SAN DIEGO, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Nomad Temporary Housing, a global leader in temporary housing solutions, is pleased to announce that it has opened an EMEA regional office in London. The office will serve its growing roster of European based clients, as well as a strong number of U.S. clients with high volume into the region.

The office will handle reservations, account management, and guest services throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Leading the office will be serviced apartment veteran Patti Whittle, director of EMEA operations. Patti brings 10 years of experience managing serviced accommodations throughout EMEA, as well as several metro areas in the United States.

“Nomad’s expansion is driven by current customers asking us to establish a base in Europe”, said Gavan James, president and chief executive officer for Nomad Temporary Housing.  Adds Nomad executive vice president Heather James, “As the only housing model offering completely unbiased temporary accommodations, Nomad now brings our wide array of temporary housing solutions to a more global audience.  Our combination of world-class service and choice in selection will really impact the region.”  Nomad provides hundreds of four and five star properties throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. These buildings feature a variety of amenities and offer quality short and long term stay accommodations.

Nomad Temporary Housing©, based in San Diego, California is a leading provider of temporary apartments, serviced apartments and extended-stay hotel solutions around the world. Nomad utilizes its extensive Nomad Certified Partner network to offer thousands of apartments and hotel rooms to clients in the locations they need, with the selection of choice they demand. For more information, visit www.nomadtemphousing.com

For additional details, please contact Gavan James at (619) 313-4300(619) 313-4300 or gjames@nomadtemphousing.com

Around the world, relocating employees and employees on temporary business assignments have a wide array of choice for accommodations.
For stays of 30 days or longer, folks typically have two choices, temporary apartments or extended-stay suite hotels. Both have unique benefits and drawbacks. This Blog Post is my shot at assisting you in picking what is best for you.
First, I have no clear favorite, each style of accommodations has distinct merits. While I am a long time “temp apartment guy”, I am also a big fan of suite hotels.
Extended-Stay Suite Hotels
“Suite Hotels” are plentiful, but the term can be misleading. Your “suite” can mean many things. On one end of the spectrum, you get a glorified room with 70 extra square feet, a sofa, microwave and a pint-size refrigerator. Think Holiday Inn Express inn & Suites. At the higher end, you can get a two bedroom/two bath suite with closing bedrooms doors, a full kitchen, actual living room, and upscale amenities. The Homewood Suites and Residence Inn occupy this strata. Many variations are in between, buyer beware. Research details of each “suite”.
Benefits:
- Good rates if you book for 30 days or longer. Sometimes tax is exempt in certain cities on longer stays.
- Flexible. You can leave when you want. Careful here though, departing earlier from the long stay can increase your rate 25% – 100%, or more.
- Sometimes decent free breakfast offerings, even light cocktail refreshments at Happy Hour.
- With some chains, pets are welcome, with low pet fees. Some chains are also fairly flexible with dog breeds where temp apartment communities will not allow those “aggressive breed” dogs.
- Large city locations of course, and sometimes located in rural areas where temporary apartment options are non-existent, or limited.
- Easy to check-in, a 24/7 front desk welcomes you.
Drawbacks:
- Many suites as noted are not real suites with bedroom doors. Some smaller options will be better suited to a single adult.
- While you can find a decent size kitchen in many, dishwashers seem to be lacking. Actual stoves may also be missing.
- Get used to a community laundry room that charges by the load – no in-room washer/dryers that are typical in most temporary apartments.
- Even the largest suite is small. At the higher end chains, a two bedroom/two bath suite may only be 800 square feet. The typical two bedroom/two bath temp apartment can be 1000 – 1200 square feet, quite roomy for a family of four.

Temporary Apartments

First, straight away, the temp apartment industry goes by many names:
- Temporary Apartments
- Corporate Apartments
- Executive Apartments
- Furnished Apartments
- Serviced Apartments, the industry term around the world, except North America
I could bore you with reasons for the various names, but suffice to say, may cooks in the kitchen in this industry.
Temporary Apartments are fully furnished apartments located in typically newer apartment communities that are designed and built for long term renters. Most are operated by various temp housing companies that rent standard apartments, then install furniture, housewares, linens, and electronics. The operator adds utilities, cable TV, phone service, and wireless internet service. All the comforts of home at an apartment community you would typically love to stay at beyond your temp housing need.
The industry is highly fragmented. While the extended-stay suite hotel industry has 14 dominant brands, the temporary apartment industry has over 450 operators in the USA, most serving only one or two cities. Less than 20 companies operate in broad regions, with only a handful operating throughout the USA or the world.
Nomad is the first company in the world by the way to consolidate this fragmented industry to provide unbiased choice among most of these operators. We bring our clients the best possible choice of quality apartments all serviced 24/7 by Nomad as we are not a broker. OK, commercial over.
Benefits:
- The industry primarily rents at very nice, newer apartment communities. This gives the guest a great apartment, often fantastic fitness centers, pools and other recreational amenities. Apartments built in the last five years often have granite counters, fine flooring, stunning bathrooms and kitchens, and almost all have in-unit washer/dryers. Keep your quarters in your pockets.
- Square footage! Enjoy an 800 square foot one bedroom apartment, or a 1200 square foot two bedroom, or even a 1500 square foot three bedroom. All of these are possible in most USA larger cities and many worldwide major cities.
- Cost effective rates. In Houston, a new one bedroom temp apartment can cost as little as $95 per day, no tax. Manhattan, a one bedroom can go for $180 – $240 per day plus tax. This may seem high, but a one bedroom suite at a Midtown hotel can easily run $1200 per day plus tax. The temp apartment is a bargain.
- Feels like home. Your neighbor typically is on a long term lease, only you will be moving belongings in every 30 or 60 days. The apartments are designed for living, you benefit.
Drawbacks:
- You are mostly bound by apartment lease rules. A minimum 30 day stay is required in most locations in the USA. International locations are much more flexible. Plus, most locations require a 30 day notice to vacate – less flexibility than a hotel.
- Typically in the USA, no 24/7 front desk. You often arrive at your door with a lockbox installed where you enter a code and retrieve keys. A bit clumsy, but you are only checking in once for a 30 – 90 day average length of stay. Exception – temp apartments in large city high-rises have doormen that will hand you the key.
- No free breakfast, or Happy Hour. You can offset this by looking into that huge refrigerator and pouring your own beer.
- Hard to find in remote locations. Since there is not much demand in a town like Sebring Florida, you may end up in some form of suite hotel. Temp Apartments are located in cities with reasonable demand for them – cities with a base of decent sized employers who need temp apartments for their employees.

I hope this rather lengthy Blog Post helps in some way. Email me any comments, questions, or alternative views at gjames@nomadtemphousing.com
Enjoy Your Stay!

This is the final chapter of my blog recounting my 10,000 mile road trip the summer before starting Nomad Temporary Housing. I drove our motor coach bus from San Diego to Cape Cod and back, in 10 weeks.

After departing Amish country and the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside, I had two days to get to “Country Thunder”, a four day music festival in rural Wisconsin. I cranked up the Kenny Chesney CD and continued the development of Nomad in my mind. While I had several business opportunities, I knew Nomad and our unique client centric model was the right thing to do. My time on the road was filled with moments of clarity and excitement!

18 hours later I pulled into the farm where Country Thunder would take place. The massive spread was filling fast with RVer’s and a ton of people in tents, small campers and, well, you name it. My bus ended up parked in one of ten plowed cornfields neatly arranged for the camp sites. I was parked next to 15 college kids from Central Illinois University. Great farm kids, all having a ball. The weather was ominous and on the first night, a tornado touched down ½ mile away. We could see it as the lightning lit the sky. Crazy.

Heather’s flight was diverted from Milwaukee to Chicago due to the weather and I arranged car service. Alas, the farm had become a mud bowl, and there was no way that car was getting in off the main road. One of the boys in the tents next to me threw me the keys to his jacked up Dodge Ram 4 x 4 and off I went to collect my wife. She asked what color was the truck and I said, well it is mud colored top to bottom. She got out of a clean Lincoln and jumped in. The weather cleared some, and it rained some. Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert and several other major acts made it a great four nights. At the end, Heather’s car service could get in, but alas, my bus had sunk into the mud! It took a massive farm tractor to get it out and get me on the road.

I headed west through the northern states on Interstate 90. What amazing country. Some areas were desolate, others spectacular. Of course, had to see Mt. Rushmore! Two days later I was in Reno Nevada. By chance, I stumbled onto “Hot August Nights”, a huge classic car show weekend. As I pulled my bus into a luxury RV park, I marveled at the numerous buses pulling trailers filled with classic mustangs, GTO’s, Chevy’s and so many more. Needless to say, I was in car heaven.

The next day, I made my way to Napa Valley, where Heather came up for a fabulous wine country weekend. We loaded several cases of wine in the belly of the bus of course. Then, the final leg to Malibu and home!

So, this was a trip of a lifetime. I learned so much and created my destiny. My bus ran great, with only minor issues. My family was awesome, and I missed them terribly. It was the right thing to do though to head out, how many opportunities like this does one get?

Today, in less than two years of opening Nomad has already become one of the top temporary housing companies in the world. Our clients include major relocation companies and some of the largest Fortune 500 companies. Nomad is also ranked #1 of all major brands according to the 2012 Trippel Survey of Relocating Employees. What a ride, and it all started on that 10,000 mile bus trip!

I wish to thank my lovely wife Heather, and daughters Hannah and Ashley for all of your love and support. Today, I also thank our customers who have made Nomad what it is today. Plus, our business partner Karl Thuge, and all of our fabulous Nomad employees for our great start!

Nomad Temporary Housing opened for business January 13, 2011 after five months of pre-opening efforts. This past year has been the most extraordinary year of my life. This Blog entry serves as a “Nomad Time Stamp”. For those of you following the “10,000 Mile Nomad” posts, I promise, the last entry will be done within 30 days!

What a year! When we opened with the very first unbiased choice model in the temporary housing industry, we had done our market research (Thank you to wife and business partner Heather for the inspiration!). 18 large users of temporary housing contributed to the formation of our model and strategic planning. One year later, 16 of these companies are now Nomad clients, and we also now serve scores more. Nomad has certainly exceeded our expectations. We greatly appreciate the customer acceptance we have enjoyed, and now, customer loyalty.

Any new business opening is a gamble. It is never easy. Opening an international temporary housing company from scratch, well, it does not compare to putting Neil and Buzz on the moon, but it has been an undertaking! 12 – 18 hour days, seven days per week most weeks, but loving 99% of it. I wish to thank my partners Karl Thuge and Heather James, as well as key director Kim Floyd. Without you, Nomad would not have made it off the launch pad. Heather and I wish to thank our daughters for putting up with our insane work schedules. By the way, it almost brought a tear to me eye to see my oldest daughter Ashley join Nomad as a temporary staffer on her college break last week. Hannah, you are next! Our Nomad Team, now bigger than ever, you have been the engineers and astronauts, thank you! We moved this weekend into our third set of offices in 12 months. The new offices are 3 times larger here on floor 13 as compared to floor 19. Let’s not outgrow for at least two years this time Gang! Well, maybe outgrowing is OK. It seems we are truly Nomads!

Karl, Heather and I knew we had friends in the relocation field, corporate HR world, and temp housing fields. What we did not know was just how many of these friends were not only rooting for Nomad to exceed, but how many were prepared to do business with us right from the start. Some described it as a “David and Goliath” thing, others simply root for the underdog, and others simply believed we had a better mousetrap. As we grow and take on more and more new accounts, we will never forget the support. I can name names here, all of you know who you are!!

Nomad continues to evolve. Our reach into EMEA continues, our recent trip overseas resulted in many new property choices coming into the Nomad fold. In the U.S. alone, Nomad now has over 65,000 temporary apartment offerings, 350,000 suite hotel options, and a myriad of custom rental options for our clients. Our northern neighbor Canada, well, we have it covered. Nomad’s buying power now results in preferred rental rates from hundreds of partners, as well as preferred service delivery. Our new reporting package gives a new level of information to clients in a format that easily hits data points they want to see.

Customer feedback has been incredible. Nomad has been described as “groundbreaking”, “setting a new standard”, and “world class”.  For any potential client, we can put you in touch with the folks who made these comments and many more. 

All of this has been a very humbling experience. We are blessed and thankful. Customers and partners are asking how big we are going to be, or what is the next milestone. Nomad goals are not directly focused on these sorts of milestones. Instead, our goal is serving guests and clients with the very best possible unbiased rental solutions and service levels. Our model aggregates most of the temp housing industry, and our clients experience the incredible array of housing options for the first time beyond using one, two or even a few brands. We will continue to bring in new quality partners. At Nomad, we are not trying to the “Big Kahuna”. That role is taken by another fine firm. We simply wish to be the best possible choice for our customers and guests. This is how Nomader’s measure success.

To all who read this, I wish you good health, prosperity, spiritual well-being, time with family, and happiness in 2012 and beyond.

Thank you for making 2011 a wonderful year for all of us at Nomad Temporary Housing! 2012 is Rock & Roll time for Nomad!

This is an ongoing blog of Nomad’s founder as he drove 10,000 miles in a motorcoach on the journey to develop Nomad Temporary Housing.

My bus parked next to Chris Isaak's bus

It has been months since my last blog, my ad agency is going to shoot me. Well, in the past four months Nomad has grown tremendously on top of having our industry high season demand hit. We moved into new offices and have tripled the size of our staff. A wee bit busy!

As I left Chicago headed for New York in my bus after a great Buffett Concert, Eagles show, flying home to see my beautiful children, and a great week with my wife, the idea of Nomad was well formed. By the time I pulled into New York, the business plan was mapped out. Once on the east coast, Heather rejoined me for a visit to her parents, Tom and Patty in Rhode Island. Then a great trip up to Martha’s Vinyard. We then journeyed to our dear friends home on the water in Long Island, Karl & Corbett’s place. Karl of course is now our partner at Nomad. We were thrilled when this senior VP of Bank of America came onboard months later, partly as a result of Nomad brainstorming on this trip. I then headed into Manhattan to meet industry colleagues (on the train, no driving a bus in the City!). After a great couple of days, headed over the George Washington Bridge and pointed toward Washington DC. More great meetings, and a delightful dinner with Paul Arnold and Lloyd Lemson of Cort Furniture. After my departure from Oakwood, these are the kind of friends that stand by you and help you through. Plus, great cigars guys, thank you! 

Well, in 7 weeks I had journeyed east, and the road to discovery was now headed west. I must admit, I had “rental horse reflexes”. You know when a horse you rent for a ride knows he is headed back to the barn, he trots faster? That was me, I missed my kids and Heather dearly, and wanted that bus to hit 90 MPH and get me home. I was done and frankly wanted to get going on my new career venture. First though, one last concert! Chris Isaak was playing up in Amish country of all places in Pennslyvania. Up I went, and pulled into the venue at 3 PM for tailgating. Ha! While I was parked next to Chris Isaak’s tour buses, I was clearly the only one there to tailgate. Silly me, thinking everyone loves to go early and have some fun! After hanging with the tour roadies, the parking lot filled about 10 minutes before the show and in I went. Great show Chris! By the way, I was the only fan standing during the show. Geez, what a crowd.

After the show, it was time to head home, 3500 miles, and I would pull up to our home in San Clemente. That story is next……

The girls at a Kelly Clarkson concert

Today, many Dads who Blog may be doing what you see here, taking a moment to reflect on Daddyhood. Well, here goes…… 

As Heather, Cheri, Brad and I watched our incredible daughter Ashley receive her high school diploma last Thursday night at Mission Hills High, it was an incredible moment for all of us. Yes, in our family we have two sets of parents. I share Daddyhood with Brad, my lovely ex-wife’s husband. A dear man, one who helped raise my babies for almost ten years, along with his own daughters. Thank you Brad! My beautiful wife Heather was waiting for me to tear up at the sight of Ashley in her cardinal robe and cap, but I held it together. Brad and I are lucky, Heather and Cheri have been such great Moms to our two daughters. Cheri with her camera at the ready as always, and Heather with her camera at the ready, as always! 

Like all parents, you wonder where the time went. For me, I know where it went. Too many days away from my daughters, both due to divorce over ten years ago, a blistering workload with too much travel, and working two hours from home. That is my only regret as I wait for my incredible daughters, 18 year old Ashley and 15 year old Hannah to arrive this morning. I am not supposed to know, but I know we are taking Hotel California to Daddy Day brunch at the Cays yacht club. 

Well, my daughters have turned out extremely well, and I thank Heather, Cheri and Brad for this. Plus, a small pat on the back for me on this day only. Our lives may be typical, cheer tournaments, softball tournaments, driving them everywhere before Ashley started to drive, hawaii vacations, dinners, movies, and on occasional disagreement. I thank God for these angels in my life, they mean everything to me. 

Dads and Moms, along with being husbands, wives and good family members. This is what most people live for, the rest seems to fall around this life. I hope you feel the same way.  

I have such incredible memories in this Daddyhood journey. Having them as babies fall asleep on my chest on the couch. Their first steps, and their first words (Yes, DaDa). Those first days off to school. The swim lessons. Hannah’s first soccer game, Ashley’s softball team winning the state championship. The hawaii vacations, poolside in Maui. Watching each drive our boats for the first time. Driving lessons for both (Ashley loved it, Hannah now doing it, not so much). Ashley bringing home the first boyfriend, and the next (hi Evan!). Hannah bringing home straight “A’s” over and over again. Ashley, love you too and your 3.6 average! Watching them both as cheerleaders for pop warner, then high school. Watching Hannah and Ashley walk down the aisle as flower girls at my wedding to Heather in Maui. Now that was something! That first piano recital. Hannah getting bruised during cheer competitions. Ashley driving away, down the hill in her first car. Now that was something! 

I never wished for boys, my girls have alway been precious and everything I could have wanted. Now, do not get me wrong, boys would have been great. Once when Hannah was 2 and Ashley 5, I took them to the park and happened on a little league game. As I watched, I did think about throwing a ball around with a son. Ashley’s long softall career scratched that itch. Plus, “my little Hanny” makes me light up every time I see her. 

Well, Daddyhood is a wonderful thing. Something I share with, well about half the men who ever lived. I am not sure how I rank amongst this group as a Dad, but today my daughters will remind me where I rank with them. The journey of course continues. Hannah needs to master this driving thing and we need to get Ashley off to San Francisco State in 60 days. Today, though, if I can just get through the Daddy Day cards at brunch without a teardrop! 

Congratulations to all Dads on Father’s Day!

This blog 

Buffett tailgating with Heather

is a multiple series of posts from the founder of Nomad who took a 10,000 mile cross country trip after leaving Oakwood, who had an idea……..

It was just what I needed, a visit from Heather, a beautiful weekend in Chicago, and seeing our favorite band, The Eagles. Plus, now knowing Nomad was more than a concept, it could be something special in the relatively small lodging field of temporary housing.

The concept of Nomad is simple: bringing quality corporate apartments to customers who wanted more choice than a single supplier, or even a few suppliers might present. All this with the full service of an international temporary housing company. Heaven knows there are a ton of temporary apartment companies, over 450 in the U.S. alone. A few large operators like Oakwood, Equity or Marriott Execustay with several thousand apartments each. Regional companies with 300 – 600 apartments. 400+ operators with 100 – 300 apartments. Most of these operators, large and small provide high quality temporary apartments right along side each other, the same neighborhoods, the same apartment communities and many times even have furniture and housewares supplied by the same rental firms. Nomad’s idea was to aggregate the quality operator options, and provide unbiased choice to our clients. When you rent from a single supplier nationally or in a specific market, you are offered what they have vacant. With Nomad, you draw from a pool of 5 – 12 suppliers in a larger market. Your choices in location, price, even floor grow tremendously. Nomad gives the choices, yet the full service of one firm. We rent the apartments in our name and provide Nomad service throughout the stay. We are not a broker as some are claiming (one of a few misconceptions being bantered around to our potential customers).

As I headed the bus toward a detour to Wisconsin out of Chicago, I now knew Nomad could work, at least in my own mind. More on Nomad in the next post.

Jimmy Buffett. For all who know me, and for many people who casually know me, Jimmy has been sort of an obsession. Yes, I am a fan. A parrothead. The bus I am driving has the license plates “FINS BUS”, named after a Buffett song. My car has the plate “PIRET40″, named after “Pirate Looks at 40″, another Jimmy song.  I have been to a few of his concerts, I lost count after 120 shows, maybe I am up to 130 by now. My wife Heather, and my daughters Ashley and Hannah are amused, have attended, and put up with the tunes on the boat, in the car, and on the patio. Ironically, I love The Eagles music more. Jimmy brings a lifestyle, a beach serenade and corny as it sounds, a soundtrack to my life. Plus, I have never met a Jimmy Buffett tailgate I did not like. Half the reason we bought this bordello on wheels was for Jimmy Buffett tailgates, the other half daughter’s softball and cheer tournaments.

As I left Chicago headed for New York, I detoured northwest for a Buffett concert at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. I knew the concert schedule before leaving California, and bought my single ticket. However, when you pull into a venue’s parking lot with thousands of parrotheads in a private tour bus, you are not alone long. I was excited, and early. I pulled into the outdoor amphitheatre parking lot a day early. They thought I was part of the band’s group and parked me. After learning I was just some Buffett nut, they told me the local bowling alley was having a Jimmy Buffett party that night featuring several members of Jimmy’s band, the Coral Reefers. I started the bus, headed down the highway in this great farm country, and found Buffett nirvana in a bowling alley. Now, this was no ordinary bowling alley. My first clue was the parking lot was packed with Buffett decorated motorhomes, pick-up trucks, and cars. At Noon. The Buffett party was that evening. My kind of revelers, ones who come early and sleep in the parking lot afterward! They made room for the rig. Bruce, the owner of this place came out to greet me when he saw the bus and the license plate. It turns out he does this party every year, and he does it well. This “bowling alley” is Wisconsin’s idea of a theme park. Behind the building, the corn fields part and Bruce has created Key West in Wisconsin. He trucked in sand for his beach, has great sand volleyball courts, an outdoor stage, dance floor and seating that is covered under a massive shed. BBQ, beers, farm girls and cowboys. Speaking of beer, Bruce serves chilled Coronas for $2. Every day, including his big Buffett bash. He told me people appreciate a place to have a beer or two, a burger and a bowl for under $10. I told him I would appreciate location #2 in California. Michael Utley, Nadira Shakoor, and other Buffett band members performed, a great prelude to the next day.

I pulled the bus into the Alpine Valley lot at 10 am, for the 8 pm show. Along with 10,000 others who showed up before Noon, as my obsession is not a singular one. The FINS BUS was parked in row one, facing a main walkway. I set up the 1000w outdoor stereo, lounge chairs, coolers and turned on the music. Not just Buffett to the consternation of the faithful. I had INXS, The Eagles, Kid Rock, Kenny Chesney, The Rolling Stones and many others. Instant party. 40 people, my new friends within one hour. I called Heather and the kids several times to give updates, it was a hoot. Bruce, the bowling alley mogul pulled up near me with 300 fans in six buses. The concert of course was fun, Jimmy played all of my favs, including Southern Cross, a CSN hit that is my top played tune aboard Hotel California. After the show, people came back, said goodbye, exchanged email addresses and headed out. It was time to fly home for a week and see my family. Next stop…..New York…more in the next post.

This is the 3rd in a series that chronicles the travel exploits of Nomad’s founder, who took a pre-opening cross country trip in a private motorcoach, 10,000 miles in 70 days.

Being part of a company called Nomad Temporary Housing may produce a certain wanderlust. I have had it forever, and have enjoyed visiting cities all over North America. This trip has been the pinnacle for me, at least so far!

The Memphis stop was a last minute decision to divert between Dallas and Chicago. I had three days to meet Heather, my wife in Chicago. I had never visited Graceland. I pulled the bus in on a very hot day to the Heartbreak Hotel’s RV park. Pretty interesting to say the least! I was toasting and took one look at the sparkling pool and was in. Big smile. The next day, made the visit in 49 minutes flat to Graceland, the cars, and seeing the Elvis jets. Fun!

Then, headed north to Chicago. What struck me here was the farmland, the heartland and our great people who live in this part of the country. It was alive with farming commerce, and many trucks out on the interstate. Awesome! John Deere is doing well from all the green tractors you could see.

Two days later my heartbeat a little faster as I pulled into Chicago, knowing my beautiful wife was flying in. I picked her up and had arranged with Soldier Field staff to be parked at the venue, and they put me in with The Eagles tour trucks and buses. That night a terrible storm came through and we thought the bus would blow over. No worries, we hailed a cab and headed to The Lodge, my fav bar in the country. Heather knows this is a tradition when in Chicago. We came back to a calm, but rainy late evening. Next day, we headed to the show after a very fun tailgate with Nomad Certified Partner, Dave Flando of Habitat and his wonderful wife, plus several local RVer’s who came to see The Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban. This was the 7th time we had seen The Eagles this year, so we knew what to expect. Seeing them at Soldier Field was a delight, the weather was amazing, and we had great seats. After the show, we received a 2 AM police escort, lights and all, to our overnight parking spot three miles away (only in Chicago, this is a story in itself)!

Nomad Temporary Housing was sure on my mind on this leg, but it was great to see Heather and take a break from building what is now a very fast growing temporary housing company.

Next Blog installment……a detour Northwest to see Jimmy Buffett in Alpine Valley Wisconsin, then the big run east to New York!

Great evening!Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban show

Starting a new business can be daunting…for your spouse! I have been in corporate housing, also known as temporary housing for over 30 years. After my departure from Oakwood Temporary Housing last May, I brainstormed with my very smart and very beautiful wife Heather about starting Nomad Temporary Housing. She was at dinner when we came up with the Nomad name over a bottle of Merryvale Cabernet. She was there with me on the second bottle when we dreamed up the tag lines….”No Borders, No Limits”. Heck, she was with me 24/7 when all I could talk about was Nomad for the last 10 months. When she was with Citibank she was a great promoter of Nomad as conversations occasionally turned to “What’s up with Gavan since he left Oakwood?”, or “What does your husband do?”

Heather is the best sales person I know, or at least in the Top 2%. She knew Nomad would benefit if she joined the family business. I know another Top 2% person, Karl Thuge, Nomad’s EVP of business development who Heather worked for at GMAC Mortgage several years ago. If I had Karl and Heather, wow, there would be a dynamic duo serving customers and generating business! Heather, unlike Karl, was not coming aboard Nomad and brushed aside my advances (the come to work at Nomad kind of advances, not the other kind of advances). I understood her concern. I was living Nomad 24/7 and I think she liked some distance between her and I as our marriage and family comes first.

As luck would have it, circumstances changed, and Heather recently came aboard to head up business development in the west and the U.K. I am of course thrilled, and so is Heather. Her very first day resulted in two relocation industry contacts calling her and becoming Nomad clients, a first in her sales career. Now she wonders why she waited so long! Heather has the Nomad bug, well she had it all along but ignored the symptoms. Today, Nomad’s senior team made up of Kim Floyd, director of client services, Heather, Karl and I are heading up a very fast growing business. We are taking on new very valued customers every week, and finding our independent temporary housing business model has struck a chord with many companies wanting the independently chosen aggregated options we provide with the full service of one single company.

We are having a ball with Nomad, and rest assured, we know how to work hard, and have time for each other, our daughters Hannah and Ashley, our Boston Terriers Mimi and Maggie, our concerts (next stop Kenny Chesney in Dallas), and our boat “Hotel California”. Now if I could only get her to be at work at 5 AM with me…..

Yours truly, the Nomad Blogger, Gavan James

Next blog post “The 10,000 Mile Nomad, continued”