Yep, I hear that one. People say this to me. Okay maybe their other reasons are valid, but money? Oh pleeease!

When people ask me, “Well how much do you make?” (Thinking, it’ll be a really high figure) I tell them quite simply: $2,000

“A month?” they shriek, “That’s way more than I make!”

No. A year. I make $164 a month.

“Wait, a year? That’s like $5 a day. You’re joking. How can you survive on that?”

No, that’s $5.47 a day to be exact. And look at how I live: a motorhome, a tent, a car, no electricity, no toilet, no running water (in other words no utility bills), no rent, no mortage, I get up with the sun, sleep with the stars (thus no need for lights), I cook over a fire, I do more walking than driving, I travel in a small area (rarely leaving Maine, never leaving New England), I spend a large space of my time on the beach or hiking in the forest, the only thing I ever buy is food for me, food for my cats, and gas for the car and motorhome, the motorhome is parked most of the year, most travel is down in my car, and once I get where I’m going I park the car and walk everywhere. Uhm…please explain to me why it is I NEED more than $2,000 a year to travel?

They just stand there flabergasted and speechless.

Now granted if I was driving more and walking less, or going overseas (thus needing air fare) or eating at resturants or buying things, yes, I’d need more money to live on, but the fact is, those things are NOT a part of my life, so I don’t need more money than $5 to travel.

Staying in a small local like I do, means I’ve seen more of the area than any tourists or locals do. I’ve been in every city/town in Maine, I’ve seen ever cove, every beach, every mountain, etc. I’ve visited most of the town museums, been to all the “tourist attractions”, attended tons of fairs and festivals. Sure I’m not “seeing the world”, but than again, that’s not what I wanted to do, I wanted to see every single inch of the State of Maine.

I think when people think they want to travel, often times they are not motivated because they are not really sure where it is they want to go or what they want to see, or they think they HAVE to go every where and see everything, either way it fizzles their motivation so they look for excuses why they can’t go – like money. If it’s too hard to take a trip across the ocean, why not start small and take a trip across the town? Work your way up to farther away places a little at a time. No one said you had to start out big.

They key is really getting up and going. At first it can be daunting, but once you know you are committed, it is easy to embrace the lifestyle.

Happy New Year!

Cheers from Seattle,
Fernanda

Dave Prine posted a great article on our site about how to stay motivated after travelling: Keeping the dream alive. There’s a lot of cross-over but I think you both make some great points.