Courtesy of Alexandra Davis and Ryan Gleason
Alexandra Davis and Ryan Gleason in Cusco, Peru.
- Ryan Gleason and Alex Davis are a husband-wife duo and "lifestyle engineers." After eight years as corporate engineers internationally, Ryan and Alex left their high-powered jobs to tackle their true passion - leading couples to engineer their best lives through Ryan and Alex Duo Life.
- In March 2018, they bought a one-way ticket to Ecuador, and have been traveling in South and Central America since.
- Moving abroad actually helped them save money and gave them incentive to downsize. And they found a whole community of digital nomads.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
It was early 2018, and I watched as Ryan, my new husband of three months, worked himself sick every day. On top of the sales territories he managed for a global chemical company, he worked a side-gig coaching job at a multilevel marketing company for hours into the night.
Before this, I knew how dedicated he was to both jobs - but it wasn't until we were living together that I saw how much it consumed his time and sanity. I could see that he was near his breaking point - averaging just six hours of sleep per night, always stressed that he wasn't giving his all to either job, and feeling his health impacted through low testosterone and adrenal fatigue. This wasn't the newlywed life I was imagining; it was hard for us to spend quality time together, despite him being in the same room.
So, I pitched an idea: Let's quit our jobs to travel and turn your health coaching side gig into a full-time business together.
After some convincing, my typically risk-averse husband agreed. We packed our bags and bought a one-way ticket to Ecuador in March 2018. We've been traveling ever since throughout South and Central America.
Usually, when people hear this, they think, "Oh, another entitled millennial couple traveling the world." Yet, what they miss is that traveling is the best opportunity to turn a side gig into a full-time business. Here's why: