Celiac Mom of 3 Lives Like a Local While Traveling

She Who Wanders

Nov 18

9 Questions with Courtney from Simple Adventurous Life

Say hello to Courtney. From her home on the beautiful coast of Florida, Courtney shares daily life as an adventure-loving mama to three. Passionate about exploring the world and gaining a deeper understanding of other people and cultures, she prefers to travel slow, stay in short-term rentals and experience life like the locals, wherever she happens to be. As a diagnosed Celiac, her tips and advice on eating gluten-free while traveling are proof that with the right resources and a little bit of grit, anyone can enjoy experiencing a new place. Aside from travel, Courtney is a visionary who lives outside the box and is determined to create the life of her dreams, inspiring other women to believe they can do the same.

Q: At what point in your life did you realize your passion for traveling the world? Tell us about that experience/moment.

5 years ago my husband got a remote job and shortly after I somehow talked him into renting out our home for 6 months, buying an RV and traveling around the country with our then 2 children. This experience opened up my eyes to experiencing different places with various local “cultures” and seeing how others lived outside of the bubble we had always lived in. Those 6 months changed me and ever since that experience I have had a never ending passion for traveling with my family.

Q: The Great Wanderlust is all about women getting outside the box and diving deeper in both travel and in life. Our mission is to inspire women to feel more vibrant through adventure and exploration. So, what is your great wanderlust? What most makes you come to life?

My great wanderlust is to live like locals all over the world. Whenever I travel somewhere new my goal is to not only experience a new destination with my family but to experience it from a local’s perspective instead of a tourist’s perspective. I love learning about different way people live. I would love to move overseas for a year.

Q: While traveling has so many benefits, it also has its challenges! What is one challenge to overcome in your family’s travels and how did you overcome it (or how do you continually overcome it:)?

One of my biggest struggles in my family’s travels is that my husband and I do not see eye to eye on traveling. He loves having a home and neighborhood and struggles with being constantly on the go. On the other-hand, I love being transient and experiencing how others live around the country and world.

We have done two different periods of time where we have traveled full time. Five years ago we rented out our home for a 6 month lease and traveled the country with our then two young children. Then last year in 2021 we traveled full time for 7 months while we waited for our home to be built. I thoroughly enjoyed the quality family time and seeing the country and would ultimately love doing it again internationally but it is really hard on my husband. He craves more stability.

We continually overcome this challenge in our marriage by having a home base and taking one or two 6 to 8 week trips somewhere internationally. We have finally found a good balance.

Q: I know you have worked really hard to make your travel dreams happen so far, and you have even bigger dreams on the horizon! Tell us about your ultimate vision for your family’s life/lifestyle and one thing you do to continually make progress toward it.

My husband has a remote job which allows us this flexible lifestyle. However when we are on our trips he still has to work during the week.

We would love to be at a place financially where we have several passive income streams so that when we do go on our longer immersive trips my husband can take more time off of work.

We have started this financial dream by purchasing an airbnb property in Florida and self managing it. It has been very profitable for us, but most importantly we have set it up so that most things are automated and we only spend 30-60 minutes a week handling it. Our team on the ground has been amazing and handles the day to day operations.

Now I am working on teaching others how to create this passive income stream by self managing short term rentals from afar with an online course.

Q: I admire your ability to really experience a country, its people and culture. What tips would you give someone who wants to get out of the resort and be intentional about experiencing a new place?

I have a very restrictive food diet as I have Celiac Disease, so it is very important for us to have access to a kitchen when we travel. Because of that when we started our traveling we opted out of resorts and were able to stay in vacation homes that were often in local neighborhoods.

It became such a treat every time to connect with the locals where we were and meet people all along our travels.

Now, even if I could stay in resorts, I would still opt out because of the immersive experience we get by staying in homes. Connecting with people and seeing how they live is one of my favorite things about our travels.

Q: Tell us about one travel memory that has had a lasting impact on you.

When we were in Costa Rica this past winter we were able to take a local cooking class from a woman named Maria. She was the sweetest woman and opened our eyes to how connected the Costa Rican people are to their food.

They buy their meat from the local butcher, their fish from the local fisherman and their product from the local market. Food is an experience and almost everything is made from scratch.

Coming back to America and seeing how disconnected we are from our food was really disheartening. It has changed my outlook on food and I hope one day to be able to live internationally and get away from the food culture we have here in America.

Q: Where are you off to next and what are you most looking forward to about it??

We are planning a 6-8 week trip to Italy next spring/summer and I couldn’t be more excited. We originally had this trip planned last year, but had to cancel it because of COVID. My husband’s mother is from Italy and it has been on our bucket list for a while.

Usually we like to stay somewhere for at least 3 weeks but this might be a trip where we move a little quicker and stay in one place for only a week at a time.

Surprisingly the land of pasta and pizza is phenomenal about gluten free options. They take Celiac Disease seriously and I am excited to be able to eat out a lot more than normal on our trips.

Q: Who inspires you to dig deeper in travel and life?

@worldschoolfamily is pretty inspiring. They are ahead of me in terms of the stage of life they are in with their kids, but they definitely live outside-the-box and it is so refreshing.