Oct. 4--Husband-and-wife team Ryan Gates and Kathryn Van Steenhuyse didn't have the typical business before they embarked on a cross-country trip last month. Now, they've all but broken the mold.

The couple, both 30, have abandoned their home base of Bolton Landing to take their marketing and design firm completely mobile for a month. A 20-foot trailer towed behind their vehicle is doubling as living and work space for the journey.

Gates owns CreativeRhino, which specializes in unique, multimedia marketing campaigns. His wife serves as the creative director and resident artist.

Speaking to The Post-Star from Omaha, Neb., Gates said the motivation for the mobile experiment is equal parts practicality and adventure.

They bought the camper in the spring, knowing they'd have to give up their Bolton Landing rental for 10 weeks to tourists. Over the summer, the idea of living and working in the space grew on them.

"It got to the point where we said, 'Do we really even need to move back into the house?' " Gates said.

With lots of work travel in store for the fall, the couple are avoiding flights back and forth by setting up camp in the Midwest.

But the relatively short trip is also practice for what they hope becomes a more permanent lifestyle shift.

The pair will return to Bolton Landing in the middle of October for a few weeks, set off again on another monthlong excursion, and then come home to prepare for a longer jaunt with no predetermined end date.

"The extended trip grew out of needing to travel for business, but now it's not just about business travel," Van Steenhuyse said. "This is our life."

So long as there is wireless Internet access, Gates said he can do the same work from the camper -- which will soon be covered in CreativeRhino graphics and logos for three sponsors -- as he can from his former home office.

CreativeRhino consists of the couple, who work with about 40 or so freelance artists, graphic designers, videographers and other arts and media professionals on projects.

The company, which Gates described as a "creative booking agency," specializes in viral marketing campaigns, Web site design and video production.

Viral marketing aims to generate buzz by creating something that recipients can pass along to friends using e-mail or social media -- such as the Elf Yourself e-mails made popular by OfficeMax last holiday season.

Gates has also created microsites, or single-page Web sites devoted to one product or service, for larger clients like Hershey's, American Express and Intel.