2 Months on the Road: What it Costs, How Far We’ve Driven

It’s been just about two months on the road. So what’s our analysis so far? How are we surviving?

How much has it cost us and how far have we driven?

Here’s the breakdown:

Previous Month(s) Expenses

• Month One

Total Miles Driven:

• Mileage 4/26/11 – 98,475
• Mileage 5/27/11 – 104,345
• Mileage 6/29/11 – 106,404
• Miles this month – 2,059
• Total Miles Driven – 7,929
  

Locations Visited This Month:

• Rocky Mountains (Roof Top Tent)
• Mt. Pleasant, Utah (Calf roping)
• West Yellowstone, Montana
• Yellowstone National Forest
• Jackson Hole, Wyoming
• Cedar Fort, Utah
• Salt Lake City (Utah Arts Festival)
• Lots and lots of friends and family

Locations Visited (Total):

• Homer, Alaska
• Seward, Alaska
• Portage Glacier, Alaska
• Anchorage, Alaska
• Mt. McKinley
• Fairbanks, Alaska
• North Pole, Alaska
• Tok, Alaska
• Canada (Yukon and British Columbia)
• Route 99 to Vancouver
• Pike Place Market – Seattle, Washington
• Whidby Island (the ‘perfect’ day) – Washington
• Mt. Rainier, Washington (Don’t miss the video of Greg and the kids jumping in a lake)
• Mt. St. Helens, Washington
• Oregon Coast + More Oregon Coast
• Camping in Southern Oregon
• Sahalie & Koosah Falls, Oregon
• Crater Lake, Oregon
• California/Oregon Border
• Redwood Forest
• Redding, CA with Adam Baker from ManvsDebt.com
• Nevada (drove through)
• Utah

Expenses:

• Groceries $791.40 (a little better than last month, that’s good)
  
• Savings $677 Gotta build that nest egg
• Veggie/Truck Parts & Service $486.16 This includes a new 40 gallon veggie tank from GoldenFuelSystems.com, as well as other misc. supplies to fix and outfit the truck for the rest of our trip.
• Charity $205.00
• Truck Insurance $150 This is actually for two months because I forgot to pay it last month.
• Travel Expenses $84.98 Expenses for making organizing our life on the road to make it easier – organizers, toothbrush holders, totes, etc.
• Family Expenses $60.60 This includes diapers/wipes, new shoes/clothes, birthday presents, movie rentals, etc
• Dining Out $53.58 – Papa Murphy’s, Cabutos in Salt Lake and organic ice cream at Moo’s in Jackson Hole, WY
• Medical $30
• Education $27.37 Books, audio books, etc.
  
• Diesel Fuel $25
• Souvenirs $6.23 – Postcards, car decals, etc.
• Laundry/Showers $0 We’re staying with friends and family, so far they let us shower for free

Total Monthly Expenses – $2,597.32 (This includes $677 in savings)

Not bad for a month of travel with a family of seven, including the ‘investment’ in our future.

Wait a minute, where’s your fuel expense?

Maybe you noticed? During the last month we only put in about $25 in diesel.

That’s because we don’t use diesel when we drive. Our vehicle runs on waste vegetable oil (veggie) thanks to Golden Fuel Systems.

Most of our trip has been done on FREE waste veggie that we collect from restaurants along our way.

Reflections:

We were anxious to get to Utah because of the issues with our truck, and the whole trailer of ‘stuff’ we were pulling behind, which we planned on dumping at our storage unit (mostly books, some clothes, crock pot, snowboard, etc).

So after our stop in Redding, CA and meetup with Adam Baker from ManvsDebt.com, we bee-lined it to the Beehive State.

We’ve had a great time since we arrived about three weeks ago – visiting with grandma and grandpa, cousins and siblings.

Greg’s been busy doing some work to pick up some extra cash. I’ve been busy with the kids education and working on the blog, now that I have consistent internet.

When we have the chance we do ‘home improvement’ projects on the truck:

Here are some projects we’re working on:

1. Our organizational system- kind of like a big puzzle I’m trying to put together. I’m cataloging and counting everything we need and want to take. First I’m finding a place for the stuff we need, getting the totes to contain in it, and designating a place in or on the truck. If there’s room after that ‘needed’ stuff, then I’ll find a place for the stuff we want.
2. Internet- right now we’re leaning toward the Verizon Global Fivespot which would give us internet access in the countries we’re traveling to with just a sim card.
3. Truck repairs/outfitting - Greg bought the parts so we can replace the ball joints which are apparently bad. We’ve cleaned, painted and prettied up our veggie-powered beast. We created a new system under the carpet kit for storing our ‘kitchen’. We also need to make some improvements to the roof rack, seal the shell so it doesn’t leak, and maybe replace the windshield.
4. Our online courses - one on designing a ‘dream’ family life and the other on Worldschooling.

Everyday we’re becoming more excited about our adventure, more accustomed to the nomadic lifestyle, and more anxious to get south of the border!

We’re also very grateful for all the new friends that we’ve made – readers who have contacted us and we’ve been able to meet up. It’s so great to meet with other like-minded people, and it’s been so fun getting to know you!  

About Rachel Denning

Mother of five amazing kids, author, family travel expert and full-time traveler. Besides writing about their family travel adventures, Rachel also shares information on The Art of Family Travel, how to Fund Your Lifestyle, and is co-author of the popular book, Living Deliberately: How to Create a Ridiculously Awesome Life.