Practical Dreamers
Practical Dreamer's Handbook
by Sarah & Paul Edwards

Megan Edwards & Mark Sedenquist
Dashboarding
Action: Finding the Money

Lesson:  “Money isn’t what enables you to do things. It actually keeps you from doing things if you believe it has to come first. What really has to come first is resolve.”  

        Six year ago husband and wife Megan Edwards and Mark Sedenquist hit the road in their custom, seven-ton, four-wheel drive mobile home/office. The nomadic life had always held an alluring pull for them, but the change they’d planned to make in their lives in 1993 didn’t include life on the road. 

   Megan, a fledgling writer, and Mark, a real estate sales manager, had just opened a new home business selling retail merchandise when everything they owned went up in smoke in a California wildfire.  As Megan stood beside the concrete slab that had been their home, her reaction was not what she might have expected. “We’re cleaned out,” she said. “We can do anything we want. Anything. Do you know what that means? We can go anywhere, Mark, do anything, start over again. Let’s hit the road. We’ve got no stuff, no business and no house to worry about. Let’s just start driving and see what we find.” Five months later that’s what they did. They headed off on what was to be a six-month sabbatical. Now, 126,000 miles later, they refer to themselves as “dashboarders,” living and working wireless, connected and rolling. “Home is where the dog is,” Megan says. “It’s wherever we happen to be.”

Of course, everyone assumes Mark and Megan are retired, independently wealthy or cashed in on a giant insurance settlement. But none of the above are true of these virtual vagabonds. The insurance settlement paid off their business debt and a down-payment on their 200 square foot mobile home. Three banks rejected the idea of financing the balance before one finally agreed. Meanwhile they’ve used up their savings, they’ve worked, and they’ve borrowed to cover the costs of the gas, living and business expenses and the $15,000 worth of technology it takes to keep their rolling home office connected to the world.

            Megan is a columnist and has just written a book about their experiences on the road called Roads from the Ashes. Mark runs their business, MTA Marketing, which designs and produces national public relations tours for corporate clients. Together they also publish an online magazine www.RoadTripAmerica.com. “Money isn’t what enables you to do things,” Megan points out. “It actually keeps you from doing things if you believe it has to come first. What really has to come first is resolve.”  

Over the years the couple reports having felt hopelessly short on cash at times and flush at other times. “We’ve been scared and we’ve been confident. We’ve come close to giving up and we’ve ridden high on abundance,” Mark adds, not unlike any location-based life.

        Their nomadic lifestyle sounds intriguing, if not somewhat crowded and a bit challenging. There are no neckties or panty hose. Megan doesn’t even own a purse. “The worst part,” says Mark, “is getting a good hair cut. “You never know what you’re going to look like.” Still they have no plans as yet to settle down, but as Megan emphasizes, whether they will or not someday, “It’s not about money.” 

Visit Megan Edwards and Road Trip America at www.RoadTripAmerican.com

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