August 2017 // Lake Superior, MN

I get a lot of questions when I tell people that Brannon and I sold our home and all of our belongings to travel around the country for a year. There are also so many pictures and stories that I didn’t get the time to tell while we are traveling, so I’m starting a new series here on the blog this year where I’m going to share all of that! I’m kicking off the series today by answering some questions I’ve gotten from you guys. Thank you so much for participating on my social channels, I can’t wait to share more with you guys about this experience. And if you have any questions along the way please let me know!

How did you budget for your year and/or each stop?

We saved a lot before we started traveling. We knew if we were going to do this we were going to have to sell everything we owned, and save up so we had a nice cushion in case work was ever slow. We also stopped buying things because we knew our trailer was going to be small and only hold a fraction of what was currently in our home. When you enter into that minimalistic mindset you really start to evaluate every purchase and ask yourself is this a need or a want? And is this something I’m going to take with me on our travels?

We planned out all of our expenses to give us an idea of how much it was going to cost monthly for us to survive on the road. Which, honestly, was not that much cheaper than paying the mortgage and living in our own home! Very little difference. When you account for gas, nightly rent, food, activities… it adds up quick. So I advise you to plan out where you’re planning on going and when. We tried to average around $30 a night for our camping spots, but depending on where in the country you’re traveling that can go up a LOT.

Our goal was to save enough so we had about 8 months of expenses we could live on. We wanted the full 12 but we hit 8. I worked while we traveled, but didn’t bring in very much consistently until after 7 months. Work was slow and my big payday is after my annual conference. I’m so glad we saved though so we weren’t stressed about money and were able to enjoy our travels!

July 2017 // Mount Nebo State Park

Did you have your route planned out in advance or did you just go with the flow and decide as you went?

We had a route planned out for the most part. We knew that we wanted to do the East Coast first, so we headed north all the way up to Minnesota from Texas, with some stops along the way. Then we skimmed our way across the top of the states and zig-zagged our way along the eastern states! We headed back to Houston for most of December, and then in January jogged back east to do North & South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

After that, we were back in Texas for Thrive, and then started our way West! Here are some of the travel posts that I’ve gotten up for some of our favorite places we stopped at:

• White Sands, New Mexico
• Sedona, Arizona
• Camping in the Grand Canyon National Park
• Hiking & Camping in Zion National Park
• What we did in San Diego
• Spending time in Carlsbad, CA
• 6 Things to Know Before You Go to Yosemite 
• Big Sur, California

What resources did you use to find places to camp?

Good Sam, Passport America, All Stays App, Harvest Hosts, and good ol’ Google. When in doubt, always read reviews, look at pictures on Google & Google Maps (street view!).

April 2018 // San Diego, CA

March 2018 // Yosemite National Park

March 2018 // Zion National Park

How did you always have WiFi to work?

That was quite a challenge if I’m being completely honest. The one thing that drove us (read, me) the craziest was not having good internet. Trying to get work done without it stressed me out so badly. At the beginning of our trip, we were usually great! But towards the last 1/2, it seemed like every time we pulled into a campsite our cell signal dropped. We did purchase a hotspot receiver from Verizon, and would also hotspot our phones, so when we had cell signal, it was awesome! When we were a bit more remote we had to drive into town to coffee shops, not always ideal. So that’s something to keep in mind when you’re traveling, and dealing with clients!

I can’t wait to keep sharing more with you guys. Do you have any other questions about our travels or any place that you have been wanting to visit? If I’ve been there I’d love to prioritize that place for you and share our experience!