Living the dream

Lifestyle – Couple’s nomadic lifestyle sees them live in twelve cities in a year and share their adventures through social media. Bernie Ní Fhlatharta tells their story.

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to live like a local in a different city in a different country? Are you the type of traveller who prefers eating where locals eat and likes getting off the beaten track, away from the busy tourist trail?

Well, one young couple are doing just that and sharing their information along the way – one by organising holidays and the other writing by a travelogue. It sounds like the perfect set-up.

And while this is primarily the story of Keith Bohan from Moycullen and his American wife, Rachael Rogers, it wouldn’t be possible without Airbnb, social media and Wi-Fi, which allows them to work anywhere, anytime.

The couple, who just spent Christmas in Moycullen, admit they are living the dream and are loving every minute of it.

For The Story Vacations is the name of Rachael’s boutique holiday business which she markets very effectively through her popular Instagram account (10,400 followers) while Keith continues to work remotely as a travel copywriter for a New York company.

He’s also blogging about their travels (his website sowherewerewe.com and @keithbohan), which is helping to broaden his horizon as a specialist writer.

Keith always wanted to be a writer and has an MA in creative writing as well as one in Irish Studies from NUI Galway. His travelogue is very readable thanks to his natural wit and his way with words.

In the past 12 months, the pair have visited 14 European cities, spending a month in most of them in Airbnb, and, judging by Rachael’s Instagram stories, they managed to secure fantastic accommodation. Among the cities they have stayed in are Rome, Cologne, Venice, Barcelona, Munich, Prague and Budapest.

One of the most notable places was a large villa in Mykonos, Greece, where they were joined for three weeks by Rachael’s parents and her aunt and uncle who are obviously not camera shy as Rachael’s roving camera captures their surroundings as well as her activities.

Activities mostly involve sampling what’s on offer in bars and restaurants, from wines in Provence vineyards to pasta dishes in Tuscany. She is constantly posting videos and photographs. Yes, you want to be there.

Rachael is a ball of energy, in contrast to her quieter husband, but both are driven, and determined to use these early years of their marriage to live like nomads, doing everything they love – travelling, eating and drinking, and meeting people.

Followers of Rachael’s Instagram will have seen her meet satisfied clients, people whose trips she has organised and whom she was happy to meet if they were in same location.

“I had helped some friends to plan weddings and events and people used to say I was good at it and I really liked it. And I’ve always had the travel bug,” she says of the background to her business.

“When I was just 23, I visited 32 cities in nine countries on my own in 60 days on a budget of $5,000.

“I worked with a wedding planner in New York and realised that I was, am, an organised person. So, I decided to start my own business. I now stick to just planning vacations, anything from hostelling to boutique to five-star,” she says.

For more, read this week’s Tribune.