The two met at The State University of New York in Albany during Deb’s sophomore year and Chip’s freshman year. Chip was exploring and studying his passion for art and Deb chose to study history. The two are true college sweethearts and married in 1970, right before Chip’s senior year of college. Upon his graduation, the two were ready for adventure, so they packed up their car and began the long road trip to Denver, Colorado.
When these two East Coast kids arrived in Colorado, they were ready to strike it out on their own and find out what professional path they were each taking. Chip began his career as a commercial artist producing training materials for private airline pilots, while taking computer courses at local university Through a contact from her first job working in television advertisement sales in New York City, Deb got a job at a television station working as a secretary. She was destined for more and worked her way up into the public affairs department doing programming. Eventually, after eight years, it was time for these two travelers to hit the road once more when Deb scored a job in production on a talk show in Detroit, Michigan.
While Detroit was a big lifestyle change for them, it opened the couple’s eyes and taught them a lot about the country and themselves. Chip’s computer skills came into play, working in IT for Oakland County. After six years there, the two continued to Connecticut, where Chip worked in tech support for a company selling everything from greeting cards to office supplies, and Deb worked as a producer for another television station. After some hard work, Deb reached her goal of becoming a news director and the two enjoyed 17 years in Hartford.
After both having some job turnover and transition, the Johnsons chose to follow Deb’s youngest sister out to sunny San Diego, where they would end up happily settling, and still live there today. Chip continued his IT work in tech support and Deb, done with television, bopped around to a few companies before settling into freelance writing. Chip, who is now retired, has returned to his love for art and spends his free time sketching, tinkering with watercolors, and reading voraciously. It seems the pair is finally taking the time to do all the things that fell to the wayside during their working years. Deb has friends she hikes with frequently, and the two have taken some incredible trips ranging from Madrid to the Grand Canyon. The two nomads, now happily nested in San Diego, appreciate their time more than anything, and enjoy the complimentary lifestyle between the two of them. In the future, they’re hoping to make a return trip home, to New York, where the Johnsons haven’t been in almost 20 years.
