One year ago this week, we drove away from Humboldt County in a daze. We couldn’t believe that we had really pulled our sabbatical off, and year on the road seemed like an eternity. Little did we know that it would fly by seemingly as quick as a two week vacation. We have so much to say about our epic journey. But for now, let’s start with the hard numbers.
Thanks to the meticulous Quickbooks expense tracking I’ve done over the last several years, and Carol White’s Live Your Road Trip Dream book budgeting templates, I was able to put together a budget that works for us. In short: we came in under budget, and the money we’ve saved will enable us to continue to live this lifestyle for at least the next year if we choose to.
If you’d like to see the technical details, a PDF with summarized numbers is here. But if spreadsheets make you snooze, then here’s a quick summary of my numbers for the year, and some ways we saved money:
As soon as our rig crossed the border into Colorado, my spirit felt as if I had returned home. This land just calls out to me.
From Minnesota to Maine, there are lots of beautiful places in this country that I think I could live in. But none of them feed my soul like Colorado does. I know I’d love living here. But it could be a pipe dream.
Because in Colorado, you’d never know real estate is crashing all over the country. The Rockies are the most beautiful place in the U.S., and property owners know it. They have it made. I’m not seeing reasonable prices on any pieces of land, except for the most isolated patches of non-irrigated ag fields in the plains regions.
This journey isn’t only about choosing where to live, but how to live. Like how to use sustainable, eco friendly building construction methods that we can incorporate into our future stick home. From straw bale to earthships, there are countless, affordable options to live a less impactful life. All it takes is a little research, and a lot of elbow grease.
Before leaving New Mexico, we toured the world-renowned Earthship Institute, just outside of Taos. Earthships are built out of recycled materials like tires, and aluminum cans, and are designed to be completely off-grid. They’re a lot of work to build, but as you can see, the results are spectacular. We definitely see one in our future.
Who says you can’t build real friendships online? Since hitting the road, Jim and I have been lucky enough to build friendships with some of our favorite Internet superstars, some of whom we’ve actually met in person. Finnegan was the first. Then came Heidi,Matt, Sara and Bella, Sami, The Big Dog, and now Rhodester and Coffeesister.
As I previously mentioned, artists are flocking to New Orleans. My new artist friend, Skinny Chef (aka Mary Kate), likened the city to a blank slate, a place where great art is rising from the ashes of Katrina. We met Skinny Chef and her partner Flux Rostrum, down on the Bio Liberty compound in Slidell. They are moving to NOLA, to further her art, and expand Flux’s mobile broadcasting studio’s capabilities.
Last week while camping at Lake Manatee State Park, just outside of Sarasota, Florida, we met Mike and Brandi, two thirty-something campground hosts at the park. Finally, we’d met another fulltiming couple close to our age! Meeting them was ironic; we had just left our farmer friends at White Rabbit Acres, only to run into this Ohio couple who had sold their farm last June, to hit the road indefinitely. Like Jim and I, Brandi and Mike are both living simply, and staying out of debt so that they can really enjoy life.
I couldn’t help but think that meeting these two was a sign that perhaps Jim and I should rethink this whole farming business idea we had. Here’s why:
We went into our workamping gig at White Rabbit knowing that farming is no picnic. The week we were leaving White Rabbit, things got interesting. The State of Florida’s Department of Agriculture threatened to shut down Brian and Valerie’s store for non-compliance. It was an incredibly sad week before we left, and in this interview, taken just two days after the shake down, Brian and Valerie aren’t too thrilled with farming.
Ok, I admit it. During times of crisis, I completely freak out. The spaz button turns on, and I hyperventilate and run around, yelling out loud until I can get all the anger out, blame Jim, and then work on solving the problem. Jim, however, really pisses me off with his ability to remain calm during stressful events. To his credit, his method does work a little better. Don’t tell him I said that.
Take last week, for example, when I drove the truck straight into a muddy, grease filled ditch out by the side of Farmer Brian’s biodiesel garage.
One year ago this week, we drove away from Humboldt County in a daze. We couldn’t believe that we had really pulled our sabbatical off, and year on the road seemed like an eternity. Little did we know that it would fly by seemingly as quick as a two week vacation. We have so much to say about our epic journey. But for now, let’s start with the hard numbers.
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