About Me

My name is Amber Stokes and I was born just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. While I am a native Georgia Peach, my heart has longed to travel and explore for as long as I can remember. I am fortunate enough to have two loving parents and a grandmother who planted the travel bug in me at a young age. Since then, my goal has been to work hard to pay for my next big adventure. So far, I have traveled to 5 continents, 29 countries and 42 states. My first travel goal is to travel to all 50 states and I only have 8 left to go!

I grew up on a farm until I was fourteen years old. My parents are avid outdoor enthusiasts and have always loved taking me into nature to camp, hike, canoe, ski, snorkel, scuba dive and raft. My summers were spent mostly horseback riding, attending camp on Lookout Mountain and playing in the creek. My love of the outdoors has been a constant my entire life. 

I am a graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Managerial Sciences and worked in the corporate world for 15 years. Two years ago, I decided I wanted a change. To avoid working in an office environment, I needed to find a career that allowed me some flexibility. I pursued my real estate license and have successfully managed being an entrepreneur since then. While I love what I do and I plan to continue this path in some capacity, there are still a lot of places I want to see and experiences I want to have that involve traveling. 

It was important for me to find a partner who was also always up for an adventure. Four years ago, Stefano came into my life. While we have some differences, we have always shared a desire to explore…anywhere. After dating for one year, we decided to purchase a small teardrop trailer and hit the road for a couple of months. Some of those around us questioned our choice to be “trapped” in a travel trailer the size of a king bed for months. They said it would make or break us. Well, let me tell you, it made us so much stronger! We learned we complement each other very well. We learned we possess different strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them to make our travels operate like a well-oiled machine. We traveled from Atlanta to California along the southern states, then up the coast of California to Vancouver, Canada and back home across the northern states. It was my favorite trip I have ever taken and a once in a lifetime experience. 

It has been three years since our first big adventure. We have spent these years working hard, conforming to what we believed we should be doing professionally. As Atlanta has continued to grow and expand, we found ourselves taking more and more trips to State Parks, National Parks and areas that are surrounded with nature, water sources, fresh air and a slower pace of life. After a lot of discussion, it was clear we needed to find a way to explore more, together, in an everyday way. 

Since we began dating, Stefano has been interested in becoming a helicopter pilot, but how and where do you start? The past few months we have spent hours researching schools, states, cities, financing and how to find a job once you have your commercial license. We have spoken to many pilots and they all agreed that having a partner who is willing to travel WITH  you, makes finding jobs that you love much easier and allows you the opportunity to travel and live all over the country. Well, there you go! That sounds like a perfect solution to our need to explore, but also be financially stable. So, beginning October 1st of 2021, Stefano will begin his helicopter training in Sevierville, Tennessee, just outside of Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Sevier County Choppers and I will continue working in real estate. 

A dream of mine is to build a tiny house one day. This will allow us the opportunity to move all over the country as he pursues different helicopter jobs without us having to pack and move our belongings and our two cats from apartment to apartment. We are lucky that my parents own a Class A RV and have offered to loan it to us for a few months while we decide what size tiny house we want to build. Our plan is to sell our condo, move into the RV, spend six months Campground Hosting at State Parks in the Southeast, and then make our move to Tennessee in a tiny house for a couple of years. And then, who knows where our next adventure will lead us, but we are extremely excited about the opportunity!

Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about us!! I plan to document our adventures on the road living in an RV as campground hosts, building a tiny house, exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park when we move to Sevierville and wherever we go next. You can follow our journey and adventures on Social Media @beachbumexplorer.