Nomads and Nimble Shadow

What happens when two retired police lieutenants trade sirens, freeway traffic, and 30-year careers for giant frogs, venomous snakes, and jungle living?

In this episode of Nomads and Nimble Shadow, Shawn and Kendra look back on 10 months of nomadic life in Costa Rica—and the adventures, frustrations, and unexpected discoveries that come with it.

From the wild jungles of Puerto Viejo to the familiar potholes of Atenas, Shawn shares why 30 days on the Caribbean coast nearly pushed him over the edge. We're talking sinks without water, exploding trash cans, fast-growing jungle vines, and the infamous "suicide showers" held together with duct tape and blind faith.

Meanwhile, the ongoing challenge is keeping Django, their shy-pooping adventure dog, safe from deadly vipers, solving the never-ending mystery of the missing Wander Box camper, and figuring out who you are when you're no longer wearing a badge.

And just when you think things couldn't get any stranger, Shawn reveals his deepest nerd obsession: a 20-year love affair with leather-bound notebooks and an upcoming pilgrimage to a 12-story stationery store in Japan.

It's jungle chaos, retirement revelations, questionable plumbing, and a whole lot of laughs as Shawn and Kendra discover that leaving their old lives behind was just the beginning of the adventure.

"We don't make it work—it just works."

Long-distance relationships and blended families aresupposed to be hard work, but Sarah (California), John (Massachusetts), and 12-year-old Harper are rewriting the rulebook. In this episode, we sit down with the trio to explore how 3,000 miles of separation can feel completely effortless. From bi-weekly flights and natural co-parenting harmony to surviving wild Costa Rican adventures (and Kendra coming to Shawn’s rescue with a giant red-winged grasshopper!), discover what happens when you stop trying to force a relationship and just let it click.

Welcome back to the show, where we’ve officially swapped instant gratification for Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast—a place operating in a total time-machine gear where everyday convenience vanishes, and true tropical adventure begins. In this episode, we’re joined by our self-proclaimed "Marriott girl" friend Christina as we navigate 4:00 AM Howler monkey alarm clocks that sound like Jurassic Park T-Rexes, rainstorms that roar like freight trains on tin roofs, and a panicky taxi driver who spent an entire hour trying to convince us we were driving straight to our demise. We also recap a local cacao tour featuring spicy chocolate and share our experience at a famous wildlife rescue sanctuary—only to hit the ultimate plot twist right at the front gate when our guide greets us with, "Welcome... we have no jaguars here"! So grab a seat by the indoor koi pond, check your entitlement at the door, and tune in for a witty, wild look at what happens when you slow down and let the jungle take over.

Finally! We're back with some updates, trip highlights, and an accidental night in Vegas! Catch up with us as we fill you in on the last three months of couch surfing and living on the road, as we wait for our Wanderbox build to be completed. For the next upcoming episode, we are headed back to Costa Rica to continue our nomadic lifestyle.

In this episode, we take on the wild beauty of British Columbia, where the scenery is stunning, the AirBnBs are questionable, and Mother Nature clearly has a sense of humor. From close encounters with a protective bear and her cubs to an elk cow guarding her calf, a flat tire, a barebones shelter, and dinner at a gas station, this leg of the journey delivered equal parts adventure, chaos, and comedy. PS, Bear Spray is an acquired taste....

We catch up with an old colleague who shows us how retirement, road trips, Teslas, and AI can all collide in the best way. From a 10,000-mile cross-country journey using full self-driving to discovering quirky roadside stops with ChatGPT and Grok, his story is about embracing technology, staying curious, and finding freedom in the unexpected. Self-driven is about moving ever forward and finding your way.

In this episode, Kendra and Shawn recap their chaotic, funny, and sometimes sketchy journey through the Midwest, Canada, and back toward the Rockies. From visiting their daughter at a communal workaway farm to losing their truck Val near Mount Rushmore, meeting “Rusty,” surviving Midwest roadkill and construction, and enduring a bizarre late-night confrontation at a Budget Inn, the trip delivers plenty of road-warrior drama. The episode ends on a high note at Glacier National Park, where stunning scenery, a grizzly sighting, and dark humor about wilderness survival remind them why they keep choosing life on the road.

Apologies from the staff: the microphone receiver disconnected midway through the recording, and we lost the best sound quality. Please be patient, and thanks so much for listening!

In this episode, we interview an adventurous retired couple who traded traditional life on land for full-time life aboard a sailboat. While they joined us from Greece and we recorded from Canada, we talked about what it really means to live on the ocean — from learning to sail, provisioning, weather, maintenance, close calls, medical concerns, and navigating around massive ships, to marriage, teamwork, fitness, and finding freedom after retirement. Their story is about more than sailing; it’s about reinvention, courage, and choosing a life of adventure with the ocean as home.

Join us as we take listeners on a whimsical, nomadic trekacross the Midwest, navigating everything from a "catastrophic" water main break in historic Galena to a transmission-slipping scare in Chicago. Their journey blends deep dives into 19th-century architecture and dark legends of secret tunnels with humorous observations on "sarcastic" kitchenettes, "terrifying" river fish, and the vibrant tulip fields of Holland, Michigan. Between segments on "Big Hair Friday" experiments and the etiquette of baseball hats in steakhouses, they find beauty in the rolling "Driftless Area" and the idyllic, golf-centric lake communities of Stanwood, all while their dog, Django, expertly adapts to life on the road.

Follow us as we continue north from Sioux Falls to beautiful La Crosse, Wisconsin. We wander the almost empty streets of this historic town while the temperature falls from 80 degrees to 20 degrees in an hour. And what is that loud siren?

Small trigger warning for sexual abuse discussion.