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Show Me the Money: Hard Numbers from a Year on the Road

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Jim with Trucker Cap Leaving Eureka CAOne 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:

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Look what I found!

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surprised cartoon invitation proposalWe’ve found ourselves back at the campground in the grove at the trailhead to Cohab Canyon where I proposed to Rene about a dozen years ago on our legendary motorcyle tour of the southwest.

We are just feet from where we tent camped. We probably would have moved if this big ol’ rig parked next to us at the time.

I also just found the following autobiographical early “web page code” and have hereby salvaged it from becoming internet detritus….

Surprised? I saved the cartoon shown for many years before giving it to the woman I knew would marry.

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Our Love/Hate Relationship with MotoSat

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Motosat F2 Satellite Internet Dish in SnowJust the other day, I was thinking of writing about how much I love our satellite internet system. It provides us with connectivity even when we have no cell phone coverage camped deep in a National Forest campground, alongside a roaring stream, in the snow.

Then our Datastorm F2 refused to deploy. Luckily, we had made it back to civilization at Mountain Views RV Resort in Creede, CO with full hookups and WiFi. But now we are taking an 900 mile round-trip detour to Salt Lake City for a factory repair at MotoSat.

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Not In Such A Twitter About Tweets

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Rene Tweets on Twitter Social NetworkIt was that funny RhodesTer guy who first turned us on to the whole Twitter thing. Though I must say, I was never really that turned on.

It was Ren? who insisted we add the Twitter badge that shows what we’re doing at every instant.

I fought and stalled, but eventually conceded.

We compromised by placing yet another widget at the bottom of our sidebar. You see … Twitter is only good if you tweet.

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Happy Anniversary Baby!

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Beautiful Rene Atop Hecla JunctionPlease allow me this brief moment to shout out to the entire world just how much I love my wife. Isn’t she beautiful?

Living together in a trailer on the road, it’s hard to surprise someone with anything. But since steel is the traditional gift for an 11-year anniversary, and Rene isn’t really into jewelry ? the modern choice ? perhaps I can steal her heart once again with a few heartfelt words.

I recently expressed concern to Ren? about her dancing on the precipice at Black Canyon National Park. OK, she wasn’t dancing. But her scrambling made me nervous nonetheless.

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Perks for Housekeeping Workampers

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Lots of laundry for Riverbend workampersHola, housekeeeping … me name is Jaime. I am here to clean your rooom. Knock, knock. Hello?

OK, I didn’t clean the rooms. And the housekeepers at Riverbend all spoke perfect English. Nonetheless, my workamping job at the hot springs in Truth or Consequences gave me a good taste of resort management.

Good enough to now know that we could easily run some sort of lodging business, someday. And good enough to know that we would hire workampers to do the dirty work.

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Warm Beer in Hot Weather is No Way to Live

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Cactus Lincoln National Forest New MexicoTime for another reality check.

Ten years ago, Jim and I moved to Eureka on a whim. I knew it was rainy there, but I thought I could tolerate it, because I’d lived in San Francisco. But after a while, the rain forest was getting to me. The endless cold gray days, coastal winds and thick fog was wearing down my psyche. I constantly griped about what I knew I could not change; the weather.

So I started to have these fantasies about living in the desert. I wanted to feel the warm sun. Munch on chips and hot salsa and wash it down with cold beer. Sit next to a saguaro cactus and play my guitar. Go out at night wearing a summer dress, flip flops and a tan.

I thought that workamping here in T or C would convince Jim that living in the desert was a good idea. But after just one month, I’ve discovered that I’m too much of a wuss for this kind of environment.

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Get to the Point, Callers

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Buddah Statue at Riverbend Hot Springs, NMIn 1992, I’d just finished college, and in order to pay my student loans, I took a job as a receptionist at a big marketing firm. I was the lowest admin on the org chart, and it was an awful, demeaning experience. But little did I know that the skills I learned on that job would come in handy so many years later.

Here at Riverbend, we answer the phone when we aren’t giving tours, cleaning the pools or doing laundry. Although I do my best to sound cheery, I really hate picking up the phone; it just takes me back to that awful job. Many conversations are an exercise in Buddah-like patience, especially on busy weekends.

“Riverbend Hot Springs, how can I help you?”

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How To Upgrade Datastorm D3 Firmware

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MotoSat Datastorm D3 Satellite Dish Controller InterfaceI know what you’re saying. “Oh boy, here he goes again … off on another one of his geek rants.”

But surely someone will be grateful for finding this information. It sure isn’t on the MotoSat technical support website where it should be.

When we started having some trouble locking onto our satellite for internet access, MotoSat suggested we upgrade the firmware in our Datastorm D3 dish controller. The support rep then promptly proceeded to rattle off a number of important steps, too quick for me to write them down. I decided to wait, thinking I would find details on their website.

Not. I present them here in excruciating detail for your reading enjoyment, or complete boredom whichever you prefer.

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Don’t Leave Home without Reading “Road Trip Dream” First

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Best RV Road Trip Planning Book“The difference between whether you can make it happen or whether you can’t is not how many obstacles you have, it is how badly do you want to do something totally life-changing????totally for yourself.

We will give you the tools to change your dream into reality, but the implementation is yours to enjoy.”

???? Phil and Carol White, authors of “Live Your Road Trip Dream”

Road Trip Dream Authors Phil and Carol WhiteAnd enjoy we have. When we first entertained the thought of taking a sabbatical, my search on the topic came up with Phil and Carol White’s book, “Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home??

I bought the book because I wanted to figure out how we could take some time off without going broke, and Road Trip Dream succeeded in helping us do just that. With the release of its second edition, the Whites’ book is as vital as ever when it comes to considering every critical aspect of how to plan, execute and live your own road trip dream. Don’t even think of embarking on a journey without reading and following the advice laid out by these two seasoned road trippers.

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