Coastal Calling

Dalene and Pete Heck were happy globetrotters until health issues brought them back home. They settled on a century-old former parsonage in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.

- Andrea Yu

The buyers: Dalene Heck, who's 47, and her husband, Pete, who's 46. They co-own a digital marketing company.

The budget: $400,000

The backstory: Dalene and Pete were digital nomads long before it was cool. Back in 2007, the couple were living in a 2,100-square-foot detached house in Okotoks, Alberta. Every day, they commuted an hour each way to Calgary to work corporate jobs they didn't love-Dalene in supply-chain management and Pete in accounting. Then, within a few short months, two of their close family members died and they found out they wouldn't be able to conceive a child without substantial medical intervention. Dalene and Pete had always talked about taking an extended sojourn, but life kept getting in the way. They figured a trip was a good way to lift themselves out of their grief. "At that point, we'd run out of reasons not to travel," Dalene says. They decided to quit their jobs, sell their house and see the world, initially planning to return to Alberta within a year. They were gone for nearly eight.

The couple travelled to 60 countries during their long journey. Along the way, they started a remote content and social media marketing business, using any revenue to fund their lifestyle, and housesat to save on expenses. In November of 2016, the couple was stopped in Seattle when Dalene fell sick and was admitted to a local ER. Doctors soon discovered that her blood platelet count was dangerously low; she was diagnosed with leukemia soon after. The couple decided it would be best to ride out Dalene's treatment and recovery in the comfort of home, so they purchased a two-bedroom townhouse in Lethbridge in May of 2017.