I mentioned in my last (and first) post that I did a lot of research before setting off on this trip and a part and how hard it was to figure out how much money to save up for a year long road trip around the USA. But it actually makes sense now that I’m on the road.
How much does it cost?
Well, it’s the same answer to the question, how long is a piece of string? The answer is that it depends. It depends on so many things, but thankfully, a majority of them are in your control.
You can spend as little or as much as you want. Do you want to see a new place every other day or are you fine with taking your time? Are you a big drinker or completely sober? Are you content eating instant ramen for every dinner or do you love to cook all the things? Will you be completely disgusted with yourself if you don’t have a shower and clean clothes everyday or are you okay with a bird bath every once in awhile? How Instagramable does your set up need to be or are you okay with “roughing it” a bit?
Since I plan on posting my expenses each month I think I should preface that with my travel style so you get a better understanding on what the experience is like for the price that I am paying. Below is a list of categories that you will find on my expense posts each month as well a description for what the includes.
RIG
My partner and I have a 2014 Chevy Express cargo van (extended edition). We decided on this van over others because it was in our budget and it’s a van almost any mechanic anywhere knows how to work on. We decided to do as minimal a build a possible to keep costs and time down, so we really only built a bed inside and decided not to insulate. So far it’s working out pretty well for us. While I will include van maintenance costs in my monthly expense posts, I’m not including the cost of the van or the “build” in the initial budget because choosing a vehicle and how to outfit it is so subjective. You can go super cheap and use a vehicle you already have or spend $100,000 on a brand new custom built rig.
VAN MAINTENANCE
This will include things like oil changes, vehicle inspections, tire changes, basically anything related to keeping our van up and running.
GAS
My partner and I prefer slower travel, so far, 2ish weeks is usually how long we stay in a place before we feel ready to move on. But that also depends on the area itself. Some places are just shorter stops on the way to a more ‘final’ destination, but for the most part, we are spending between 1-2 weeks in each of the areas that we are staying apart from actually crossing the country. We are from the east coast but most of our trip will be spent on the western side of the United States.
Traveling slower helps keep the gas cost down and allows us to truly get to experience a place before moving on. When we stay longer we don’t feel the need to try and cram in a bunch of stuff and exhaust ourselves in the process. We can also work around the weather a bit more easily as well.
Our van averages around 16.5 MPG.
LODGING
So far, we have not paid for any place to sleep. On cross country trips we usually spend the night in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel or Walmart and when we are staying in an area for a longer period of time we usually find free places to sleep on Forest Service or BLM land. Some places are a lot easier than others to find good spots close to places you want to explore.
Hopefully this category will stay at 0 most months.
ELECTRIC
We have a Jackery 1000 which we mainly use to power our fridge, but it can also charge all the devices we have like computers, lights, fans, etc. We charge the Jackery either with our solar panels or we find a local power source we can use for free. Libraries are really great, as well as state parks. We have found that many state parks have outlets available.
We also have a 1000 watt inverter which we use to charge other devices and the fridge during long drives to reduce the load on the Jackery.
This ‘expense’ should also hopefully be 0 most months.
PROPANE/FUEL
We have a 20LB propane tank, that I believe can only legally be filled to ~15lbs, that we use usually twice a day. Once in the morning for coffee and then for cooking dinner. We also have one 1lb propane tank that we use as a backup as well and for if we want to pull the stove out of the van and cook outside on a picnic table. Lugging around a 20LB tank isn’t very fun.
FOOD
I like to cook, and he likes to eat. Well…we both like to eat, which is why I like to cook. Eating healthy but delicious food is expensive unless you cook it yourself. We are also plant-based, which makes it even harder and more expensive to eat out. We do occasionally order from a restaurant, but it is usually because there is a well-known vegan restaurant in the area that we want to try.
Being plant-based on the road is also cheaper and safer. Even if I did still eat meat, I would be extremely hesitant to buy and handle raw meat while living in the van. We just don’t have a way to easily decontaminate the kitchen area and I would be afraid of getting salmonella.
We have a small fridge that keeps everything cool. Having a fridge has been great. Buying ice adds up quickly and managing melting ice and making sure it doesn’t ruin food gets old quickly.
If I plan our meals well, we can usually hold about 5 days worth of food in our pantry and fridge. The food we buy for cooking ourselves and any food or drink we buy from a restaurant will be placed in separate food categories.
ALCOHOL
We barely drink, but if/when we do (usually just for special occasions or if we meet up with friends) this will be a separate expense category.
WATER
We have a 7 gallon water tank and also carry 1-2 more gallons in separate 1 gallon containers. This means we need to get water every few days. So far we have been able to get water for free so this cost is pretty much zero. We do buy a new 1 gallon jug every month or so which is negligible. We use the water for mostly drinking and cooking. We occasionally use it for bathing and laundry but that is only if there isn’t a planet fitness or cheap campground shower near by.
SHOWER/GYM
This category is combined because we have a black card membership at Planet Fitness. This allows us to both workout and shower fairly easily because Planet Fitness has locations all over the country. The black card membership allows you to bring a guest every time you go so it’s a really great option for couples traveling together.
LAUNDRY
Every town has a laundromat so this is what we do unless staying near friends. We also can prolong the time we need to go to the laundromat by washing underwear and socks in our Scrubba bag.
TOILETRIES
We started off on this trip with most of our toiletries topped off, but we have already had to buy a few things and that will increase as we spend more time on the road.
GENERAL HOUSEHOLD/CLEANING
I didn’t start off with this as a separate category, but I was having a hard time lumping in things like paper towels, and other various cleaning supplies in the toiletry or miscellaneous section, so this category includes all of those random, but necessary things we need on the road, such as paper towels, dish soap, rubbing alcohol, duct tape, etc.
PHONE
We both have Visible which has been working great for us so far for a good price.
INTERNET
If we had to truly “work” while on this trip, a Starlink or other fancy setup would have been justified, but since this is a sabbatical/mini-retirement and half the point was disconnecting, we don’t have internet all the time. We mainly use libraries, occasionally Starbucks and other retail stores that have free wifi. We have YouTube premium which allows offline downloads, so that gets us through longer days without internet.
ENTERTAINMENT/HOBBIES
Apart from rock climbing, a lot of the activities we prefer are low-cost or free, and now that we have pretty much all of the climbing gear we need, climbing outdoors is now also “free”. We currently spend our days hiking, climbing, reading, playing chess and sudoku (my partner), learning Spanish (both of us), learning photography and videography (me), watching YouTube offline, and researching the next spot we want to go.
PARKING/TOLLS
Pretty straightforward, we try not to pay for parking if we can help it and we usually try to avoid tolls as well, unless the cost of gas to avoid the toll is more than the toll.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Since my partner and I are not currently W2 employed at the moment, we have to get health insurance through our state marketplace. This category will include dental, vision, and health insurance.
GARMIN INSURANCE
We have a Garmin In-Reach that we take with us on hiking and climbing trips. It’s a little peace of mind that we like to have just in case things go wrong.
STORAGE UNIT
This is an expense that not everyone might have while living on the road, but it is a necessity for us…for now. At first I had a 5x10 unit, but I was able to downsize to a 5x5, which was the smallest unit available. Everything I didn’t sell, and couldn’t have in the van is in this unit. I had to pay 4 months up front to get a slightly cheaper deal, so this expense isn’t monthly all the time.
There are other expenses that my partner and I will have that I won’t be including in our monthly expense report. These are expenses that are completely unrelated to living in a van and our travels. Examples include expenses related to the houses we both still own and rent out. If a washing machine breaks and needs to be replaced, I won’t be including that. If I buy a birthday gift for someone in my family, I won’t be including that. I’m really just trying to give an accurate picture of what it costs to live and travel on the road, and if I include expenses that aren’t related to that, it kind of defeats the purpose.
As I write this, we are in the last days of May. I’m already behind in writing the monthly expenses but March and April will be coming soon.