Hi, guess what?

I am on an adventure right now...really.

For the next 9ish months I will be traveling the US in a built-out van (y'all it's nicer than my first apartment) spending time in beautiful places and working from beaches everywhere.

I thought I would let you in on a little inside look at how this is going to work with being self-employed and running my business from the road.

First, you should know, that this is something my dreams were made of–– I mean, I watched endless YouTube videos about van life so many years ago, but I never thought I would get the opportunity to do it myself.

People are generally surprised to know that I don't own many things (besides art, books, and vinyl that are now in storage) and I feel pretty prepared and practiced for this life, believe it or not.

I spent the majority of last year meeting up with my partner, spending a month at a time in this van, and then returning home to IL. (The van is my partner's, who was previously on a solo-ish adventure) But this time we will travel, work, play, and live in this tiny moving house on wheels together before settling into whatever location we call home.

We both work remotely, own our businesses, and use Zoom a lot to meet with clients. We needed to amp up our ability to use the internet anywhere. I am adjusting to indoor/outdoor workspaces. I am adjusting to new routines to keep my work, my brain, and my health in check. (Ummm I am adjusting to my clothing fitting into 4 shoe-sized storage containers) Nothing is predictable. But gosh it's fun.

Living in 80 square feet takes a lot of communication but we are good at that. We will spend a week sometimes in Airbnb's and hotels to reset or for both of us to speak at various conferences across the country.

I understand it sounds like a lot of work on the outside, and yet every day I have been here I have watched an incredible sunrise and been 5 steps from the beach. Worth it. This was today:

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Could you do this? Live in a van? Travel nonstop?

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This isn't an ideal life for everyone, but for me––thinking about coaching my clients while surrounded by Redwood trees or on various coastlines feels like a RICH LIFE little Lauren would never have let herself logically conjure up.

The ability to make my own schedule, travel, and meet new people every day is what I consider success.

When I reflect on how I am getting to live what feels like a nomadic dream, I think about a lot of the things I endured for many years until this point. Things I thought were necessary but weren't. Here are a couple of things I hope you can let go of too because it is never too late:

• I wish I let myself dream more without fear or logic.
• I wish I knew working until burnout didn't bring more success.
• I wish I had believed in my ability to survive anything a lot sooner.
• I wish I didn't believe for so long that love needed to be earned by productivity, activity, or achieving something.

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If any of those things resonate with you, hang on.

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• You are worthy of dreaming, even when others tell you it's not possible. I have so many stories of being told I cannot do the things I am very much doing today.

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• Press pause on what you can and take time to heal your burnout. It isn't easy to pause. But don't burn yourself out into illness like I did.

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• Comparing your uniqueness to someone else will leave you defeated every time. You know this. It will rob you of being proud of all of the wonderful things in your life.

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• You can rework, reiterate, and revise however many times you want to. Start any time. The world needs you.

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• Love never needs to be earned. Period.

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Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! If you'd like to follow along you can find me here on Instagram where I will be sharing van-life content between my personal branding content and every-day life along the way.

– Lauren V. Davis

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P.S. I am launching a co-ed mastermind at the end of February focused on building your memorable personal brand. The last time I put one together was in 2021, and I don't launch these often. I would love for you to be a part of this new group... (and you'll get to keep up with me as I travel across the country in real-time)

If you want more information, you can find it here and sign up for the waitlist.

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UPCOMING THINGS THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU

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ATOMICON: I will be speaking at Atomicon in June in the UK! I am hosting a fringe day workshop called "Become a Fully Booked Speaker" and I would love to see you there. Tickets to the event / Tickets to Fringe Day​

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The Real Personal Branding Podcast: A few recent episodes to enjoy:

• Be a Fully Booked Speaker with Andrew and Pete, Founders of Atomicon, the UK’s Largest Marketing Conference (Listen) ​
• Do You Want to Look Successful, or Be Successful? How to love social media again with Stephanie Llewellyn (Listen) ​
• Exactly How I Made a Huge Splash Relaunching My Podcast (Listen)​

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Grow Your Professional Speaking Business Workbook

A powerful discovery tool with questions to help you:

Build your core messages into your talks, establish deep connections on and off stage, improve your relationship-building skills/audience engagement, and develop your next steps.

​Get it here​

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If you would like to book me to speak at your event or be a guest on your podcast, I would love for you to reach out. Send more info to: info@laurendaviscreative.com

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