Kristy Halvorsen always dreamed of traveling.
She had once imagined exploring the world with her boyfriend after retiring as a firefighter, but unexpected heartbreak left her wondering if she could do it all by herself.
It was 2017. After 14 years as a firefighter, she found herself grappling with sickness and injury. Halvorsen craved a change.
“I remember sitting in my trailer,” she said. “I was in Texas and I was just like, ‘I can’t believe I quit my job. I sold my house, just what was I thinking?'”
The first few months of travel were full of fear for Halvorsen. With no destination, she found what she truly needed, herself. Beginning in Florida and making her way to Georgia before hitting North Carolina, Virginia and beyond, she slowly grew acclimated to life on the road in her Airstream RV.
While in Canada, she met a woman named Danielle who encouraged her to journal and document the experiences of her travel. The entries captured not only the scenery around her but her mental growth, too. She ended up writing and self-publishing a book about her journey: “The Perfect Unfolding.”
“It was thanks to Danielle that this book exists, because there’s no way I could have written the book how it is had I not been journaling the whole time,” she said.
Halvorsen found herself embracing possibilities she would not have otherwise, including opening herself up to love, pain and freedom.
Sitting, talking with her mom on the phone, she realized she was capable of more than she’d thought.
“The missing ingredient had been the woman who, until that moment, thought she could never do it alone,” she wrote in “The Perfect Unfolding,” which came out in 2026.
She experienced a moment she likes to refer to as “the poof.” It occurred in late February 2019. Her life did not change, but her mindset did.
“That was the moment where from then on it’s been like living in a miracle,” she said.
In her 9 years traveling all over the continent in her Airstream RV, Halvorsen was drawn to New Hampshire on every visit and has now decided to settle down in Newbury.
Challenges on the road went past physical roadblocks and forced her out of her shell, mentally. She has had to let go of some societal standards, including having a steady income. But it’s certainly a trade-off.
The trip began as her simply needing a break, especially after years in a physically intense career. She started her own coaching and mentoring practice that became sustainable within three years.
Beyond stepping away from societal expectations, she also had to open herself up to the possibility of new experiences. Shortly after her journey began, her mom got her a subscription to a group called “Boondockers Welcome,” which is full of individuals, families and couples who let visitors park their RVs and trailers on their property to stay for a few nights.
Halvorsen assumed that she would never use it, and for a year and a half, she didn’t. But the first couple she stayed with in Bend, Oregon became lifelong friends and started her journey to meet new people.
She taught herself to trust the journey based on sudden acts of generosity from strangers. One experience included a passing fisherman named Mike, who provided her with breakfast on his way through Virginia.
Lessons and life stories from people across the continent allowed her to take control of her life. She listened to their stories and regrets and learned to live by the “tickles of her soul,” as she says.
Beyond their stories and physical tokens of appreciation, Halvorsen was amazed at how much human connection can occur when modern standards and expectations are left behind.
“I left with Mike’s CD and the reminder that connection finds us when we least expect it, if we’re present enough to receive it,” she wrote in the book.
The people she met also proposed new opportunities for her. She was able to find someone to take her on a ferry in the Labrador Sea. Upon reaching the Inuit Settlement, she found someone who would take her even farther north.
Halvorsen started her journey unsure of whether she could do it by herself, scared of what she would face, but in the face of it, continued to move forward.
“Whether your wander takes you across continents or simply to a new understanding of your own heart, know that every step, even a painful one, is part of the perfect unfolding,” she wrote.
Kristy Halvorsen will be at the Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, New Hampshire on Thursday, June 18 at 5:30 p.m to talk about her experiences and self-transformation.
