Spotlight on Jessica Taylor

BY CARA SCHAEFER

While you might know Jessica Taylor as Out There’s Advertising Manager, she’s also an adventurer and outdoorswoman in her own right! We spoke with her about living life on the road in her R-Pod travel trailer, traveling with her chihuahua mix, Foxy, and having confidence in yourself through the unexpected. 

Photo courtesy of Jessica Taylor.

OUT THERE: How did you decide to take on a more mobile lifestyle?

JESSICA TAYLOR: I've always loved traveling. I've always loved being out in nature. I feel like it's a really healthy place for me to be. And so I thought, ‘I'm not married. I don't have kids. I have the freedom.’ I was working for myself, so I could work fully remote on my laptop. And so I said, “Why not? Nothing's really holding me back.” And I headed out on the road in February of 2020.

OT: Do you have a favorite memory from life on the road so far?

JT: Oh, that's hard! Last year I did a canoeing trip in Montana for seven days on the Missouri River. That was a pretty exciting experience.

OT: What was the highlight of the trip for you?

JT: I brought my drone. I was taking it up to get a really beautiful sunset shot up on a really high ridge above us, and it crashed up there. The sun was setting and I knew immediately if I'm going to get this, I need to go get it now, because we're leaving super early the next morning. So I went hiking up this cliff at dusk. By the time I found it, it was dark. Then I had to make a decision if I was going to go three different routes. 

My family didn't know where I was, and so I was trying to think, ‘What do I feel most comfortable with? If I got hurt, how would my family be able to find me as quick as possible?’ I could either go one really long way, which is the way I came up, but at the same time I felt like my family wouldn't know to look for me there. The second way was new, so I didn't really know what was there. And the third way was just going straight down the face of the cliff. 

I was able to yell to my family from far away — it was kind of echoey — but I let them know l was okay. Then I turned on my light so that they could see where I was at, and I headed straight down the face of the cliff. There was a golden eagle feather that I found up at the very top, and I put the feather in my hair. It was this cool moment of, “You are capable. You can do this. You are strong.” Just believing in myself. I made it to the bottom, and my mom gave me a big hug. She was thankful I was safe. I still have that feather. 

OT: What are some of the pros and cons of life on the road? 

JT: Pros: You get to see a lot of new sights. You get to meet a lot of new people. It gets you out of your comfort zone, but also helps you gain confidence in yourself, and that you're capable of being able to do things on your own. And problem solving! You learn a lot of problem solving with a travel trailer. It's like a little mini earthquake every time you're moving it, so things break pretty regularly. You educate yourself on how to fix things, to save money.

Cons are it gets a little lonely sometimes. Thankfully, I have my dog with me all the time, so I'm never completely alone. It gets a little lonely though if I want to talk to somebody, or build up a relationship with them. Virtually I have a community, but it's different to be with people in person. 

OT: Since you travel with such an absolutely adorable dog, if Foxy was in charge for one day, where would you go and what would you do there?

JT: We would go hiking. That would be her thing. Some of my best memories with her, where she was just so happy, was in Colorado when we were hiking these 14,000-foot mountains. She just absolutely loved it. She trekked along, and although it'd be freezing cold, she would just keep going. It's almost like she's a work dog at heart when we're on the trail.

OT: What do you wish someone would have told you about traveling with a dog?

JT: A lot of national parks don't allow you to go on some of the backroad trails with a dog. It's interesting though, I've never been at a point where it's like, “Oh, bummer. I'm here at Yellowstone and I can't go exploring because of my dog.” If anything, I think it's better to have my travel trailer because she can sit in it. It doesn't cook like a car, so I can turn fans on, leave the windows open, keep it cool in there for Foxy, and she's happy to just hang out in the trailer if I go somewhere. 

It’s also helpful to come up with a plan of how you're going to be able to work when it's really hot. If it's 100 degrees out, I definitely can't leave her in the trailer. It can be difficult on the road to find someplace that you can be inside where there's air conditioning and WiFi, but where you can also have a dog. That's a hurdle that usually takes some extra time to figure out.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

You can find Jessica on Instagram or at her website.