you can, you can just get so many like tidbits and things about life. when you are just a little bit more intentional and really focus on your choices and your actions.

Jade Boyd: Is that something that has always come naturally to you? Because I feel like that’s another intentional living thing that is hard to do unless you’re really intentional about it, because we do fall into the patterns not traveling it’s even easier, obviously, to go to the same ice cream shop and order the same ice cream and avoid awkward conversations like, let’s just not talk to anybody or ask any questions.

Is that just a way that you’ve always been, or has traveling kind of opened up that curiosity for you?

Brooke Happe: You know, I think that it’s probably the fact that I’ve always been like a lifelong learner. And so it’s almost kind of transitioned into like, you know, what little piece of information or new thing can I, you know, learn or, just consume today. And it’s kind of just, just grown into being the intentional aspect of things, and I think that’s probably carried on into my children because they’re a little like information, they just, they just need to be, you know, fed. They will literally go up to anyone and be like, well, why did you start, you know, why did you open this coffee shop? How long has it been open? You know, like, and so, but it’s a great thing for them, right? To always want to be digging into information, but it’s definitely carried over a little bit.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. That’s awesome. So from a business perspective. I am so curious, especially with a product based business operating in a very small space from the road where your schedule, I’m guessing, is not always predictable. What does it look like for you to balance your business with full time traveling and homeschooling and all of the life side of things?

Brooke Happe: Yeah, you know, I was very nervous when we moved into the RV because I was like, how is this going to work? But honestly, I think it was, was for the best because it simplified my business. I kind of made all things did different things beyond like that were crochet and knit. And I just like stopped and was like, what’s working, you know, what is, what’s making me money?

What’s, what’s my high profit item? And it was beanies. And I just like leaned into the beanies. And so it’s one of those things that I’m just really conscious about. It’s, you know, whatever I bring in, this is what I focus on selling.

And then it’s just kind of this, almost a cycle, that I’ve been able to adapt into and kind of the same aspect of things when we started RVing. I started the homeschool journey. So it took some time to figure out what works for us. My kids, at the time were three, five, and seven when we started traveling.

So them helping in the business looked a little bit different than what it does now, now that they’re, 13, 11 and 9, but I just try to incorporate them as much into the business as possible. They help package, they might write thank you notes, and so we, we theme our days, I kind of, have, you know, focuses like Monday’s always “Make it Monday”. I try to schedule meetings on certain days, just so that everyone knows what, what’s happening and what to expect. And when that to do list is done, we’re done working. I’m not going to continue to work just because I have that time. You know, I want this time with my children and that’s a joy of, of running a small business.

So time blocking theming my days, and trying to have them help, even though sometimes it’s not very, you know, as easy or as smooth of a process as, it may be without them helping. I know that that’s also time, you know, that we’re spending together and that they’re also learning.

Jade Boyd: So I am also a huge fan of theme days and I’m curious what your other theme days are other than “Make It Monday”. How else do you structure your week?

Brooke Happe: Yeah, so I, I schedule all appointments and meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as much as, you know, possible. Fridays are my financial days, so I go through inventory, update like my QuickBooks and things like that. Wednesdays I do everything website tech related. And then Saturdays I schedule, like plan content, social media type things.

But yeah, every like probably two to three times a year, anytime I feel like we’re having a shift in our schedules or maybe our travels are changing, maybe they’re doing some activities, I kind of, you know, shift them around and take 10 days to two weeks to kind of write down everything, both personal and business, like we grocery shop one day a week, like just because I feel like you get it done, we’re not like, you know, I’m not packaging orders and I’m like, oh no, we don’t have any this for, you know, for dinner tonight. So, yeah, we do just kind of really try to plan as much as, as, as, you know, fit things into the schedule because then we all know what’s happening and it helps get everything done on the to do list.

Jade Boyd: I love it. I, like I said, you don’t have to convince me I’m a huge fan of theme days and I love how all of yours have the same letter, like website, Wednesday, financial Friday. Very catchy. Very memorable. One thing you said was like when my to do list is done for the day, then we’re done working. And as a small business owner, I think it’s so easy to just add more and more to our plate and deciding when enough is enough is really difficult. Is that something that has taken some like trial and error in deciding when is the to do list done? Because in theory, it’s never done, right?

Brooke Happe: Right, right. Yeah, I mean, I think it’s, it’s one of those things that like, I like to kind of break my business into like the busy season and the slower season. And so trying to work on the back end of things like now because beanies aren’t, you know, like aren’t as busy right now. But so I just try to get a lot of the, the busy work done, you know, when I have a little bit more time, and I like to just set a timer. Like if I’m working on SEO, I know I could work on it for hours, but I’m going to set a 15 minute timer. Whatever I get done, I get done. I also like, I’m not going to say I work the system, but I like free apps. Like if I’m going to use an SEO app, I’m going to do as many changes as I can in those 15 minutes and then it’s gonna like recrawl my website the next week And then I’ll address those changes I’m not gonna pay for the full version because I know I’m not gonna you know use all of the different things. So that’s what I like to do it’s like I’ll use a free app and get as much out of it as possible. Once it recrawls my website, then I’ll keep working for my 15 minutes And just it lowers your expenses it lowers lots of things

Jade Boyd: So using free software to set limits for you. That’s definitely a hard line. Can’t cross that one. I like it. Also mentioning the timer, I feel like of so many business owners that I’ve interviewed on this podcast, that is the thing that I hear most often when we’re talking about productivity is setting timers, which is something that I personally haven’t utilized, but the more and more people who say that, the more I’m like, you know, I should just try it a little bit more often, but I think that’s also the nature of having kids and having like less structure because right now we’re expecting our first this summer, but I do have a lot of freedom and flexibility in terms of how I use my time. And I don’t have hard constraints, so to speak very often, but yeah, that might be one that I have to pick up someday soon.

Brooke Happe: Definitely.

Jade Boyd: So going back to your decision overall to leave like your traditional career and even start your own business going way back before the RV decision, that is something that I think a lot of women consider when they are starting to have kids, and even as a business owner even like the situation I’m in right now, I know that business is going to look much different after having kids. Who knows what that’s going to look like, but I know it’s going to change and I know that many women after having kids decide to step back or pull back or set, you know, different standards or different growth trajectories for what business looks like. And I think it’s something that a lot of women struggle with because it’s hard to feel like you’re letting go of something or like failing in that area of your life.

And we’re told constantly, like, you can do both, like you don’t have to decide just do your best at everything, it’s fine, but that’s just not the case in the reality and it’s such a hard place to be and I’m just curious, you made the decision to walk away from your career and start a business, and then again, a really big decision to walk away from your traditional, I don’t, way of life, I don’t know what else to call it to travel full time. And I’m curious if you have any words of advice for women who are in that place right now, where they are really struggling and feeling like, I don’t want to waste this time with my kids that I have right now, I want to make the best use of it, but I also have these big goals for my business and these other dreams in my heart.

What advice would you give to them?

Brooke Happe: Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, obviously like following your heart is, is a big thing. I’m a very type A person, so it has to make sense like financially too. Right? I mean, like, don’t go make it like a very rash decision. So, you know, like if it all makes sense financially and you can make it work, then, you know, I was just, in my head, I was thinking, I know that I can always go back to my career. Like I’ll always have my degree. Yeah, maybe times have changed, maybe the, you know, documentation and stuff like that will, will be different, but I will never have this time back with my children. And so for me, that was just like, it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter how hard the days are that you’re, you’re home with them or things like that. You know, and I think too, kind of carrying on with like the whole RV aspect of things is that for me, I’ve always been a firm believer that like, if I have a dream or I have this goal, I will sacrifice things to get to that point.

You know, people ask like, well, how do you travel full time? Yes, my husband and I still work, but like you make sacrifices to allow for that extra spending or, you know, things like that, like really, really dive deep into, into your expenses and that was one thing when we were looking at like RV life versus home life, how much should we spend each day? You know, we really sat down and looked at the nitty gritty of how much are your TV subscriptions? How much is, is this, you know, what can we cut? What can we sacrifice? Like, is a Netflix subscription going to be that big of a deal, it all, you know, all adds up. And so I think really diving deep into, what is potentially stopping you is something to also consider whether you’re a small business owner, whether you’re a mom trying to make it work, and I think keeping it simple, in any aspect of things, whether it’s your schedule, whether it’s the things around you, you know, what you say yes to. If it doesn’t bring you joy, like to me, I’ve always been, if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no. Like, if it doesn’t bring me joy, I’m not going to do it and I’m not going to feel pressure or like I’m letting someone down because in the end, it’s the five people that are in this home that is what’s important. And, I just kind of, you know, got to put my foot down and know that that’s what’s best and it doesn’t matter what someone else thinks.

Jade Boyd: There were so many, I could take this conversation so many different ways based on everything you just said. There are so many good nuggets in there, but I love how you talked about getting really practical, but I think that also forces you to ask the question, how could this be possible? Rather than like, of course, that’s not possible, we’re not going to be able to live full time on the road and homeschool and have a business like that’s not reality, but actually getting curious and writing everything down and being like, okay, if this were possible, how would we make it happen? And I think that’s a really hard thing for us to do, even as business owners, like setting general goals.

I was just having a conversation with a client earlier today, who is struggling with, I don’t think that this goal is possible. And it’s like, well, how do we change that question? And like, if this were possible, how would we do it and start getting curious? And that’s the reason why I really love your story and I’m so excited for you to share it on the podcast, because we do limit ourselves into what we think is possible. That scope that most of us think about on a daily basis is so, so narrow. And sometimes it does just take asking the questions. What would it look like for me to homeschool my kids? And have this business and balance both. What could it look like? And when we get creative, there are so many possible solutions and it’s not going to look traditional, but I love that you pulled that out. And it’s also very practical. Like you do have to pay attention to how much money you’re going to be making, because that is an important factor of life.

Wrapping up, I hope that some people listening are inspired by this and are going to start thinking outside the box or imagining what their life could look like or what would be possible. And I’m curious from traveling for so many years, do you have a favorite place that you visited or stayed in your travels? And also for somebody who does want to experiment or like prototype on living differently, is there an experiment that you would give them? You said that you kind of tested it out when you were starting out. What advice would you have for somebody who is maybe thinking could we live in an RV?

Brooke Happe: Yeah. I mean, it’s so hard to like compare all the places that we’ve been to. I really like the Southwest because for me, you get so many different landscapes, you get the cacti, you get some palm trees, you get the mountains and lakes. So for me, like I love the Southwest. My kids would say New Mexico, my husband would say Montana.

So we’re kind of all over the place with that, but yeah, I mean, for us, we had a camper, so we kind of knew like, okay, there’s tanks and there’s these things that have to happen in a camper. YouTube is a great resource. Also, like if you’re just kind of wanting to test the waters, you can rent an RV. There are a lot of different businesses who will, let’s say you want to go to Hilton Head, South Carolina. They own RVs and they will put them like on the RV resort the spot that you’re gonna stay at. So you could kind of test it that way if you didn’t wanna rent the RV and, and transport it back and forth.

And then, yeah, I would say just kind of test it out and see, know that there’s going to be good days, there’s gonna be bad days. there’s no perfect living situation, whether you live in a home, apartment, van, rv, whatever it is, there’s ups and downs. I think it’s just, it’s how we approach it and, and how we, you know, what we reflect on it and then how we approach things. so I would kind of say test it out. I’m a firm believer that like, if your heart is calling you to do it, that you only fail by not following your heart. It’s, you know, if you sell everything or you take that a six month trip and you’re like, yeah, that’s not for me, then you didn’t fail because it didn’t last the length of time or that you don’t continue, you fail when you don’t pursue it.

So, just go for it, you know, if you feel like that’s something that you’re being kind of called to. So yeah, that’s what I’d say. Definitely test it out, and get an idea of what, what it’s like.

Jade Boyd: I might be convinced, like I said, Caleb and I have been talking about doing something potentially like that. And we have this conversation every winter in like February, we both work from home and have almost complete freedom of our schedules. Why do we live with Iowa again? Like, why are we not traveling long term or something like that? So I might take you up on some of those tips, but also I realized I forgot to touch on, you’ve obviously now chosen a home base. And so I’m curious what changed or led to that decision for you guys to have the home base? And also, it sounds like you’re still going to be going out and traveling, but what did that decision look like or what prompted that?

Brooke Happe: Yeah, it was, I mean, it was definitely when we started this journey, we didn’t want to put a timeframe on it because we didn’t want to feel like rushed or, or forced into like this adventure. We just kind of wanted to go with, with what our hearts were telling us to do, so I wouldn’t say it was like one thing we knew and our ultimate goal at the end of this adventure was to have a space or to have land and property that like, you know, could kind of, it sounds like cliche, but like be passed on to our kids or, you know, we always envisioned growing up in Iowa, like all this land that they would just go and run and be free.

So we were always kind of in the back of our minds, like, could this be the place? And we kind of like look around at homes and things like that, but yeah, I mean, the kids are getting older. They were doing athletics and sports on the road. We would settle down for, you know, a couple months at a time or six weeks and they would do an activity.

But as they’re getting older, there are more restrictions, like, for the teenagers to be doing things as far as activities and they’re wanting to them to be more geographically, like, committed to, I guess for activities. So we decided on a home base simply because we want them to still be able to do activities that spark their interest and so it’ll be just like, you know, we’ll settle down for the spring and a bit in the fall. Let them do their activities and be involved in what they want to do and then we’ll travel those other times. So it was just, it’s kind of an age thing. We were wanting a sense of no rules if that makes sense. You know, every time you go kind of to a campground or even, you know, federal land where you’re just boondocking, there’s still rules, right? Like you had to abide by that and all those things. So we were just, it was kind of a, just a decision that just kind of like happened as crazy as that sounds, but yeah, we’ll still travel and, we really want to go international now that the kids are older and it’s a little easier versus when they have littler legs.

Jade Boyd: That’s exciting. So overall, what is next for you and your business other than, you know, continuing traveling and having this home base going international? What do you see happening in your business specifically? What are your goals for the future?

Brooke Happe: That’s a great question. I feel like I’m just kind of trying to figure out life like after the past five years. Yeah, I mean, I think it’s going to look a little bit different with us coming and going. I think I’ll probably set more limits as far as like when my shop is open, which I have kind of experimented with the summer when we were back in the Midwest or I guess early summer.

I kind of closed my shop, didn’t take orders. And then, you know, since we were gone, I don’t want to have to take everything now that we have the storage space versus before I had, you know, carried all of my inventory. So that’s kind of as far as I can kind of look forward is, is having a little bit of like a more limits to enjoy this, this time with our kids and this new season of life and continuing to collaborate with brands, working with brands, creating content, and we’ll just see what happens.

Jade Boyd: I love it. For those who are interested in following along and seeing what happens moving forward and following your journey, where can listeners find you after the show?

Brooke Happe: Yeah, we kind of share our adventures and life over on Instagram. It’s b dot e dot happy, H-A-P-P-E, on Facebook. And yeah, our websites behappedesigns.com if you wanna shop beanies or kind of read our, our travel adventures, I try to document and, and help others that wanna go to different areas and blog about family friendly things. But, it’s definitely not a priority now.

Jade Boyd: Perfect. We’ll link all those things in the show notes and thank you so much. This was great. I really enjoyed hearing your story and I’m so excited again to bring this perspective, which is a little bit different than what we’ve had in the podcast to, to more people who are thinking about making a change and maybe a drastic change.

So thank you so much again for being here.

Brooke Happe: Yes. Thank you.