I met Alexandra and Maik with their two children—Kais, 4, and Lila, 2—and 4-month old pup, Luna, at a coffee shop in Lee Vining, California. Something just made me want to talk to them… Perhaps it was Alexandra’s easy smile or watching them take photos of each other and thinking I could help take one of them all together. We started talking, and I soon realized why we got along so well: We all prefer the nomadic life.

Alexandra was born in Haiti but moved to the US when she was nine. Maik is German and has been in the States for twenty years. The couple met online ten years ago in North Carolina. They currently live on a boat in Florida and usually spend most of their time sailing to Caribbean islands where Alexandra has taken assignments as a travel nurse. Maik’s engineering work schedule is also flexible, and he flies where he is needed and then returns to the boat.

Since the pandemic hit, Alexandra has been taking domestic travel nurse assignments in Covid units. She is just about to start an assignment in Reno. They’d prefer to be sailing, but as long as they are out west, they've decided to explore. Alexandra said this was the farthest west she had ever been in the United States. Honestly, I could’ve sat and talked with them all afternoon.