In 2018, we were living in downtown Chicago, in some ways living the American dream. We had recently graduated our Masters programs, had great jobs at places we enjoyed working, and had our own little nest in a downtown high-rise. However, something felt like it was missing. We didn’t have all of the freedom we craved.
Each day we woke up was regimented. During each of the 5 weekdays, we woke up, walked to work, worked for 9 hours, walked home, cooked dinner, watched Netflix, and fell asleep. Each weekend offered a reprieve from this schedule, and typically involved gallivanting around Chicago trying to spend our way out of the feeling that we were stuck in a rut.
However we were stuck in a rut. A rut that led to us achieving much of what we wanted to, but at too high a price. We gave up the freedoms that we personally needed: the freedom to decide what to do with our time, the freedom to explore the world, and the feeling of uncertainty at what the next day will bring.
We made a change. In late 2018, we did our best baby bird impression and took a running leap from our nest, hoping we could fly, metaphorically of course. We quit our jobs, bought and renovated the van to live in, and set off for a life on the road! Side note: the book On The Road provided our inspiration for the adventure.
While traveling, we also launched this blog, and social media profiles, including Instagram and YouTube. We are sharing our story, and showing that this lifestyle is by all means possible for people around the world! Each day is a blessing and brings a new adventure.
The Money Question – Part 1 – Budgeting
Money is the most difficult thing to make work when traveling full time. However, many people over-estimate how much this lifestyle costs, by a wide margin.
First, let’s go through an exercise. Pull up your monthly credit card statement or bank statement. How much do you spend per month?
We spent an average of $1,000 per month, total, living on the road. That includes gas, food, maintenance, entertainment, EVERYTHING. One thousand dollars. We’d bet that you are spending much more than that per month at the moment.
Keep in mind that our lifestyle involved exploring ALL OVER. We explored Banff National Park, saw Yosemite, spent time in the Florida Keys, did an Alaska Cruise, and went to Hawaii. ALL OF THAT FOR $1,000 PER MONTH on average.
One key to keeping that budget was to camp for free every night. In our campervan, we found free camping destinations all around the United States and Canada. Here are 2 blog posts we wrote about how we budget and hold ourselves to that budget.
The Money Question – Part 2 – Finding Cheap Travel
Part 1 tackled budgeting. Here we are talking about how to find cheap travel deals.
One huge part of keeping costs down is finding the cheapest ways to travel to the places you want to see. The cheapest way to travel in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand is in a campervan. Van life gives you the freedom to see everywhere you’d like, while camping for free! Building your own camper van to travel and live in full time can really cut costs when traveling full time.
If you want to explore areas like Southeast Asia, and Latin America, you can also live the van life. However, in these areas it may be just as cost-effective to live in hostels, hotels, and apartments.
When you do search for travel-related items such as flights, hotels, rental cars, or anything else, use the below post we wrote on 7 secrets to book cheap travel. Another item that can make travel costs balloon is food. We cook virtually all our meals while traveling, and as a result we spend less on food now than we did while living in Chicago!
Working On The Road
This section will not be a one-size-fits-all solution, since everyone has a different work situation. We will tell our story, and give some tools that may apply to your situation, so that you can better design the lifestyle of your dreams.
Option 1 – What We Did – A Travel Blog
In our case, we could not do our jobs remotely. Our work had to either be done in-person or not at all. Therefore, to achieve our travel dreams, we had to quit those jobs. That left us with a question: how can we make money?
We did a lot of research and ended up deciding to start a travel blog. In fact, it is the very blog you are reading this article on! A travel blog is a great way to build an income that you personally own from the ground up.
Now, building a travel blog is challenging. It is a ton of work, and may not be for everyone. As we said above, each situation will be unique. Maybe you can keep your current job while achieving your travel dreams!
Option 2 – Working Remotely
If you can work remotely, then you could perhaps travel full-time while continuing your current job duties. Problem solved!
If your current job duties do not allow you to work remotely, the you still have a few options. You should talk to your boss, explain your situation and your goals.
Your boss may be flexible with what you are trying to achieve. They may be willing to let you work remotely with different duties. They may be okay with changing you from full-time to part-time. There may be opportunities within your company that your boss is aware of that you could explore. Talk to your boss and see if any of these may be worth looking into!
Option 3 – Gig Work
If none of this works, then there are companies that will pay you for jobs you can do while working remotely. Here are a few of our favorite options:
Gig work is great because you can earn as much or as little as you want! The more work you put in, the more you’ll make. If you are okay not making as much money, and would rather have more control over your time, then you can decide to just work a few hours per day.
All in all, taking control of your life and lifestyle is completely possible. If you want to do what we did and travel the world, then you can 100% do it!
We aren’t saying it will be simple. We aren’t saying it will be easy. You’ll have to make a few difficult choices. You’ll have to stop spending money on unnecessary items. But it will all be worth it!
You can design a lifestyle where you can live where you want, travel where you want, and live the life you’ve always imagined! If you have any questions, please reach out and we will get them answered ASAP.
Here are som additional articles that can help with budgeting, getting deals, and more:
We sincerely hope you enjoyed this article, and you learned a thing or two along the way. If you enjoyed the article, please us the below images to Pin It to Pinterest. Thanks!
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