Do you remember a 90s show called “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” It was a PBS children’s program, staged in a slightly off-skew detective office, where clues were given to contestants as they feverishly tried to figure out which new location Carmen had jetted off too.

Carmen Sandiego traveled the world evading agents of the ACME Detective Agency. While Gigi Griffis isn’t on the run, she is a world-traveling modern day Carmen Sandiego who decided to pack her bags, ditch the permanent address, and take a nearly two-year-old business (at the time) and her pooch on the road.

Gigi traveled full-time for nearly two years, living life, “running a business, and snuggling with her puppy against a backdrop of sandy Mexican beaches, cobbled Italian squares, pretty French bistros, and jagged, breathtaking Swiss Alps.” In early 2014, Gigi was granted a residence permit in Switzerland and settled into a home base in Europe. These days she’s hanging out in the Alps, planning epic European adventures, writing books, and more.

There’s no telling where she’ll end up next.

Creating On Purpose

Gigi is the creator of The Ramble, an online destination where she shares her travel, inspiration and stories. When asked how she would describe her work, she explains, “I write books, magazine articles, and blog posts about travel, philosophy, and authentic unconventional living.”

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“Today, as a successful writer, Gigi’s life is overflowing with travel, meaningful connections, adventure, and creative writing projects. But her life, and business, wasn’t always idyllic.”

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Today, as a successful writer, Gigi’s life is overflowing with travel, meaningful connections, adventure, and creative writing projects. But her life, and business, wasn’t always idyllic.

Prior to making a decision in 2012 that changed the trajectory of her life and business, Gigi landed a job as a sales manager after college. In the background, she set her eyes on a long-time passion: writing. In her spare time, she sought out writing opportunities, and soon was enjoying a successful career in advertising as a Denver-based copywriter.

Her life was neat. It was fine. It was comfortable. It was normal. But something was missing.

At 27, Gigi decided to set out to live a life that would allow her to indulge in her passions – creative writing, traveling, and impacting the lives of others. So, she packed up, and moved out of her comfort zone and far away from Denver.

Living Outside Your Comfort Zone

What she found right outside of her comfort zone was a career and lifestyle beyond compare. It may sound like Gigi’s life-shift magically happened overnight. But as Gigi suggests, the story was quite different. “I’m not one who just ditches one thing and jumps straight into another, so my transitions happen slowly over time,” she notes.

“By the time I ‘quit’ my copywriting business, I was already making money with my magazine work. And I simply asked myself: ‘Could I make a sustainable living doing this if I devote myself full-time to it?’ I thought the answer was yes, so I cut off my old business and started devoting myself full-time (instead of on the side) to the new.”