Hi, I’m Emily Junda, nice to e-meet you!
I’m the co-founder of this blog, Two Roaming Souls. Over the years I’ve grown to love writing and sharing my travel experience with all of you and how you too can explore this beautiful world.
I’m the dreamer of this dynamic duo. I get crazy plans in my head and strive to make them a reality.
My conversations with Jake typically start with “so I thought of something crazy, what if we….” And if he agrees, then the planning begins. I create the rough idea and Jake tries to make them a reality in more of a logistical sense.
As one half of Two Roaming Souls, I have a lot of jobs:
- Writing
- Editing
- Trip Planning
- Content Creation
- Brand Collaborations
- Social Media
- SEO
- Video Editing
Under my direction, this website has grown into one of the most successful blogs in the vanlife and outdoor travel niches.
Get To Know Emily
Here’s a little bit about me.
I grew up in Northern Wisconsin (in the small town of Minocqua) and always loved being outdoors. I was always in a sport every season, whether it be volleyball in the fall, gymnastics in the winter, soccer in the spring, or performing on a waterski team in the summer.
When it was time to go off to college, I had NO idea what I wanted to do. But I found an interest in Exercise Science. It allowed me to learn more about the body, exercise, and still participate in sports.
I went on to get an entry-level job as a personal trainer, but the job had a significant sales & marketing aspect, and I hated that. And after 4 years of school, I still felt the call of adventure burning inside me.
So, I applied to be a snowboard instructor in Beaver Creek, CO, and got the job! I packed up my small sedan and drove out to the mountains to take on what I thought might be one of the coolest jobs ever!
It really was a cool job, but I could barely afford my bills, so I needed to pick up a second job. I applied to be a hostess at Black Diamond Bistro in Beaver Creek, and well that is where I met someone very special, Jake the other co-founder of Two Roaming Souls!
My Love For Traveling:
Travel has always been important in my life. During school years, I’d find myself going on a fun trip every year whether it be with my family, or with a friend’s family on spring break. It was often just within the United States, Mexico, or small Caribbean islands on a cruise.
Later in high school, my German Class got to go abroad on a 10-day expedition. We visited Germany, Switzerland, France, and Liechtenstein. It was one of the best trips I ever could have imagined! My love and desire for travel grew exponentially on this trip.
So in College, when a study-abroad program was offered, I jumped right on it.
My alma mater (Monmouth College – The Fighting Scots) has strong ties to Scottish Heritage. So there was a cool exchange program with the University of the Highlands and Islands. I got accepted to study abroad for a semester in Perth, Scotland.
It was truly awesome! I lived with a host family who were more than willing to show me around the country and cook some amazing food for me. No really, I gained like 20 pounds over there.
A group of us students traveled across borders to England, Spain, and Ireland. And my desire to see more of the world continued to grow.
So, you can say I have gotten to see a bit of the world before I was even an “adult”.
What Are My Roles In This Small Business
My goal has always been to create the most helpful and honest content about any given topic. I think about all the information I would want to know. And make guides up to that standard by providing all the necessary information, so you don’t need to go looking somewhere else for the other half of the answer.
You’ll see this blog covering many different topics, but we only share real-life experiences and products we personally use or occasional products that come highly rated (that are probably on our wish list).
We have lived in our campervan mostly full-time since July 2019 (5+ years). Although, you may also see us getting an apartment in ski towns during the cold winter months. So we feel we have the experience to share all our favorite tips and tricks.
And we take occasional international trips (where sadly, our campervan Delphie can’t come along).
Jake and I both share the writing roles on this blog, but I tend to write more of the travel-related content, and Jake focuses more on the technical vanlife content.
But there’s also a good mix of each role from both of us. Then, Jake typically edits them to sound grammatically correct, because that is not exactly my strong suit. (she literally had a typo in this sentence that I corrected, haha – Jake)
I focus on search engine optimization (SEO), ensuring that our web pages are found by the right people.
You will often find me being the “model” in the photos (fun fact: I’m actually an awkward person and kinda hate being the center of attention). But Jake is more of the photographer, and somebody’s got to be in the photos!
We also create helpful Youtube Travel Guides if you prefer learning from videos instead. Consider subscribing to watch some truly beautiful footage.
And we also share many of our experiences on social media. Follow along!
– Emily Junda