I've enjoyed watching your channel this past week since I subscribed. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video and keeping track of all the expenses over the year.
I was thinking a small slow cooker saves a lot of money out on the road. That's when I use when I'm working over the road. Beans, cans of crushed tomato and green chilies, seasoning packet and an onion. You can eat dinner for under ten bucks for the whole week and has been some of the best dinners on cold nights😊
oh that’s true. i don’t think my prior setup had enough power to support a slow cooker for 4-8hrs though. you can on probably bigger power inverters. mine was only 500w. i did a lot of soups and stews though on the road. especially on colder nights
@@EscapingNormalLife I'd be surprised if yours wouldn't be able to handle my slow cooker. It was a 2-quart 120w. It just did such a great job in making dinner those nights where I was just absolutely exhausted. It would be already done for me by the end of the evening 😊... but I don't know much about 500 watt inverters. Maybe it wouldn't be able to handle it for the 6 hours. If it's hooked up to your vehicle's battery a lot of times it will help that it's working while you're driving.
You look more rested, and got some color now. I’m anxious to see if you venture on another journey once you regroup. I really enjoyed the whole year. I also think your videos evolved as you got more experience and confidence. Great job! You’ve not been merely existing, you have been LIVING!
almost 9k on gas. man, im sooo glad prices have dropped back down. gas prices are a big part of why i was putting off traveling. i actually live off of about 10k a year, so ya, no travel for me when gas prices are up
That is exactly what I needed to see and hear when it comes to planning to travel for an extended time. Thank you for taking the time to go over this. Hope you get to do something like this again. Take care!😀
of course that’s what i did it i watched something like this prior to my own trip planning- so i wanted to show others my lil adventure on paper. thanks for your support!
I agree! This helps me so much! I love that you went into detail on your misc expenses. It's nice to know that others spend money on wants as well and not just needs.
The information you shared about travel/living expenses is great. Even though everyone has their own likes/uses, this helps to give me an idea of budgets and things you need money for actually traveling or living on the road. Thanks for taking the time to document this info and share it with us. 🤓
you’re welcome that was my intentions when i made it. i wanted to share that side of of traveling that gets lightly talked about, but not in a good monthly thorough breakdown
Definitely better than living in CA! Love your spreadsheet and how organized you were. Great way of keeping control and knowing where it would be good or wiser to spend on extra fun stuff without hurting you in other important areas. Hoping you can get a good online job to continue the journey!
I found this video very informative and eye opening. My take away from this is whatever your budget is for full-time travel is to double it. Thank you 😊
Very detailed explanation; I’m sure your experiences will reflect your next years expenses. I too have been running a budget, and planning for unexpected expenses that may occur in the future.
This is good stuff! I’m getting ready to build out my 2000 Ford Explorer (into a sleeper) and retire next June. I can’t pull a teardrop because I have a boat to pull, at least while I’m in Florida. I may consider that once I head north and west.
there’s lots of places to launch a boat. i slept at a boat launch site for a few nights, while in Rangeley, Maine. Also slept down the street on some BLM from Lake Havasu. and of course the whole Pacific Coast. i think you’ll get some use out of your boat. there’s all sorts so great buildouts for cars
Costco membership would be helpful for the gas and the tires. They aren't every where but you can't beat those prices AND you get free tire repair and tire rotations too.
That was a very informative video. There was a lot of ''eat out'' due to the fact you have a tear-drop?... (and I think the friends that you were visiting could have paid for your dinners, ha ha). Anyways, life is an experience - and good for you to be able to experience that way you want to. I'm looking forward to your other adventures. Do not forget to bring your tuque or your wool socks the next time! 🙂
This is a truly fantastic breakdown of your costs the visuals were great and I appreciate your reality of the expenses that came up and everything you bought you deserved and it was worthwhile in the end it seems. Thank you for sharing this journey it was so fun to watch you journey and I can’t wait to get started on my own adventure when mine comes in my teardrop. Kudos on your tour of the USA!🎉❤
Would you be willing to discuss the time period leading up to this as far as any tips/advice on saving and any planning you did to prepare? Thank you! Love your video!
h! the short answer is i had invested in stock to fund my little adventure. as far as prep- it was really just my experience with previous weekend camping trips and watching other youtubers who full time travel. if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve had definitely invested in better winter clothing. And a way to cook inside when the weather was bad. I do plan on traveling full-time here in the next two months or so. And I am currently outfitting my car with just that- a way to cook inside when it is really cold or raining and I have DEFINITELY invested in better winter clothing. i’ll be posting another video here pretty soon as soon as my car buildout is done. And I will go over some of the prep I did for this upcoming journey. How I did my solar how I did my fridge how I did my power how I insulated the inside of the car how I did my sleep set up. Etc..
oh, shoot. no, i haven’t actually. since i’m full time living on the road, i haven’t focused on the actual cost as much. it’s kinda the same as living in a city to be honest. only, i don’t have rent, home internet, water, electricity, you know - all the stuff that comes with a home really. i guess i can always do kind of a “normal month” for me. but i’m also on a big budget, cause i don’t make much $.
That would be great. Lots of people on the road full time are in a tight budget. I am considering it for when I retire hopefully soon and will not be drawing social security yet, so tight budget will be. I’m enjoying all your videos.
Really enjoy watching and listening to your journeys. I'm wanting to do the same thing - take a year off from work, get a tear drop trailer and visit as many state and national parks I can at a leisurely pace. One question I have is did you experience any issues or where you felt uncomfortable leaving your trailer, say, to go in town, and worry about or have any theft on your trailer? What would you recommend adding to a teardrop trailer? door locks of course, but what about a boot on the wheels so someone doesn't drive off with it if you decide to disconnect it from your truck?
yeah good question. i hit on some of that in the below video to briefly answer your question- i had 2 coupler locks, one hitch lock and one boot lock. i personally never had an issue, and didn’t let it worry me TOO much if i had to park it somewhere while i drove to a trail head or something or left it behind at camp. but id be lying if i didn’t say it crossed my mind of course. overall- what feels right, go with it. but if you get feel uncomfortable- go with your gut. every nomad will tell you the same thing. especially when finding places to sleep for the night here’s some of questions i got asked about my teardrop (skip to 10minutes if you just wanna see the locks) th-cam.com/video/6els_lNqY4s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=i701YDhfdavdv1FD
Very helpful. I was wondering if there was a physical toll to live this way for a whole year ? After, experiencing this way of life which would you pick to live?
oh, good question. i’d say there was a small period there where i was so removed from “normal” society, that k actually got angry when i had to go a city because i was surrounded by so many things. when i was boondocking at some remote campsite- i felt in control and comfortable. but i think it was the headspace i was in at the time. i was in a good “flow” to my daily routine and enjoying being away from everything that when i had to return to the city for anything, it didn’t feel natural. now that i’m back in a big city, visiting family, i feel comfortable being here again. and by far, id rather live in my tiny home - away from people
Hey! New subscriber - I found you through SUV RVing!! I've been semi-fulltime since 2019 with a Runaway Cool Camp (4x8) (I started out car/tent camping from Houston, TX; traveled to Maine, then FL, then out west and back to SC) and LOVE all of the adventures and valuable info you've been sharing! I've been to a lot of the same places you've been in the southeast and out west. Looking forward to getting back out there this summer! Anyway... I'm a horrible planner and budgeter so I was wondering if you had a template for your spreadsheet you'd be willing to share? TIA!!
oh i never considered it- but i’m sure i could share that spreadsheet i looked at the cool camps before getting my Little Guy. i was actually very close to buying one- but i found my trailer online from a private seller- so i didn’t have to wait for the build and it was cheaper with more room. i still love the Venture Series from Runaway.
was it only $7? that’s was over 2years ago now. i’m wondering if it was that way for the first month or something. some places do that. my storage was definitely more like $100/month. admittedly- i haven’t watched this video in a while and like i said it 2yrs ago, but i feel like it was probably an introductory offer
Out west, you would have spent more JUST for rent - so not too bad given that you explored the country and met so many different people and for how much you learned. Only other tip, I thought of while watching was to check out thrift stores for jackets/beanies and random stuff one might need.
yeah true- but i wanted some GOOD stuff and didn’t want to spend all day going to multiple thrift stores, finding a good jacket that fit what i wanted. i bought that North Face jacket while around the Waco area. there was a outlet store there. they actually had good deals on jackets there
If you use synthetic oil, as we do, at what mileage are you doing oil changes? My partner does it during the 6000-7000 range. 3000 is FAR too soon for synthetic.
oh absolutely of you live in a big city, there’s really no reason to have the bigger networks. however, if you find yourself in more remote areas or travel abroad, it can definitely help.
@@EscapingNormalLife I live in the middle of nowhere rural Georgia. I'm actually surprised we even have service, but I think Verizon specifically is the only thing that was good here. I certainly have no idea what it would take on the other side of the country in remote areas. Mayve they will get better?! I HOPE to car camp there SOON with the hubby. You inspire me.
@@BubbaStaines yeah, I'll be honest- while there are a lot of options out there now for remote internet, none of em are really great. sometimes, you'll get lucky and have good service, sometimes you wont. even things like Starlink have their issues. I follow lots of TH-camrs who use it, who say it still takes 48hrs to upload a video. Truthfully- I find WIFI at places like libraries, coffee shops, McDonalds, visitor centers, just wherever I can get it to work from. its free and sometimes it works.. and sometimes its not as good. if you are interested- you can look at 2 data lines on your phone. thats what I do. so when my T-Mobile isn't good, I switch to my ATT and vice versa if necessary. I made a video a while back, how to do that: th-cam.com/video/S-1n9M4x62g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xrysjZl3SqhJkyL3
Prepper Princess is a youtuber that lives under the poverty line...I think it's 12k a year. she's at a little more than 1k a month including 500 bucks on health insurance. Crazy.
geez yeah, i tried. couldn’t quite get there. i don’t spend as much now. i’m still traveling but invested in the correct gear before heading back out, which really helped
Thats not bad i dont think. You got to remember you left when gas prices and food prices soared. California is expensive as well. I think having a few pleasures is required so don't chide yoursef for it. Besides you had the experience of a lifetime and it was worth every single penny!!!!!
I've enjoyed watching your channel this past week since I subscribed. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video and keeping track of all the expenses over the year.
WHAAAAAA?!?!??!!!! that’s so awesome!!! thank you sooooo much. so appreciative!! thank you! look for a big THANK YOU in my next video!!
I was thinking a small slow cooker saves a lot of money out on the road. That's when I use when I'm working over the road. Beans, cans of crushed tomato and green chilies, seasoning packet and an onion. You can eat dinner for under ten bucks for the whole week and has been some of the best dinners on cold nights😊
oh that’s true. i don’t think my prior setup had enough power to support a slow cooker for 4-8hrs though. you can on probably bigger power inverters. mine was only 500w. i did a lot of soups and stews though on the road. especially on colder nights
@@EscapingNormalLife I'd be surprised if yours wouldn't be able to handle my slow cooker. It was a 2-quart 120w. It just did such a great job in making dinner those nights where I was just absolutely exhausted. It would be already done for me by the end of the evening 😊... but I don't know much about 500 watt inverters. Maybe it wouldn't be able to handle it for the 6 hours. If it's hooked up to your vehicle's battery a lot of times it will help that it's working while you're driving.
It’s a good thing you did it in 2022 because it would be twice as much for food alone in 2024.
you ain’t lying! every year gets more expensive
You look more rested, and got some color now. I’m anxious to see if you venture on another journey once you regroup.
I really enjoyed the whole year. I also think your videos evolved as you got more experience and confidence. Great job! You’ve not been merely existing, you have been LIVING!
thank you for all your support
lots of new good adventure away. stay tuned…..
very informative! What a great time you had. I wish I had your spreadsheet talents, that budget and graph is amazing.
haha
noooo- i had to struggle making that spreadsheet. trust me. it was a year in the making
almost 9k on gas. man, im sooo glad prices have dropped back down. gas prices are a big part of why i was putting off traveling. i actually live off of about 10k a year, so ya, no travel for me when gas prices are up
That is exactly what I needed to see and hear when it comes to planning to travel for an extended time. Thank you for taking the time to go over this. Hope you get to do something like this again. Take care!😀
of course
that’s what i did it
i watched something like this prior to my own trip planning- so i wanted to show others my lil adventure on paper. thanks for your support!
I agree! This helps me so much! I love that you went into detail on your misc expenses. It's nice to know that others spend money on wants as well and not just needs.
The information you shared about travel/living expenses is great. Even though everyone has their own likes/uses, this helps to give me an idea of budgets and things you need money for actually traveling or living on the road.
Thanks for taking the time to document this info and share it with us. 🤓
you’re welcome
that was my intentions when i made it. i wanted to share that side of of traveling that gets lightly talked about, but not in a good monthly thorough breakdown
Money well spent. A years worth of experiences and adventures are priceless at days end
i don’t regret it
Definitely better than living in CA! Love your spreadsheet and how organized you were. Great way of keeping control and knowing where it would be good or wiser to spend on extra fun stuff without hurting you in other important areas. Hoping you can get a good online job to continue the journey!
thank you. working on something for the future... details sooooon.....
@@EscapingNormalLife I cannot wait to know. You better tell me first 😆 🤣 😂.
Touring the country for 25k is money well spent
I found this video very informative and eye opening. My take away from this is whatever your budget is for full-time travel is to double it.
Thank you 😊
you’re welcome!
and that’s a very accurate description for budgeting
@@EscapingNormalLife just subbed 🥰
@@EscapingNormalLife may I ask who did the decal for the teardrop trailer you traveled in for a year?
@@araina5896of course. i got it at Ocean Air Graphics in Jacksonville Fl. 904-727-9222
@@EscapingNormalLife thank you for the information and your time, I appreciate you ❤️
Very detailed explanation; I’m sure your experiences will reflect your next years expenses. I too have been running a budget, and planning for unexpected expenses that may occur in the future.
This is good stuff! I’m getting ready to build out my 2000 Ford Explorer (into a sleeper) and retire next June. I can’t pull a teardrop because I have a boat to pull, at least while I’m in Florida. I may consider that once I head north and west.
there’s lots of places to launch a boat. i slept at a boat launch site for a few nights, while in Rangeley, Maine. Also slept down the street on some BLM from Lake Havasu. and of course the whole Pacific Coast. i think you’ll get some use out of your boat. there’s all sorts so great buildouts for cars
Costco membership would be helpful for the gas and the tires. They aren't every where but you can't beat those prices AND you get free tire repair and tire rotations too.
That was a very informative video. There was a lot of ''eat out'' due to the fact you have a tear-drop?... (and I think the friends that you were visiting could have paid for your dinners, ha ha).
Anyways, life is an experience - and good for you to be able to experience that way you want to. I'm looking forward to your other adventures. Do not forget to bring your tuque or your wool socks the next time! 🙂
Good information for anyone just starting out. Thanks for sharing.......
This is a truly fantastic breakdown of your costs the visuals were great and I appreciate your reality of the expenses that came up and everything you bought you deserved and it was worthwhile in the end it seems. Thank you for sharing this journey it was so fun to watch you journey and I can’t wait to get started on my own adventure when mine comes in my teardrop. Kudos on your tour of the USA!🎉❤
thank you so much!
Would you be willing to discuss the time period leading up to this as far as any tips/advice on saving and any planning you did to prepare? Thank you! Love your video!
h!
the short answer is i had invested in stock to fund my little adventure. as far as prep- it was really just my experience with previous weekend camping trips and watching other youtubers who full time travel. if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve had definitely invested in better winter clothing. And a way to cook inside when the weather was bad. I do plan on traveling full-time here in the next two months or so. And I am currently outfitting my car with just that- a way to cook inside when it is really cold or raining and I have DEFINITELY invested in better winter clothing. i’ll be posting another video here pretty soon as soon as my car buildout is done. And I will go over some of the prep I did for this upcoming journey. How I did my solar how I did my fridge how I did my power how I insulated the inside of the car how I did my sleep set up. Etc..
Thank you so much, that was really helpful. Thank you for all your content and look forward to your continued journeys.
Excellent video. Very helpful. Have you done another one since getting rid of the trailer and living in your car? If so please give me the link ❤
oh, shoot. no, i haven’t actually. since i’m full time living on the road, i haven’t focused on the actual cost as much. it’s kinda the same as living in a city to be honest. only, i don’t have rent, home internet, water, electricity, you know - all the stuff that comes with a home really. i guess i can always do kind of a “normal month” for me. but i’m also on a big budget, cause i don’t make much $.
That would be great. Lots of people on the road full time are in a tight budget. I am considering it for when I retire hopefully soon and will not be drawing social security yet, so tight budget will be. I’m enjoying all your videos.
Really enjoy watching and listening to your journeys. I'm wanting to do the same thing - take a year off from work, get a tear drop trailer and visit as many state and national parks I can at a leisurely pace. One question I have is did you experience any issues or where you felt uncomfortable leaving your trailer, say, to go in town, and worry about or have any theft on your trailer? What would you recommend adding to a teardrop trailer? door locks of course, but what about a boot on the wheels so someone doesn't drive off with it if you decide to disconnect it from your truck?
yeah good question. i hit on some of that in the below video
to briefly answer your question- i had 2 coupler locks, one hitch lock and one boot lock. i personally never had an issue, and didn’t let it worry me TOO much if i had to park it somewhere while i drove to a trail head or something or left it behind at camp. but id be lying if i didn’t say it crossed my mind of course.
overall- what feels right, go with it. but if you get feel uncomfortable- go with your gut. every nomad will tell you the same thing. especially when finding places to sleep for the night
here’s some of questions i got asked about my teardrop (skip to 10minutes if you just wanna see the locks)
th-cam.com/video/6els_lNqY4s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=i701YDhfdavdv1FD
Good video covering what to expect if you travel a lot. I don’t believe people really consider the expenses of travel when they set out.
Living the dream😁
This was very helpful, thank you so much!
absolutely!
Very helpful. I was wondering if there was a physical toll to live this way for a whole year ? After, experiencing this way of life which would you pick to live?
oh, good question. i’d say there was a small period there where i was so removed from “normal” society, that k actually got angry when i had to go a city because i was surrounded by so many things. when i was boondocking at some remote campsite- i felt in control and comfortable. but i think it was the headspace i was in at the time. i was in a good “flow” to my daily routine and enjoying being away from everything that when i had to return to the city for anything, it didn’t feel natural. now that i’m back in a big city, visiting family, i feel comfortable being here again.
and by far, id rather live in my tiny home - away from people
Thank you
You're welcome!
Hey! New subscriber - I found you through SUV RVing!! I've been semi-fulltime since 2019 with a Runaway Cool Camp (4x8) (I started out car/tent camping from Houston, TX; traveled to Maine, then FL, then out west and back to SC) and LOVE all of the adventures and valuable info you've been sharing! I've been to a lot of the same places you've been in the southeast and out west. Looking forward to getting back out there this summer! Anyway... I'm a horrible planner and budgeter so I was wondering if you had a template for your spreadsheet you'd be willing to share? TIA!!
oh i never considered it- but i’m sure i could share that spreadsheet
i looked at the cool camps before getting my Little Guy. i was actually very close to buying one- but i found my trailer online from a private seller- so i didn’t have to wait for the build and it was cheaper with more room. i still love the Venture Series from Runaway.
I appreciate this video so much! So thank you!! Where on earth can you find storage for only $7.00 a month?
was it only $7? that’s was over 2years ago now. i’m wondering if it was that way for the first month or something. some places do that. my storage was definitely more like $100/month. admittedly- i haven’t watched this video in a while and like i said it 2yrs ago, but i feel like it was probably an introductory offer
Out west, you would have spent more JUST for rent - so not too bad given that you explored the country and met so many different people and for how much you learned.
Only other tip, I thought of while watching was to check out thrift stores for jackets/beanies and random stuff one might need.
yeah true- but i wanted some GOOD stuff and didn’t want to spend all day going to multiple thrift stores, finding a good jacket that fit what i wanted. i bought that North Face jacket while around the Waco area. there was a outlet store there. they actually had good deals on jackets there
I got a killer cold weather Columbia coat, so I understand.
If you use synthetic oil, as we do, at what mileage are you doing oil changes? My partner does it during the 6000-7000 range. 3000 is FAR too soon for synthetic.
the subaru only uses synthetic and i changed it about every 7000miles
What did you do for health insurance?
i didn’t have it.
Are you related to the Keno brothers on Antiques Roadshow? You not only resemble them, but your speech patterns and mannerisms are similar.
haha
no, but not first time i’ve been told that
Just switched to Mint finally and went from 130 a month to 15. Seems to be working exactly the same as Verizon.
oh absolutely
of you live in a big city, there’s really no reason to have the bigger networks. however, if you find yourself in more remote areas or travel abroad, it can definitely help.
@@EscapingNormalLife I live in the middle of nowhere rural Georgia. I'm actually surprised we even have service, but I think Verizon specifically is the only thing that was good here. I certainly have no idea what it would take on the other side of the country in remote areas. Mayve they will get better?! I HOPE to car camp there SOON with the hubby. You inspire me.
@@BubbaStaines yeah, I'll be honest- while there are a lot of options out there now for remote internet, none of em are really great. sometimes, you'll get lucky and have good service, sometimes you wont. even things like Starlink have their issues. I follow lots of TH-camrs who use it, who say it still takes 48hrs to upload a video. Truthfully- I find WIFI at places like libraries, coffee shops, McDonalds, visitor centers, just wherever I can get it to work from. its free and sometimes it works.. and sometimes its not as good.
if you are interested- you can look at 2 data lines on your phone. thats what I do. so when my T-Mobile isn't good, I switch to my ATT and vice versa if necessary. I made a video a while back, how to do that:
th-cam.com/video/S-1n9M4x62g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xrysjZl3SqhJkyL3
What was your most expensive gas fill up? I see $8.00 a gallon how many gallons and total for fill up. I paid $70.00 in Chicago but I was on fumes!
$100 in Death Valley and it didn’t even fill up my tank. they cut you off at $100.
@@EscapingNormalLife WoW!
What about health insurance?
didn’t have it.
health insurance another 500 a month
Prepper Princess is a youtuber that lives under the poverty line...I think it's 12k a year. she's at a little more than 1k a month including 500 bucks on health insurance. Crazy.
geez
yeah, i tried. couldn’t quite get there. i don’t spend as much now. i’m still traveling but invested in the correct gear before heading back out, which really helped
Just think how much better your budget would have been if the gas prices hadn't more than doubled during that year.
Did having your TH-cam channel help compensate your expenses? If so, did it help much?
i made $0 from youtube while on the road. my first paycheck came last month.
and. it. wasn’t. much.
no way I'd fit in 25k haha, maybe 50k but even then that would be stretching it. And no medical insurance
Thats not bad i dont think. You got to remember you left when gas prices and food prices soared. California is expensive as well. I think having a few pleasures is required so don't chide yoursef for it. Besides you had the experience of a lifetime and it was worth every single penny!!!!!
in the end it wasn’t. and i had a great time!
Got gas money... Hilarious
yo,great shots. do you wanna promo?! goodby!e-Escaping,