Interview 03: Lovers and Nomads
After the first interview, Arianny asked me if they were random. I said yes, and asked for her email.
Both she and her lover, David, took the time to answer each question separately. These are some
of my favorite answers yet, complete with plenty of Arianny’s photos of some of their adventures♡
@amarlennis | @fitzinthepnw
Who are you and where do you come from?
A: Oh damn, okay well I’m Arianny, a wild little spirit that
focuses her life on connecting with this world and the euphoria that comes with traveling. Essentially I come from a small
little town in Florida, but I’ve lived in many places since
then and now find myself in Washington.
D: I am an introverted DIYer with an engineering, outdoorsman mindset, named David. I am a native Washingtonian, except for two years spent in Sacramento, CA while I attended college.
What do you do for a living?
A: I manage a cute little coffee shop on the beach in Washington!
D: I am an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry,
providing products, services and consultations to industry professionals around the country.
How/where did the two of you meet?
A: Haha okay sooo we totally met on Instagram! I honestly don’t remember how, but I DO remember
him messaging me and we instantly had so much to say to each other and an eagerness to learn more. I don’t know,
it was something else. Something ancient and familiar. From then every road always ended at each other.
So we just decided to hit the road together
D: What she said! I cannot remember what photo I crossed, but I remember the feeling of familiarity
and this strong urge to learn more about her. I messaged her, and every day after we have grown together.
What’s the first thing you do when you have the weekend free?
A+D: Pack all our camping gear (cute pup included) and hit the road for a getaway!
We’ve been going somewhere different almost every week for the last two years.
Truth or dare?
A: Dare!
D: Dare
Sweet potato, purple potato, or Yukon Gold?
A: Can I have all the potatoes? I am the potato queen.
D: Sweet potatoes if i was forced to choose. But who is that mean?
KIND bar or CLIF bar?
A: Kind!
D: Kind
Mossy trees or desert rocks?
A: Desert rocks pleeeeeaasseee.
D: The trees please
Sweet or sour?
A: Sweet tooth forever.
D: Those are two separate things?
Mullet or rat tail?
A: haha I'll take a mullet
D: Mullet fo sho!
My four year old blonde mulleted self would have agreed.
We just got word that Jurassic Park is real. Are you guys going to go?
A: I’m the girl that grew up without watching a majority of classic movies.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen the whole thing, but I’m down to check it out!
D: I prefer my prehistoric, giant amphibians and mammals to stay…prehistoric.
Share something interesting about yourself. And something about each other?
A: I lived in my car for many months while exploring some of the US.
David was a snowboarder for ten years and misses it like crazy. He lights up when he talks about it.
D: I needed to graduate college earlier than my intended date. I completed double sessions,
two 8-hour classes per day, five days a week for six months straight, to accomplish this.
Arianny had never been legit camping til we began the first leg of our life-long journey together.
Neither had she been horseback riding.
In what ways do you create?
A: I create sweet stories with my words and
delicious coffee with my hands.
D: Can’t forget about the stories she tells with her photos either. I create with my hands. I tinker, design, construct, build whatever I can get the materials and have the tools for.
I create medicine in my line of work as well.
Where do you find inspiration?
A: Outside FOR SURE! Whenever in the midst of Mother Earth you are surrounded by so much ancient medicine, ancient energy. How could you not be inspired by raw unfiltered freedom!
D: My children. Arianny and her adventurous tendencies. It’s drawn from all over in different ways.
If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
A: Homeless! I think they’re still naked with a shell on, just in the privacy of their own home
D: I have to go with naked on this one. I see it like a samurai, removing his armour.
Television or radio?
A: Radio!
D: As long as its satellite radio. Can’t stand mainstream stuff
Moose or hedgehog?
A: Moose.
D: Majestic moose
Lightening or thunder?
A: Thunder.
D: I suppose the bass lines will win over the light shows.
Hairy all over or completely bald?
A: Haha, how hairy we talking? I’ll take hairy.
D: I’d have to go with hairy. Natural is beautiful
How do you find your center in such a fast-paced world?
A: Removing myself from said environment and spending as much time as possible in a slow, peaceful world.
I’d like to think we’re pretty disconnected from society and all the hustle and bustle.
D: Taking the necessary time to slow down and unwind. Be it through some yoga practice,
meditation and heavy medicating, or the best form of stress release: exploring the wilderness with my love.
How has traveling changed/inspired/affected your life?
A: Traveling has molded me into a new woman, one that is constantly evolving with each new adventure.
Before I committed my life to this nomadic style, I honestly didn’t know who I was. Going from place to place, getting lost,
being in solitude, it really opened my eyes and heart to my true desires and the ease to achieve them. Becoming so
independent really showed me how strong and capable I was to do whatever the hell I wanted, no questions asked.
D: Increases my need to see the world. For what it truly is. To learn its secrets.
Favorite place you’ve lived/passed through/spent time in? and why?
A: We were on a cross country road trip in Utah at the time, somewhere south of Salt Lake.
Drove up some canyons late at night so we could find a place to sleep for the night. The next morning, we awoke with
the sun and hiked through some beautiful snowy mountains, it was so lush–everything seemed to be in a different light.
Every little blade of grass, tree, snowflake–it was all so very ALIVE. It grounded me, showed me what
truly living was like. Also, who doesn’t go head over heels for those canyons, I mean come on.
D: Our homestead we began creating the night we arrived in Washington.
Those were the most positive and joyous months, expanding my consciousness and solidifying new truths.
You are granted one super power…what do you choose?
A: Definitely the ability to fly.
D: The ability to provoke empathy in people. If everyone could feel exactly how someone else felt, better communication
can be established leading to greater peace. It would be hard to wrong someone, feeling exactly as they do in the same moment.
Where do you feel most at home?
A: In the arms of my lover. On the road in the middle of nowhere. High in the mountains.
D: In the woods. Surrounded by truth.
What is your favorite…
Season:
A: Here in the PNW I’ll take summer! Sun sets around 10pm and the weather is magical.
D: Winter for sure… however I’m not acclimated to our winters like I used to be.
Snack as a child:
A: I was (and still am) obsessed with apples. All kinds, all the time.
D: I can’t say I had a favorite snack.
I learned to cook around six years old and have cooked for myself for the majority of my life.
Morning music:
A: Local Natives or Ben Howard
D: Anything chill and from another country.
Huge fan of instrumentals from around the world. It’s about the music not the lyrics for me.
Halloween costume you’ve ever worn:
A: I only ever got to dress up a few times,
honestly none were that great!
D: I wore some random assortment of clothing and
stilts to add a few feet to my height. Subsequently
scared a werewolf in a haunted backyard,
who had not anticipated my tall stature.
Fruit:
A: Mango. The island girl in me can’t resist them.
D: Why favorites?? I can’t choose favorite…. Mangoes, raspberries
Hike you’ve ever been on:
A: I have a million favorites–but as of late,
gotta say through the canyons near the
Columbia Gorge in Eastern Washington…
total. freaking. HEART EYES!!!
D: There are too many to list.
Wallace Falls may have to be one.
The view of the valley below took top
five favorite views in my book.
Cooking spice:
A: Pepper is my one true love.
D: Chef at heart, this I cannot answer.
Holiday:
A: New Years.
D: Fourth of July…less patriotic, more pyrotechnic
Type of shoe:
A: Comfy ones.
D: Snowboard boots
Follow along Arianny and David’s adventures and insight on life on Arianny’s blog Blossoming Nomad.