About

  • Tom and I with Robert Indiana's Love sculpture at The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Judy got her wanderlust from her father, a U.S. Navy veteran who moved the family to Hawaii when she was a kid. She was an award-winning reporter and editor at The Arizona Republic for many years, a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford, and worked in communications at Arizona State University.

Tom grew up in Illinois and came west to Arizona for graduate school at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He worked at several Arizona newspapers and on The Republic’s nationally recognized iPad magazine, AZ. He always admired his father’s early retirement at 55 and fondly remembered their family trips around the country.

In 2014, they both quit their jobs, sold their Scottsdale home, got rid of most of their stuff and hit the road in The Epic Van, which contains a king-size bed, kitchen and bathroom with shower. They’re well into year nine as New American Nomads.

So proud to be recognized in the Phoenix New Times as Best “Lost in America” Blog. Thank you for reading our humble dispatches from the road.

Read about the selection here.

18 Comments

  1. Reply
    Dee J. Hall July 19, 2016

    This is Dee Hall. Give me a call at 608-333-2433 and let me know when/if you’ll be in Madison!

  2. Reply
    Jim johnson September 21, 2016

    Hi, haven’t heard much from you lately. Where are you? We have a new trailer in which we plan to travel the country after selling our house. Sound familiar? Hope your travels are going well.

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols September 21, 2016

      Jim, We’re in Morro Bay, slowly heading up the coast. We’re so excited for you guys. Where are you going first? California in your near future??

  3. Reply
    Sonya Parker October 22, 2016

    Hello wonderful meeting you in Elk Grove, enjoy the travels.

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols October 22, 2016

      Sonya, Great meeting you, too.

  4. Reply
    Keven Ann Willey November 8, 2016

    Hey Judy and Tom, been loving reading about your adventures. We wanna be just like you! Any chance you’ll be back in Arizona after Christmas? We’ll be in Tucson Dec. 31 through Jan. 7. We’d love to get together and compare notes. If that doesn’t work, will you be in North Texas anytime soon?
    –Keven and Georges

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols November 11, 2016

      Keven,
      Thanks for the nice note. We just rolled into Arizona and will be around until the end of January. We’d love to get together and share our enthusiasm. Just let us know what would be good for you. Judy

  5. Reply
    Keven December 7, 2016

    Cool. Any chance you’d be in Tucson the first few days of January? We’d love to host you for lunch or something in our home there. (Georges is a retired chef so I can promise you the food will be good.) Would something between January 1 and January 6 work on your end?

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols December 11, 2016

      That sounds great. How about Tuesday, the 3rd?

  6. Reply
    Keven December 19, 2016

    Super! Tuesday the 3rd it is. What time works for you? We’d love to have you to lunch or dinner, whichever works best for you. (I’d offer you to spend the night but my mom will be with us and we don’t have an extra bedroom. So sorry.) Just tell us what time works for you and we’ll plan accordingly. Looking forward to lots of talk time. Will you be in your van?

  7. Reply
    Keven December 19, 2016

    Super! Tuesday the 3rd it is. What time works for you? We’d love to have you to lunch or dinner, whichever works best for you. (I’d offer you to spend the night but my mom will be with us and we don’t have an extra bedroom. So sorry.) Just tell us what time works for you and we’ll plan accordingly. Looking forward to lots of talk time. Will you be in your van?

  8. Reply
    Keven December 19, 2016

    Super! Tuesday the 3rd it is. What time works for you? We’d love to have you to lunch or dinner, whichever works best for you. (I’d offer you to spend the night but my mom will be with us and we don’t have an extra bedroom. So sorry.) Just tell us what time works for you and we’ll plan accordingly. Looking forward to lots of talk time. Will you be in your van?

  9. Reply
    Judy Nichols December 19, 2016

    Let’s do dinner. We’ll drive the van so you can see it. We can park at my step-brother’s house overnight. Let us know the time we should arrive and what we can bring. You can send details, including address, to my email, azjnichols@aol.com. Look forward to seeing you.

  10. Reply
    Renee Richard April 3, 2017

    Hi. Made it to Spokandyland Fri eve. Thanks for the sendoff and gift. Watched Zags win on big screen last night. This town is rocking !

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols April 5, 2017

      Renee, So glad you made it through the winding hills. It was great getting to know you, and I’m sure our paths will cross again. Stay in touch.

  11. Reply
    Gaby Cuda June 5, 2017

    Hi Judy!

    My name is Gaby Cuda and I’m the Director of Content Partnerships for RVshare. We’re the largest peer-to-peer RV rental platform on the web.

    I’d love to chat more about a potential partnership with you. Would you email me at your convenience?

    I look forward to speaking with you.

    Thanks so much!

  12. Reply
    SuzanKen March 11, 2018

    Here’s the Emergency Assistace Plus info. It’s 149 per couple for a year through AAA. http://Www.emergencyassistanclus.com

    • Reply
      Judy Nichols March 12, 2018

      Thanks, Suzan

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