About

It all began back in the year 2000, a few months after I met Jerrod. I wasn’t in a very good situation in life and needed a change. I had dreams of hitchhiking to California and here shows up my knight in shining armor (in a red Pontiac Grand Prix, no less).

On a whim, we both quit our jobs and left Minnesota with what we could fit in his car… a garbage bag full of clothes and a guitar. Living in his car for over 3 months, we traveled through 26 states.

We fell madly in love along the way, so my heart was torn into pieces when it came time for him to drop me off in California. I left a note in his car, hoping he would someday find it. I can’t recall what exactly that note said, but he came back for me not long after. We just couldn’t be apart, these two traveling souls. We got the travel bug and it wasn’t going away.

We’ve been inseparable ever since, working full-time jobs and still traveling to over 40 countries in the past few years.

From visiting the indigenous African tribes of Omo Valley, to getting robbed in Romania, to tracking wild gorillas in Uganda and wild orangutans in Borneo, to observing elephants, rhinos, lions and more roam free in the wilds of Africa, it’s been quite the adventure for sure!

We are spontaneous types not afraid to rough it and go off the beaten path to places we’ve never heard of and coming across amazing people and cultures we had never dreamed of experiencing.

The more adventure, the better!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and stay tuned as we will work on getting all these stories on the blog and tons of travel tips and tricks!

Jerrod is the realist. The glass isn’t empty and the glass isn’t full… the glass is full of kryptonite. Haha okay just kidding, he just sees things as they are. He is the genius mastermind behind our travels. Basically we can afford to travel by flying cheap flights with points and free miles, getting free hotel rooms or sometimes sleeping on airport floors or camping in tents. Also it involves finding the best travel deals and sometimes getting luxury for budget prices. It’s been Jerrod’s main hobby, or really, his part time “job” finding out all this stuff. We get asked all the time how we do it, so this blog is the perfect way to share some tips with everyone and help others to do the same! As for other hobbies,  he enjoys rock concerts, hiking and he’s quite the bird whisperer. They really do whistle back to him. He’s not the stereotypical computer programmer, as he’s frequently mistaken for Axl Rose, but he’s definitely the most intelligent man I ever met–with a heart of gold to boot.
As for me, (Brooke)..I’m the dreamer, viewing the world from the clouds. So we balance each other out quite well if I do say so myself.  I inspire him to dream and love and see beauty, while he inspires me to see detail and things I may have missed while off in my dreamland. He pushes me to put my dreams into action and I love that about him! I love to write, so I’ll most likely be doing most of the writing here (after gathering info from Jerrod on some subjects). You’ll also usually find me hiding behind a lens and lugging a heavy photo backpack around. No matter if we are climbing a mountain in the rain in Sri Lanka or hiking through the desert in Dubai, my camera comes with me! Photography makes me feel alive and inspires me to see beauty everywhere I look. I started Captured by Brooke Photography in 2011 and take most of my photos on our travels, as well as doing occasional weddings and portrait sessions. My other loves are yoga, eating fruit and hugging trees. Yes, go ahead and call me an Earth Mama if you must! We also do our best to give back to the world, volunteering when possible, doing activism and living a vegan lifestyle…check out the Compassionate Living tab for more info on that. I may share some recipes too!

And truly, our hope is to give back to you all by giving you travel tips and inspiring you to see the world in all it’s amazing splendor, even if that means appreciating the beauty in your own backyard.

~Brooke and Jerrod Reynolds

Countries: (91)

• United States (born and raised in Northern MN)
• Mexico – April, 2000
• Canada – April, 2003
• Aruba – November, 2007
• Australia – December, 2007
• New Zealand – November, 2008
• Greece – September, 2010
• The Netherlands – September, 2010
• Egypt – September, 2010
• Italy – September, 2010
• Costa Rica – November, 2010
• Peru – December, 2010
• South Africa – April, 2011
• Zimbabwe – April, 2011
• Botswana – April, 2011
• Hong Kong – November, 2011
• Maldives – November, 2011
• Sri Lanka – December, 2011
• Thailand – December, 2011
• Panama – May, 2012
• Ecuador – May, 2012
• France – September, 2012
• Turkey – September, 2012
• Ireland – September, 2012
• Indonesia – November, 2012
• South Korea – November, 2012
• Cambodia – November, 2012
• Mexico – December, 2012
• Brazil – May, 2013
• Germany – September, 2013
• U.K. (England) – September, 2013
• Romania – September, 2013
• Taiwan – November, 2013
• Singapore – November, 2013
• Malaysia – November, 2013
• United Arab Emirates- November, 2013
• India – November, 2013
• Belize – December, 2013
• Ethiopia – May, 2014
• Uganda – May, 2014
• Sweden – May, 2014
• Myanmar (Burma) – November, 2014
• Thailand(#2) – November, 2014
• Nepal – December, 2014
• Chile – May, 2015
• Brazil(#2) – May, 2015
• Finland – June, 2015
• Norway – July, 2015
• UK (England) – July, 2015
• UK (Scotland) – July, 2015
• Guatemala – November, 2015
• Dominican Republic – November, 2015
• Switzerland – December, 2015
• Zambia- December, 2015
• Botswana(#2)- December, 2015
• Kenya – December, 2015
• Qatar – December, 2015
• Norway  – May, 2016
• UK ( Scotland )(#2)- May, 2016
• Denmark- May, 2016
• Iceland – May, 2016
• Madagascar – November, 2016
• Mauritius – November, 2016

• Costa Rica(#2) – December, 2016
• Jamaica – December, 2016
• Canada(#2)- May, 2017
• Australia(#2) – May, 2017
• Japan – June, 2017
• Poland – September, 2017
• Slovenia- September, 2017
• Croatia- September, 2017
• Austria(#2)- September, 2017
• Belgium- November 2017
• Rwanda-November, 2017
• Congo (DRC)- November, 2017
• Namibia- November, 2017
• Honduras- December, 2017
• USA (Hawaii)- March, 2018
• The Netherlands(#2)- May, 2018
• Estonia- May,2018
• Latvia- May, 2018
• Lithuania – May, 2018
• Austria(#3)- June, 2018
• Slovakia- June, 2018
• Hungary- June, 2018
• Spain- June, 2018
• France(#2)- June, 2018
• Andorra- June, 2018
• USA- (Alaska)- July, 2018
• Cyprus- November 2018
• Jordan – Nov 2018
• Philippines – Nov 2018
• Taiwan – Nov 2018
• Indonesia (Sumatra)(#2) – June 2019
• Malaysia (Borneo) – June 2019
• Japan(#2) – June 2019
• Argentina- November 2019
• Uruguay- November 2019
• Bahamas- December 2019
• Cayman Islands- December 2019
• Austria- July 2022
• Bosnia and Herzegovina- July 2022
• Montenegro- July 2022
• Croatia(#2)- July 2022
• Italy(#2)- July 2022
• Vatican City- July 2022
• Canada (Hudson Bay/Churchill)#3- August 2022
• Costa Rica (#3)- January 2023
• South Africa (#2)- June 2023
• Lesotho- June 2023
• Mozambique- June 2023
• Eswatini- June 2023
• Germany (#2)- August 2023
• Georgia- August 2023
• Armenia- August 2023
• Switzerland (#2)- August 2023
• Liechtenstein- August 2023
• Portugal- August 2023
• Mexico (#3)- December 2023
• India(#2)- June 2024
• Czechia- June 2024
• Ireland(#2)- June 2024

Upcoming destinations:

Check out our TripAdvisor profile and map here!

We are members of and/or support these organizations:

• Compassionate Action for Animals
• Animal Rights Coalition
• The Abolitionist Vegan Society
• Orangutan Foundation
• Water: Charity
• Photographers Without Borders
• The Light Space
• Chicken Run Rescue
• Rooster Redemption
• Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
• Breast Cancer Action
• The Sadhana Forest
• Sea Shepherd
• SoulSpace Farm Sanctuary
• WWOOF 

and more!

All photography and images on this site are copyrighted by Brooke Reynolds, i.e. Captured by Brooke Photography, unless otherwise stated or part of the template of the website. All rights reserved. You are more than welcome to share the images on social media, but please link back to this site and do not alter the images in any way or crop out watermarks. Please request permission at compassionatenomads@gmail.com if you’d like to use them in any other way. Prints may be purchased at www.capturedbybrooke.com.  A percentage of print profits is given to animal rights and/or humanitarian organizations.

We may use affiliate links throughout the site. If you click on any of these links and purchase something, we may get a small percentage of the profit. This helps cover the costs of running the site. We only share links of awesome products or services that we use ourselves and we think may help YOU. Any reviews or recommendations are our own opinions.

All information on this site are expressed opinions by the author and not endorsed by any other entity. Any advice you take from us is your sole responsibility.