Jeanette Schuster

Jeanette Schuster has three great passions – travel, birds, and interior design. Finding where they converge is one of her biggest pleasures in life. Raised in Munich, Germany before moving to the U.S. as a teenager, Jeanette grew up experiencing new places and taking trips abroad to visit family. For the past several years, she has been drawn to more local travel, exploring more of the United States. Prompted partly by the pandemic, Jeanette and her longtime partner Josef recently purchased their first Airstream trailer. Jeanette had great fun finding unique pieces to make the trailer a cozy second home. The pair, with one of Josef’s daughters and Jeanette’s cat and dog in tow, headed south to California for their first excursion as digital nomads.

They have found that discovering new vistas at their own pace is worth the pain of spotty Wi-Fi and scarce hookups that come with traveling in remote sections of the country. One of the best perks of traveling by Airstream is being able to stop as needed to track down birds at varying elevations and habitats. Jeanette has an ornithology-focused zoology degree from Northern Arizona University. When she later pursued her J.D., she was drawn to Lewis & Clark Law School for its strong environmental and natural resources program. Is it any wonder that Jeanette now has a thriving environmental law practice that blends scientific study, natural world experience, and legal expertise?

While in the scenic town of Sedona, Arizona on their second outing, Jeanette received a lesson on the parenting style of Black Hawks. After spying a pair bringing food to a nest not far from her campsite, she moved in to get a closer look at the fledglings – she was promptly dive bombed by one of the parents perched nearby. Who says bird watching isn’t an action hobby?

With two interstate Airstream trips in the books, Jeanette is having fun mapping out future routes and creating bird-spotting lists. At the top of the wish list is a visit to Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains and Painted Hills. Loops through Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton national parks are in the works for next fall. Beyond that, the road is wide open!