Around five years ago, dissatisfied with lives spent “chasing the dollar,” Kelli and Charlie Compton quit their jobs as a salon owner and a manager at an equipment rental company, respectively, in North Carolina, sold most of their belongings, and hit the open road in an Airstream travel trailer.
Working as seasonal campground hosts at sites in California, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and other states, Kelli, 35, and Charlie, 36, have become distinctly aware of how climate change is disrupting different types of ecosystems and habitats across the U.S. Escalating wildfires in California over the past few years and the Rocky Mountain National Park area in 2020 were particularly devastating to them, according to Kelli, and brought climate change “to the forefront of our minds.”
As a result, they do as much as they can to minimize their carbon footprint, Kelli tells CNBC Make It. That includes cooking most of their meals, wearing clothes to tatters and using a composting toilet, which doesn’t require water to flush, in their 30-foot trailer. The couple has decided not to have children due to climate concerns. “The earth is groaning,” she says.
They make significantly less money now — pulling in around $40,000 last year, compared with $150,000 in their previous life, Kelli says — but they are happier and healthier, and get by comfortably on their new income because their current lifestyle requires less of everything. The couple initially planned to set out for a year; now, they don’t intend to go back.
“We didn’t necessarily get into this lifestyle because we wanted to be responsible citizens of the Earth,” she says. “But now, looking at our carbon footprint, this is something we can really be proud of.”
