“I think living in Charleston you get caught up — being 'house poor ' — I think they call it. We have always been concerned about where we are living in Charleston. It got to the point where we were spending all of our money on our house — where we were renting. And I think we both got really sick of that — where it all went to the rent,” explains 25 year-old Charleston resident Lunden Herron.

Dorian Warneck 2Tuesday night at Private Property Restaurant in Lexington, S.C. Hubbard defeated challenger Candice Lively in a runoff election to succeed Donnie Myers as chief prosecutor. 6/28/16

If Lunden and her boyfriend, Dorian Warneck, were finding themselves house poor, they’ve responded in the most sensible way possible, trading that home this morning for a 2000 Honda Odyssey and embarking on a four plus month road trip across the country. First stop, Virginia Beach.

“We both happened to get good high responsibility jobs when we were like 19 or 20 and we've been working hard for six or seven years now. The longer that we just keep doing the career path, the harder it’s going be to do this kind of thing,” says Warneck, a 25 year-old Charleston filmmaker and photographer, “So we gotta do it now. And for me, I don’t really see it as a break from career path because I’m hoping to be creative while I’m out there. It seems like the right time to do it.”

The couple has been tossing around the idea of an extended road trip since the early part of their four and half year relationship. About a year ago they began planning their adventure. “Charleston has seen a crazy increase in rent prices over the last five years that we've lived there. We definitely wanted to move but we've also worked at the same jobs since we were 19 or 20 years old. We didn't want to jump back into something so serious until we gave ourselves a chance to breathe a little bit from the daily grind of life. We want to do something big before we settle down,” says Lunden.

Dorian Warneck 1Tuesday night at Private Property Restaurant in Lexington, S.C. Hubbard defeated challenger Candice Lively in a runoff election to succeed Donnie Myers as chief prosecutor. 6/28/16

They’ll take their time, crashing wherever they can. In the van if necessary. And they haven’t ruled out the occasional freelance gig or a brussel sprout harvest. "If we see a sign that says ‘HIRING FARMERS FOR A DAY,’ we’ll probably pull over,” says Dorian, “When I was on the West Coast last year I saw a bunch of signs for stuff like that. Pay us what you can and let us camp on your property and we’ll put in a day’s work. Good exercise. I've been sitting at a computer the last few years and it would probably do me some good to do some manual labor.”

The road warriors hope that their different interests will provide them with a balanced experience as they attempt to chew up the country. “I'm all about the outside and want to see all the national parks, state parks and do all the outdoor things we can do and Dorian wants to see all the big cities and take pictures of all the people,” says Lunden.

“I’m also excited to do a lot of skateboarding," adds Dorian, “I’ll force Lunden to stop and I’ll spend three hours getting frustrated trying a trick.”

For the most part their itinerary is wide open with the exception of having to be in Seattle on September 1 to catch a flight back to the East Coast so Warneck can perform with his band, Secret Guest, at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC. “Once we fly back out there we have no time limit.”

If you’re interested in living vicariously through the Charleston couple as they explore the vast spoils of America, you can check out Dorian’s Instagram account and also at Misadventures Magazine where Lunden will be writing a column in coordination with the centennial anniversary of the National Parks Service.