Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Gerry and Shannon Arner, the couple behind the blog ‘Arner Adventures‘
Hi, Great to have you with us today! Please tell us about what it is that you do.
Hi, we are Gerry and Shannon Arner, and of course our rescue, fur baby, Betty White. We are lifestyle bloggers and content creators from Arner Adventures. Well, now we can also add podcast hosts!
Please tell us more about your journey.
Sure, back in 2017, we made a huge lifestyle change. After owning our own business, working 24/7 for many years, we noticed that a lot about our life was suffering: our physical and mental health, our relationships, and our quality of life. We just decided that life is too short not to live the life we want to live. In a few days, we sold our house, our business, most of our belongings, drastically downsized and moved to the North Carolina coast. Our family and friends thought we were crazy. We started our blog, Arner Adventures, as a way for people to just keep up with our journey of living minimally but fully, and it just grew from there. We love to share with our audience content on living life to the fullest, rather than simply having life happen to you. We curate the life we live, which doesn’t mean filling it with a bunch of stuff. It is about experiences- the things that we took for granted in the past.
We are wrapping up a No-buy year for 2021, which was a wonderful learning experience. We shared our journey via a monthly check-in on YouTube. We had lots of questions along the way about how we were handling certain situations. We didn’t live life like paupers, quite the contrary. We still enjoyed many experiences. With a No-buy year, you make your own rules at the beginning of the year and stick to them. It just helps you focus on thinking about things you purchase, other alternatives before making such purchases. It’s a great challenge for anyone who wants to embark upon a mindfulness practice of consumerism.
Please tell us more about your blog, Arner Adventures.
Our blog, Arner Adventures, and our Instagram profile, @arneradventures, has become our lifestyle journal where we serve musings of our adventures, sharing with our readers’ mindfulness tips, travel guides, being child-free by choice, as well as our minimalist ideals on materially living small, so we may live and experience large. We also provide content on mental wellness, plant-based dining, and animal advocacy, inspired by Betty White, our rescue pup. We love sharing her story because it is an important topic for us to highlight the importance of adopting pets rather than shopping from breeders.
The Big News We Want To Share:
On January 4th, we are launching “The Arner Adventures Podcast,” which we are really excited about! Our vision in creating “The Arner Adventures Podcast” was to create a space where we could showcase not only how we live life minimally but fully but bring in guests who inspire us, who have brought a spark into our lives. We feel that by hearing real, raw conversations from people who are living their truth, chasing their dreams, others will be encouraged to step out of their fear and live a life well-lived- whatever that means to them. It is one of the questions we want to ask each guest, “what does a life well lived mean to you?” We will have a mix of solo episodes and guest interview episodes. We already have a calendar packed with absolutely amazing guests who are an inspiration to us, and we couldn’t be more honored to have them join us!
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
We know it is a hot, trendy word, and we wish there was another way to describe it, but there isn’t: authenticity. Being authentic is key for us. It helps us, and hurts us. We consider it a positive strategy. For example, with brand collaborations- we have only partnered with brands when it has made sense. We pride ourselves on our decisions and purchases of quality, rather than quantity. When we mention, or promote a product or service, it is one that we truly believe in, or delivers ease, and/or longevity in our lives. It would be great to accept all of the brands that offer money, but the moment we “sell out” is the moment that this all loses its purpose, i.e. the reason we started Arner Adventures in the first place. There are some brands who really love working with us because they know we are authentic, and there are some we really want to work with, but they want more filtered, staged photo sets for their branding, and that just isn’t us. So, back to authenticity- it is what has made us successful for the life that we have curated for ourselves, even when others didn’t agree.
Any message for our readers.
One of the lessons we learned early on, from the time we opted for a different lifestyle than what others would have thought we should have for ourselves, is that sometimes people won’t understand the journey you are on, and that is ok. They don’t need to because your journey is not the one they are on. All that matters is that you are happy. You are the one who has to live the life you are living. You are the one who has to be happy with the life you lived. Ask yourself the question, “what does a life well lived mean to me?”
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
We can always be found on our website and of course on Instagram @arneradventures. And, you can find our podcast, “The Arner Adventures Podcast,” on your favorite podcast; streaming service Spotify: We’d love to know what you think!
Thank you so much for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!