Meet The Creators
We are Jake Junda and Emily Junda, an adventurous husband/wife team whose love of travel and the outdoors brought us together.
How Jake & Emily Met
Emily (from Wisconsin) and Jake (from Massachusetts) both moved to Colorado in their early 20’s. We both love to ski/snowboard and the Rocky Mountains were calling us!
We moved to the Vail & Beaver Creek area. But as you may know, living in a ski town is anything but affordable.
As fate would have it, we both picked up second jobs at a restaurant. We quickly moved from flirty co-workers to going on dates. Our compatibility was undeniable, and we’ve been a dynamic duo ever since.
You can learn more in-depth details about each of us by visiting our individual bio pages: Jake’s Bio & Emily’s Bio.
How Two Roaming Souls Blog Was Born
While we both considered ourselves somewhat “outdoorsy”, but life in Colorado exposed us to so much more. We learned how to get by working seasonal jobs in the mountains, and grew a passion for adventures in the outdoors.
When it wasn’t ski season, we started hiking and camping nearly every weekend in the summer. With some camping gear and a thrifty mindset, we planned unforgettable camping trips to explore Colorado and the surrounding states.
The culture of camping out west was just so intoxicating, with seemingly endless possibilities.
Dispersed camping was something totally new to us. But with some cheap camping gear and mostly free campsites, we were able to explore so much on our tiny budget.
After our first trip together to Zion National Park, we were forever hooked on traveling to the world’s most stunning places. Finding those moments when nature is so beautiful that it amazes us, humbles us, and keeps our fire ignited.
There was just something so freeing camping under the stars and exploring nature. But we always dreaded having to go back to work for the next week. Sooooo, we researched ways to make money while traveling, and boom, travel blogging quickly captivated us.
We hoped other people would be interested in learning how to travel on a tight budget. So we came up with a name, registered our domain, and started writing…
In 2018, we started TwoRoamingSouls.com to share our passion in a way that might one day support our dreams. The blog centers around topics like vanlife, camping, backpacking, kayaking, skiing, travel destinations, and more.
While we still keep it pretty budget-friendly, we’ve been able to splurge on some bigger adventures too (like international trips, cruises, etc.).
Why We Chose Vanlife & Budget Travel
Everytime we were on a road trip, we just felt the urge to keep exploring. What if we just, didn’t have to “go back”?
Enter….. full-time Vanlife!
We began researching and quickly learned that the only way we could afford a suitable campervan was to build the van conversion ourselves. Luckily in today’s world, “Youtube University” can help you with just about any topic.
We followed some DIY vanlife builders, came up with a design that would work for us, and began searching for our dream van.
It happened pretty quickly actually. I’m (Emily here) really not a patient person. So I found a van on FB Marketplace that seemed like a winner, and convinced Jake that we needed to go check out this van (which was 6 1/2 hours away).
We actually had to get a loan from a family member because we weren’t ready yet and were still saving up some money. With little experience (but loads of confidence) we got to work converting an old airport shuttle into our comfy little home on wheels.
Looking back now (5+ years of full time vanlife), it was the best decision we ever made! Choosing vanlife was the turning point that gave us the time and freedom to build this website into something special.
Still sharing our passion about travel and the outdoors, but also guides and tips about campervans too.
We hope you enjoy reading and learning from our personal experiences, and find your own personal growth and success!
