Inspiring Conversations with Kim Coates of Full Time to Travel Time

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Coates.

Hi Kim, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up always wanting to work with animals. I’m the type of person that, as soon as I set my mind to a goal, I achieve it. So I did exactly that and began my career as a Veterinary Technician. After nearly 10 years in the Vet field and after being continuously misdiagnosed for a serious condition I’ve had since I was born, my mom called me (who worked at Mayo Clinic in AZ at the time) to tell me she thought she finally knew what was wrong with me. For years I was continuously feeling low energy, tired all the team, and even falling asleep at the wheel and having full-out dreams while I was driving. Thankfully, no accidents, but still scary!

It turns out I needed Pectus Excavatum surgery so badly that I was moved up the long surgery list. As I got older, my rib cage kept sinking in more and more and essentially flattening my heart into a pancake. That caused a lack of oxygen to my brain which explained all the issues I had been having for years!

After my surgery in 2016, my business & life partner, Isaac, noticed I would always come home exhausted and in pain. I just couldn’t be a Veterinary Technician anymore but it was all I knew. One day I came home from work and Isaac had a surprise for me. I saw a laptop open on the table with what Isaac said was my new pet-sitting business! I didn’t know anything about entrepreneurship before but the thought of owning my own pet-sitting company was really exciting!

Having my own pet-sitting business was so incredibly eye-opening for me though because I could spend less hours, be with animals (which I love) and make MORE money than I had ever made as a Veterinary Technician with a college degree and license.

Pet sitting was such a great experience but Isaac and I were well aware that it still tied me to a specific location. We both have always loved traveling. My amazing grandparents would take me on road trips all over the US when I was little, exploring so many of the National Parks. I feel that’s a big reason I’ve always loved nature so much. I’ve always felt like a real-life Snow White where all the wild animals come up to me and let me pet them or follow me around like chipmunks, deer, and birds.

To crack the code on how to be able to travel anytime, anywhere, Isaac and I decided to build our own business from scratch. We simply looked at our current skill sets, what we enjoy doing, and what industries we didn’t feel were going away anytime soon and what we came up with in 2018 was LocalFi: SEO Digital Marketing Agency. Isaac had a background in SEO and specifically Local SEO and in helping locally owned businesses rank better on Google Maps.

I’ve always had a lot of enjoyment, (and was also great at), building and documenting systems. I could take all the systems and processes out of Isaac’s head, put them on paper and make videos in a way that allowed us to hire people who could actually follow those systems and produce excellent results again and again! This was the key to giving us the time freedom we always wanted! Because we built great systems for our business, LocalFi, headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, we now travel 6-8 months out of the year mostly taking road trips around the beautiful USA.

Since 2017, we’ve been on a quest to explore all 63 US National Parks and I’m proud to share that we’ve adventured to 40 so far! We’ve always had so many people interested in our adventures and are always asking us for advice on where to go, what to do, our favorite places, etc so in 2024, we finally launched our sustainable travel brand and comedic travel podcast: Full Time to Travel Time (because we left full time to travel all the time!).

We built Full Time to Travel Time so we could help others figure out how to build a successful business in order to allow you to really start traveling anytime, anywhere. Time is precious. Time freedom means you have more time to travel, to spend with your growing kids, or even just for ‘me’ time which we all know everyone needs more of! Our podcast also really highlights how to take the stress out of your travels. We share the best places to visit, National Park Guides, how to get there, how to make a trip out of your journey and not just getting to the destination, etc.

Another highlight of the podcast is that we actually will interview other people who have cracked the code on how to travel more or live a travel lifestyle. We like to explore how other people have figured it out!

Because we’ve been able to build a business and systemize it, we’re in our 30’s and are able to travel 6-8 months out of the year, all while our business continues to run and grow. I work maybe about 8-10 hours per week, only 2 days per week! I’m incredibly grateful for the life we’ve built and I want to help others learn how to enjoy more of life now instead of feeling like they need to wait until retirement age.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Isaac has a great quote that I love and live by: “If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not really living life.” The road has not been smooth. This life adventure all started for me by having a sunk-in chest and needing Pectus Excavatum surgery. Everything I knew had to be completely adjusted and changed. I couldn’t comfortably be a Veterinary Technician anymore without hurting. I learned to become an entrepreneur. Learning anything new is sometimes scary and uncomfortable.

We started our first business, LocalFi, together in 2018 and I’ll be honest, we failed miserably for the first 3 months. We couldn’t bring on a client, we were bickering with each other (and we never fight or bicker!), and we were both incredibly stressed. We had never started a business like this before and we had so much to learn. We definitely figured it out after we realized we were in the wrong ‘seats’ (positions) though. We clearly figured it out considering we’ve been in business for 7 years and are now an award-winning SEO Marketing Agency in Arizona! We are also the first and only Green Certified Marketing Agency in Arizona!

I will say that, whenever we travel, all the pieces typically fall into place and our trips go smoothly. Storms will literally part for us and rainbows will appear (I’m not kidding!). But in 2025, this last road trip was absolutely a stressful challenge. On Day 1 of our road trip, we arrived to Petrified Forest National Park. We hiked for about 30 minutes and then came back to the car to find that ALL the sensor lights were on. The car seemed fine otherwise. In this type of situation, I feel like most people would say “Ok, let’s drive back home and get this figured out. We’ll just cancel our trip.” When you live the type of travel lifestyle of adventure like we do, we decided to ‘modify’ our existing road trip, cancel some plans, and make new plans! We limped our way to Pagosa Springs, CO (our next scheduled destination) and went to a mechanic. He said it was a transmission issue (oh no!) and that he recommended we go to a Subaru Dealer (which was hours away).

We, again, limped our way to Sante Fe, NM and, in short, we were forced to purchase a new vehicle! This is not something we’ve ever had an issue with but this is the exhilarating (and sometimes daunting) part of traveling. You’re at the will of The Universe and I absolutely believe everything happens for a reason!

As you know, we’re big fans of Full Time to Travel Time. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Full Time to Travel Time is a sustainable travel brand and comedic travel podcast that helps empower people to live the travel lifestyle they have always wanted!

I specialize in storytelling, slow travel, making people laugh, and empowering others to break free from conventional life paths to design a lifestyle that aligns with their dreams and really makes them truly happy. Through the podcast, blog posts, curated travel resources, free travel guides, and mindset shifts, I guide others in reimagining what freedom looks like for them, whether that’s taking road trips, hopping between Airbnbs, traveling internationally, or simply carving out more time for the things that make them feel alive.

What I’m known for is keeping it real and authentic. Who you hear or see on the podcast and on social media is exactly who I am in real life. I love making people smile & laugh is my specialty. Before we start any podcast, Isaac reminds me to ’embrace my weird.’

This isn’t your typical podcast. It’s full of laughter, travel games, learning about how to travel more, and hearing stories about how others have figured out how to travel more regardless of their financial situation, whether they have kids, pets, etc.

This travel brand and travel podcast isn’t about quitting your job and running away to travel more, it’s about consciously choosing the life you want, and building it brick by brick. And for those of you who don’t want to quit your job or maybe you’re retired and want to travel more? This is totally for you too. We’ve had a lot of retirees and empty nesters use our travel guides like the ‘3 Most Iconic Road Trips in the USA’ you can find free on our website or some people just like to live vicariously through us which is great too! 🙂

I’m most proud that Full Time to Travel Time has become an incredible source for real information from real adventurers (Kim & Isaac!) with all the details you need. For example, we had a couple reach out to us to let us know they were going to Italy. They listened to Episode 6: Travel Europe Like a Pro: Insider Tips for Americans to Travel Smart and Stress Less! And they wanted to know what places we recommended visiting. I made Christina & Tony an Italian Itinerary of popular spots to visit, local favorites, places to eat, etc. And what was SO humbling and awesome was hearing when they got back that, of everything they did, their favorite place in Italy was a place I recommended! Nothing feels greater than helping someone have a great time and build everlasting memories!

Full Time to Travel Time offers free travel tips, free travel guides, travel-friendly healthy recipes like my delicious homemade Adventure Granola, packing checklists, recommendations for great sustainable or more eco-friendly products, we run giveaways like giving away a 3 day stay at a cabin resort, and we share real-life lessons from the road, including the fails. I also offer my Systems = Freedom Course which takes less than 2 hours to learn how to build impactful systems and processes for your business to allow you to have more Time Freedom to do more of what you love like traveling, spending time with your kids, or more ‘me’ time like art! The Systems Course includes 4 hours of Systems Coaching and Accountability with me personally so I can really help you see the Difference of what having more time in your life can look like and feel like!!

In the near future, we’ll also have a shop setup on our website where you can purchase sustainable travel products like our favorite reusable water bottles, reusable Ziploc bags, cooler, my hand-drawn travel tshirts, my homemade Adventure Granola, and more!

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Because we started a business in 2018, I’ve had a lot of time to learn what to do, but most importantly, what NOT to do. For example, in the beginning, I was absolutely terrible at networking. I would talk nonstop and never give anyone a chance to speak. I would talk all about myself, my business, and sell, sell, SELL!!

My biggest advice is to listen and talk to as many people as you can. You have a lot to learn from a lot of different kinds of people. Ask questions about the other person. You should especially ask what that person is working on that they’re excited about. You can literally watch a person light up with excitement when they get to talk about themselves. Karma is real and when you get people excited, talking about what they’re passionate about, they want to help you in return. Maybe that’s in the form of giving you a referral or sharing a powerful connection that benefits you. You never know who you’re meeting.

To find a mentor, you have to network. From any business or self-help book you’ll read, you’ll often find a repeated pattern that the author has a lot of connections and relationships. That is key to anyone having success. We can’t navigate this world alone. We have a much larger reach and ability to make a positive impact when we have people on our side, supporting us. Give more than you take.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fulltimetotraveltime.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/fulltimetotraveltime
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/XgzVHPfcXcQDwrag/?mibextid-qi20mg
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-coates-3b15b8b4/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fulltimetotraveltime
• Other: https://linktr.ee/fulltimetotraveltime

Image Credits
Full Time to Travel Time