Alyssa And Braden Everly: Unfurling Life's Journey, One Mural At A Time

Embracing a life of adventure can be fun, but not without its risks and expenses. For Alyssa and Braden Everly, both 30 and recently married, living a spontaneous life is how they hoped to seek fulfillment. About three years ago, the call of the water drew the couple from Colorado to St. Petersburg, Florida.

In Colorado, Braden, who has a degree in special education, ran a program for adults with special needs, while Alyssa worked for a large graphic design firm. Despite enjoying their snowboarding life in Colorado, the water beckoned. They both have grandparents who live near St. Pete, so they made the leap and moved to Florida, leaving their careers behind to seek ways to make a living that allowed for more artistic expression, adventure, and freedom.

"Alyssa decided very quickly that she wanted to be a full-time fine artist, which is a very scary thing that a lot of people will tell you not to do," Braden says. "But if you tell Alyssa not to do something, she'll do it twice. She's a spitfire."

While painting, Alyssa often has YouTube videos playing. She started watching SV Delos, a vlog created by a cruising couple using crowdfunding donations to chronicle their sail around the world. They both became intrigued with living a travel lifestyle and documenting it for others. But first, they needed a boat. When they moved to St. Petersburg, they set up an art gallery and earned commissions to do several murals in the area. Now they both make a living doing the murals together. She's the artist, and he does background painting, sets up the scaffolding, and promotes the art online. They've created more than 40 murals in St. Petersburg and Colorado, and have been commissioned to travel to the Bahamas and New Mexico to create murals.

"Alyssa is very ambitious, so she began reaching out to people who had sailboats for sale saying, 'Hey, would you like to trade your sailboat for original art?,'" Braden says. They found an art lover who admired her work, willing to trade his 1991 Seaward 23 for some of her original paintings.

Next, they needed a trailer. They found a store owner who wanted a mural on the side of a building willing to trade for a new trailer. Now that the couple has a sailboat, they're learning the ropes and building content for their new YouTube channel, Best Life Everly (they also have a Facebook page with the same name). But, Braden explains, following their dreams and living life on their own terms doesn't mean they take unnecessary risks.

"We definitely let life unfold in front of us," Braden says. "But we also want to be safe and smart sailors, and we want to use it as a tool to enrich our lives.

I think living on a sailboat, traveling the world, and painting murals is not out of the question for us."

The intent of the couple's YouTube channel is to inspire others to be courageous, let life flow, and to love life. They always had a social media presence, but the YouTube channel is something new for them. "I really like video editing, and we really like going on adventures," says Braden who upped the professionalism of the videos and started posting them. "Our videos will continue to grow and evolve around sailing and art and our outlook on life. We hope to inspire people to figure out how to best love their lives." For more information: AlyssaMarieGallery.com