COVID-19 derailed many hopes, dreams, and plans as it spread globally, taking many lives in the process. For Ceighlee Fennel, her dreams of moving and working abroad as a freelance travel journalist was swept up in the chaos of the COVID years, leaving her with no other choice but to put this dream on a shelf. Later, after receiving an opportunity to dive into journalism, Fennel took that dream off the shelf, dusted it off, and breathed new life into it. Now traveling to a new state every month with her boyfriend, Connor, and cat, Princess, Fennel is seeing her dream finally unfold before her. I wanted to know more about how this dream came to be, what role it played in Fennel’s self-discovery, and insight she’s gained on her travels, so I hopped on a call with her as she’s stationed in Arizona to get the answers. Here’s what she had to say.
Let’s jump in — you’re a California native, you’re a freelance journalist, and you’re currently traveling full-time with your boyfriend and adorable cat, Princess— how did the idea come about to travel to a new state every month?
It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to condense it a little bit. As you know, I went to San Diego State for journalism, got my degree and everything, and my plan was to actually travel abroad and do articles abroad once a month. But I graduated during COVID, so my path took a bit of a turn, and I was offered a position with a company that I loved, and I became a general manager for that company for a few years. During that time, my boyfriend and I had to live in a pretty long distance relationship for, I think, like, three to four years. When I did get the opportunity to go back to journalism, which was my dream, we didn’t want to do long distance anymore. So instead of doing the whole abroad thing, we decided to do a new state every single month. And it’s fun, because then Princess got to come with us and everything. So it was kind of like an evolution of the dream a little bit.
I would say your lifestyle is unconventional. I know a lot of people, including me, who grew up in environments where a certain lifestyle was encouraged above all others — get the 9-to-5, get married, buy a home, settle down. Would you say the environment in which you grew up was encouraging of the type of lifestyle you lead today or did it encourage another lifestyle that didn’t align with what you wanted?
Kind of similar to you… I grew up in a really, really small town.. I think education really pushes people down one direction. And so I do think my vision educationally was very narrow — I was like, “okay, you do this, and you go to college, then you do this,” it’s just all kind of laid out for you. But I feel really lucky, because at home, I do think I got a very different perspective. Like my mom, just over the course of when I was physically in the home had, like, three different careers. And so I was like, “oh, you don’t have to get one job and be there for 40 years and retire.” So, that was a really good view to see. And then I do also think I’m very lucky, because my father is an artist, and so he naturally has a very free spirit and they both encouraged me so much to follow my dreams, whatever that may look like.
And I think a little add on to the question is that was really special to me, because whenever I tell people my dreams — like I want to travel the world and write and be a journalist and stuff like that. They just thought I was like, saying it, to say it, you know. And I’m like, No, I’m actually going to make it happen. Like, I’m going to do it. It just took a while for people to take me seriously. But, I feel very lucky that I had that at home example of a very free spirited father and a mom who was able to really adapt to her environment and show me that you didn’t have to be stuck in one path for years and years and years.
Your socials are so much fun to look at. One of my favorites was a video on your TikTok and it showed beautiful clips from your travels with a sound bite that asked these two questions: “So, what do you think you’ll do? How are you going to spend your life?” As an experienced traveler, how much does being comfortable with the unknown and not quite knowing the answer to those types of questions play into a lifestyle like yours, especially as someone in their 20s?
I think it’s huge. I would say 90% of the places Connor, my boyfriend and I have visited, we visited for the first time. You can’t expect yourself to know exactly everything. When you’re going to a completely new place, you don’t know where the grocery stores are, you don’t recognize the streets, you don’t know what the weather is like and all that stuff. The traveling and the experience that we’ve had has really prepared us to be even more comfortable. From the beginning of when we traveled to now, the way we adapt and stuff has definitely gotten a lot faster. I don’t know if we could have the experiences that we have if we weren’t okay with not having all the answers in the moment.
You did the “Met my Younger Self for Coffee” trend and it spoke to how much growth you’ve experienced between your younger self and now. What is something you learned about yourself while traveling that you feel like you wouldn’t have been able to learn if it weren’t for this lifestyle?
I feel like prioritizing is a big one. I feel like… when you’re in a corporate job, or you’re running around and just like, completely entrenched in your kind of whatever, like your priorities might not even serve you, you know. There are certain priorities that definitely need to get done, and everything like that.
But something I learned through travel, and I learned about myself is, I can prioritize myself and prioritize my health, my wellness, which are super duper important, like at the end of the day all we have is our health. So really prioritizing being present and enjoying the experience, and not kind of getting bogged down on those, not smaller priorities, but maybe not priorities that served me and served the present as much.
This series is called “On My Terms” because it features individuals who are creating and living a life on their terms. So, I want to ask: For life to feel and look authentic to you, what terms are required?
I would definitely say traveling is huge for me. Even after this month to month travel, we’re gonna do year to year travel. So I would just say that’s really important for me to feel authentic to myself. Finding the peace during the chaos is [also] so important and huge for me, because it makes me also able to enjoy the chaos more, if that makes sense. It keeps me grounded enough to be able to fully experience it. And then the third I would say, is just writing. It makes me feel so like, this is what I was put here to do.
I’m Just Curious — rapid fire questions
What is your go-to road-trip song?
I’m a huge audiobook [girl]. Actually, audiobooks all day, every day. And I would say my go-to audiobook is Braiding SweetGrass. It’s my favorite.
What is one thing that keeps you grounded as a traveler always on the go?
I would say physical exercise. Whether it’s yoga, running, gym, like, just keeping that good schedule of keeping my body in motion is really huge for me.
Where has been your favorite travel location?
I really loved Montana and New York and Washington. But I would say recently I’ve been missing Maine a lot. Like Maine was always this magical place for me. We visited during October, during the leaf change, so it was beautiful.
What is one piece of advice you would give for those ready to live life on their terms?
First thing that comes to my mind is just do it. You know that meme of Shia LaBeouf where he was like “just do it.” I’m being so foreal, I love that video. There’s so many details that you can get caught up in, but if you have kind of your ground work… literally just jump in, dive in.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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