It’s pretty hard to believe that we have already been on the road for six months or 184 days. We left on March 4th 2026 and today is September 4th 2026. We’ve had our ups and downs but it still surprises me how easily I transitioned from living by myself in a 3 bedroom 2 bath house to a van with one other person. I think I was just so ready for a change of scenery that it didn’t matter to me so much that all of my stuff was no longer there and that going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was basically now a ninja warrior obstacle course.
So far our travels have taken us to:
- West Virginia
- Utah
- Colorado
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- California
We are currently still in California and will be making our way slowly south to LA where we will be pet-sitting for some friends for a week. I’ve only really been to LA for airplane travel so I am excited to get a chance to spend some time there and check out the scene.
Keep in mind this is for two people traveling somewhat slowly in the United States. See this post to read more about what this money is getting us in terms of lifestyle. You can check out all the previous monthly expense reports to get a deeper dive into where our money is going.
So far I’m pretty happy with our budgeting. I haven’t felt unnecessarily deprived of anything and I’m happy with our travel pace. Of course it would be amazing to not have to think about our finances at all, but that is not the reality of our situation.
DAYS ON THE ROAD: 184
TOTAL COST SO FAR: $15,323.08
AVERAGE COST PER DAY: $83.73
AVERAGE COST PER DAY PER PERSON: $41.87
ESTIMATED COST PER PERSON FOR 365 DAYS: $15,281.21
ESTIMATED TOTAL COST FOR 365 DAYS: $30,562.43
ESTIMATED COSTS LEFT PER PERSON: $7,619.67
| CATEGORY | March | April | May | June | July | August | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Gear | $13.76 | $54.91 | $0.00 | $20.79 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $89.46 |
| Car Insurance | $83.00 | $83.00 | $83.00 | $83.00 | $83.00 | $83.00 | $498.00 |
| Clothes | $75.97 | $37.95 | $0.00 | $21.98 | $167.60 | $34.60 | $338.10 |
| Dentist | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $100.00 | $0.00 | $100.00 |
| Entertainment | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.00 | $118.00 | $130.00 |
| Food - Home | $497.38 | $501.30 | $681.73 | $755.62 | $531.39 | $581.42 | $3548.84 |
| Food - Out | $74.04 | $158.55 | $60.91 | $0.00 | $71.20 | $31.40 | $396.10 |
| Garmin Insurance | $39.95 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $79.90 |
| Gas | $357.22 | $911.01 | $1203.79 | $573.70 | $341.71 | $169.16 | $3556.59 |
| General Household | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $66.73 | $0.00 | $6.48 | $73.21 |
| Gym | $0.00 | $36.67 | $24.99 | $73.99 | $24.99 | $24.99 | $185.63 |
| Health Insurance | $544.72 | $417.00 | $606.56 | $666.56 | $606.56 | $606.56 | $3447.96 |
| Hobby | $35.99 | $42.64 | $0.00 | $125.20 | $8.00 | $8.00 | $219.83 |
| Laundry | $17.25 | $19.25 | $0.00 | $15.75 | $0.00 | $17.00 | $69.25 |
| Misc | $35.83 | $58.47 | $1.49 | $4.43 | $0.00 | $79.69 | $179.91 |
| Parking | $0.00 | $7.75 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5.95 | $13.70 |
| Phone | $51.00 | $51.00 | $63.79 | $77.80 | $46.00 | $46.00 | $335.59 |
| Propane | $0.00 | $23.88 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $23.88 |
| Public Transportation | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $17.10 | $22.80 | $39.90 |
| Storage Unit | $0.00 | $97.00 | $189.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $286.00 |
| Streaming | $8.00 | $8.00 | $196.77 | $15.99 | $15.99 | $15.99 | $260.74 |
| Tax | $0.00 | $0.00 | $143.93 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $143.93 |
| Toiletries | $8.96 | $27.51 | $26.21 | $17.90 | $81.64 | $25.48 | $187.70 |
| Toll | $0.00 | $12.20 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.20 |
| Van Maintenance | $26.70 | $131.14 | $84.20 | $5.00 | $592.01 | $0.00 | $839.05 |
| Van Misc | $73.01 | $0.00 | $83.83 | $99.99 | $0.00 | $5.20 | $262.03 |
| Water | $2.50 | $1.49 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1.59 | $5.58 |
| Grand Total | $1945.28 | $2,688.71 | $3458.19 | $2632.42 | $2707.18 | $1891.30 | $15323.08 |