How becoming a dad brought this outdoorsman full-circle

At eighteen years old, Ryan Nichols left his Tennessee hometown to move out west. He lived a transient lifestyle, climbing, skiing, and surfing. “I spent the better part of a decade on the road doing those things,” he said. “Working just enough to fund those habits.”

In 2007, he and a buddy started a custom-home building company in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Anybody that knows their economic history knows that one year later, the world changed,” said Nichols. “I had a front row seat to the Great Financial Crisis.”

In subsequent years, Nichols navigated Nashville’s roller-coaster housing market, the death of his co-founder/business partner, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I just felt like it had been all gas for a decade,” he said.

In 2021, Nichols’ life changed again when he became a father. “As I sat there, rocking [my son] to sleep at night, I just felt like that situation was untenable,” he said. “I did not want to be a stressed-out, physically or mentally not present dad.” At that point, Nichols started making plans to shut down the business.

It took a few years to get through a backlog of custom-home commitments. “But once those obligations were met, that was it,” he said. “We sold our home, bought a van, I built it out, turned it into a little RV, and we've been on the road for about four months.”

Nichols said he and his partner will eventually return to the labor force—they hope to find a community to settle in before their son starts school next fall.

“My partner is a nurse, so she's going to be able to work again easily,” he said. “As far as what I do next professionally, I'm not sure right now what that's going to be.”

For now, they’re living off savings and investments and enjoying life on the road as a family. “I'm a little bit closer to the values that I had in my early 20s than I was in my mid 30s,” he said. “Having this time with my family right now does truly feel priceless.”

For now, they’re living off savings and investments and enjoying life on the road as a family. “I'm a little bit closer to the values that I had in my early 20s than I was in my mid-30s,” he said. “Having this time with my family right now does truly feel priceless.”

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