Broadband vanlife: a family-run fiber company that lives on the road

Eight years ago, while working as a sprinkler system installer, Adam Roy had never heard of fiber optics. Today, the technology supports his entire family to live on the road. Yet unlike your prototypical digital nomad, Roy's job isn't remote. Rather, it's what makes remote life possible in the first place. With his wife, Lauren, the Roys run a fiber subcontracting company, enabling the whole family to live in a mobile camper full time—moving with the work and the seasons. When a buddy asked Roy if he wanted to splice fiber, he and his wife jumped on the opportunity and traded in their home for the open road and their nine-to-five jobs for more time with their kids. And so Upstream Telecommunications was born. While Roy handles the fiber work itself, Lauren operates the business. He gives endless credit to her ability to run the books—the taxes and benefits for the family—while also homeschooling their children. His son already knows how to splice fiber and loves it.