{"id":13,"date":"2015-10-31T15:16:24","date_gmt":"2015-10-31T19:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/?page_id=13"},"modified":"2026-02-08T12:58:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:58:57","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Liesbet<\/a>

Mark and Liesbet<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Liesbet\"<\/a>Liesbet was born in Belgium, but calls herself a world citizen. Traveling has been her lifelong passion, closely followed by writing. She has been intrigued by foreign lands, adventurous pursuits, captivating cultures, and a simple world map since she was a teenager. As an adult, her worldly explorations started in earnest. During her college years, she saved up money to travel as much as her vacations allowed. After graduating as a teacher in 1997, she set out on an intensive backpacking trip throughout Southeast Asia with friends. Two \u201cnormal\u201d years at work followed. She never owned anything, journeyed abroad during school holidays, and saved her income for future adventures. The next break from a semi-settled life in Belgium was a one-year solo exploit to Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, where all the extreme sports had to be sampled. She went back to her teaching job in Belgium for another two years, before (unintentionally) leaving permanently and becoming a nomad in the summer of 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Mark\"<\/a>Mark is from the United States of America. He grew up in New England, but preferred living in California. He has a master\u2019s degree in computer science and built a successful career for himself. Utilizing his knowledge, abilities and skills, he lived the \u201cAmerican dream\u201d for ten years, before deciding that it was time for something else. His familiarity with comfort, convenience, and luxury was traded for an insurmountable hunger for adventure, freedom, and a more basic lifestyle in 2005.<\/p>\n

\"Liesbet<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark and Liesbet met in California in November 2004 and have been roaming as a team ever since. She was traveling throughout the US, Canada, and Alaska in a camper for a year and a half when they fell in love and immediately “moved in” together. When things settled down a bit, they decided to “unsettle” by buying a 36\u2019 sailboat<\/a> and relocating to a marina with Mark\u2019s two gorgeous Australian Shepherd mixes Kali and Darwin. Mark\u2019s belongings were sold and for seven months they fixed their 25-year-old monohull up and prepared her to sail south.<\/p>\n

That plan didn\u2019t work out so well – the dogs hated the constant slant of the boat in the ocean – and a year after they met, they found themselves traveling by truck camper<\/a> throughout Mexico and Central America instead. Kali and Darwin (and Liesbet) loved this much better! When they returned to the States a year later, they downsized to a tent and a little Toyota pick-up truck to search for a suitable sailing catamaran along the East Coast. They succeeded in their two-month mission.<\/p>\n

In 2007, they bought Irie<\/em> and set off into the sunset once more, Kali and Darwin in tow. What followed was an eight year sailing adventure<\/a> \u2013 with many ups and downs – that brought them from the Chesapeake Bay all the way to French Polynesia in the mighty Pacific Ocean. In August 2015 they sold their floating home<\/a> in Tahiti and figured, again, that it was time for something different; something exciting in its own way\u2026 They decided to focus on their blossoming freelance careers without actually settling down.<\/p>\n

\"Mark <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Liesbet <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ua <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Liesbet, <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Mark, running a successful long range WiFi and cell data business (The Wirie<\/em>) from 2009 until 2018, and Liesbet, having an arsenal of ideas in her head and feeling inspired to write more articles<\/a>, frequent blog posts, and even a book<\/a> (Plunge<\/em>, a travel memoir<\/a> published by Roaming About Press in November 2020), enjoyed their new lifestyle. Abiding by their frugal habits and roaming spirits, combining their love of animals with their desire for temporary conveniences, they\u00a0house and pet sat<\/a> throughout the United States for three years, putting their sense of responsibility and their creative minds to good use.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2017, Mark and Liesbet bought a 19ft Mercedes Sprinter Westfalia camper van, called\u00a0Zesty<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 After multiple exciting camping trips of days, weeks, and months at a time, they alternated house sitting with RV adventures<\/a> in North America.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n

Their next change happened in June 2019, when they adopted Maya<\/a> as a four-year-old dog from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary <\/a>in Utah. Their companion is a mixed breed they call an “everything dog” after their favorite bagel.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Adoption <\/a>
Adoption Day – June 1st, 2019 <\/div> <\/div>
\"Maya <\/a>
Maya loves snow! <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mark <\/a>
Mark and Maya in front of Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Hiking <\/a>
Hiking with Maya in Acadia NP,, Maine <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Maya <\/a>
Maya in her element <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Beach <\/a>
Beach walk with Maya… <\/div> <\/div>
\"Hiking <\/a>
Hiking in Gunnison National Forest with Maya, Colorado <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n

Since then, the trio lives on the road fulltime in the Americas. They traveled throughout North America for two more years in Zesty<\/em> and a year in a different, fancier Cirrus truck camper named T&T<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n

\"Zesty <\/a>
Zesty in the morning’s glory of Bahia Concepcion, Baja, Mexico <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Set <\/a>
Set up with the Cirrus 820 at the beach of Agua Verde, Baja, Mexico <\/div> <\/div>
\"Visiting <\/a>
Visiting friends in South Dakota with T&T <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n

In the spring of 2022, they switched gears again. They kept their trusty truck, Thirsty<\/em>, and purchased a fixer-upper of a Lance truck camper<\/a>, Bella<\/em>, which they modified and equipped for the next big adventure. Following months of work, effort, determination, set-backs, and patience, they began their three-year South American chapter in mid-December 2022, after shipping Thirsty Bella<\/a><\/em> from Texas, USA to Cartagena, Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By February 2026, Bella<\/em> was sold in Chile to fellow travelers and Mark, Liesbet, and Maya found themselves in Europe, in pursuit of their next camper to continue their adventures on a different continent. Slow travel is the way to go! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Picking <\/a>
Picking up our Lance 830 truck camper in Auburn, California, in May 2022 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Cirrus and the Lance on a friend’s driveway in Boise, Idaho <\/div> <\/div>
\"Thirsty <\/a>
Thirsty Bella in Bend, Oregon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bella <\/a>
Bella among friends in Colorado <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Liesbet, <\/a>
Liesbet, Mark, Maya, and Thirsty Bella in Austin, Texas <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n

To see photo galleries and captions of our travels before I started blogging (2004 – 2007), have a look here <\/a>and check out the different folders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read about our eight years (2007 – 2015) on Irie<\/em>, go to my sailing blog It’s Irie – Cruising the World, the Way It<\/em> Is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To follow our more recent and current overland adventures, enjoy poking around this blog or follow us on Facebook<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Parked <\/a>
Parked for the night along the square in Gambita <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Boondocked <\/a>
Boondocked (free) along the lake in Paipa <\/div> <\/div>
\"Parked <\/a>
Parked for the night (free) along the square of Tibasosa, the feijoa capital of the world <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Camped <\/a>
Camped at Los Estoraques NP <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Parked <\/a>
Parked in a quiet spot for Christmas 2022 and New Year – or so we thought <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liesbet was born in Belgium, but calls herself a world citizen. Traveling has been her lifelong passion, closely followed by writing. She has been intrigued by foreign lands, adventurous pursuits, captivating cultures, and a simple world map since she was a teenager. As an adult, her worldly explorations started in earnest. During her college years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6U109-d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48050,"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13\/revisions\/48050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roamingabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}