In 2019, Ashley Kaye took a scuba diving journey to Honduras that modified the course of her life.
On that journey, Kaye met somebody who travels full-time, and the dialog they’d helped her notice she needed to go away her profession and life in Wisconsin behind and proceed touring.
“He advised me he wished he had completed it sooner as a result of it is a lot simpler and cheaper than you suppose. That modified every little thing for me,” Kaye tells CNBC Make It. “I went residence and labored increasingly more till I stop the following yr.”
Kaye spent three years touring the world earlier than she began overlanding.
Ashley Kaye
When Kaye stop her job in 2020, she says she had about $37,000 in financial savings, however what she struggled with probably the most was not having a job to fill her time.
“I did not know methods to simply do nothing. The primary few months have been actually exhausting and I wasn’t positive if I used to be making the fitting resolution,” she says.
“As soon as I received into my rhythm of touring and rising my confidence via that have, I’ve by no means appeared again and do not have a single remorse about leaving.”
Kaye spent the following three years touring the world, together with to South Africa. In 2022, a pair reached out to Kaye on Instagram to ask about her time there and shared their very own expertise overlanding in a Toyota truck with a camper.
Overlanding is a type of self-reliant journey that entails adventuring to distant locations, sometimes in a car of some kind.
Kaye estimates she’s spent over $50,000 on renovations.
Ashley Kaye
After doing a little bit of her personal analysis, Kaye was all-in and bought a Toyota Tacoma truck for $42,934, in response to paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Kaye picked up the truck in South Dakota and drove it again to Wisconsin, the place she had simply offered her childhood residence for $320,000.
In March 2023, Kaye drove to Baja California, Mexico, the place she hung out arranging the mandatory renovations to make the truck extra livable.
“My life is form of like ‘the plan is there is no such thing as a plan.’ Most individuals plan one of these journey for years. I did not also have a truck once I accepted the provide on my home,” she says.
“It was very spur of the second, so I wanted to take a pause and determine issues out.”
She estimates she spent over $50,000 on the renovations. The prices included buying a camper, including solar energy, changing the truck mattress, upgrading the suspension, new tires, customizing a bumper, and putting in an electrical cooler.
Kaye bought the Toyota Tacoma for $42,934.
Ashley Kaye
When the truck was prepared, Kaye determined to journey the Pan-American freeway, beginning in Denver. The freeway stretches from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina.
“It is actually an unbelievable option to journey since you get to set your personal tempo and should you discover someplace that is lovely and peaceable you possibly can keep so long as you need,” Kaye says.
“However there’s execs and cons to each mode of journey and lots of pink tape and logistics crossing borders. It may be exhausting, particularly while you’re alone. It’s important to discover a steadiness that works for you, however general, it is positively one of many coolest adventures of my lifetime.”
Kaye had the truck mattress changed in September 2023.
Ashley Kaye
What life appears to be like like on the highway
Kaye’s time on the highway is break up between journey days and leisure days. On a journey day, she will get up early to interrupt every little thing down and safe all of it within the camper earlier than embarking on a five- to seven-hour drive. On common, Kaye estimates that she spends $556 a month on gasoline and $453 a month on meals.
“The simplest half for me is being snug in very small areas and I am completely content material. I can spend all day contained in the camper and never really feel suffocated or claustrophobic,” Kaye says. “I am consistently seeing so many huge areas inside nature that I am actually content material.”
As soon as she reaches her vacation spot, Kaye likes to remain for 2 to a few nights earlier than shifting on to the following one. Since Kaye’s truck would not have a toilet, she makes use of a field rest room and a transportable bathe bag.
“I attempt to set up every little thing within the truck and camper in order that it is simply the best way that it is purported to be. Powering down is the form of objective on the second day,” Kaye says.
Kaye’s different bills embody $96 a month for her cellphone invoice and $200 a month for her Starlink web. She’s additionally spent upwards of $6,000 for distinctive experiences like a week-long scuba diving journey within the Galápagos Islands.
Kaye has no regrets about promoting the home she grew up in to journey the world.
Ashley Kaye
Kaye has been residing within the truck for years now, however says probably the most difficult half continues to be establishing and breaking down the camper.
“Despite the fact that it is extremely easy, it is a kind of issues you need to do each time,” she says. “If you’re any individual who makes your mattress each time, it is no drawback, however should you’re any individual who would not, it appears like a burden.”
Whereas Kaye nonetheless hasn’t completed journeying the Pan-American Freeway, she is contemplating promoting the truck initially of subsequent yr.
“A part of me needs to only eliminate it and transfer on and enter the following chapter of my life however then the bigger a part of me is like ‘no, perhaps simply wait as a result of I need to see another locations and simply chill,'” she says. “I simply need to end my journey. I am not uninterested in residing within the camper and I am not uninterested in that life-style, however I’m uninterested in driving.”
Kaye has traveled to over 20 nations within the Toyota Tacoma.
Ashley Kaye
Kaye would not know the place she’ll settle if she ever sells the truck, however returning to the U.S. full-time is unlikely. If she ever does purchase one other home within the States, Kaye says will probably be an funding and a supply of revenue if she decides to hire it out.
She’s presently contemplating a life within the South of France, Spain or Italy.
“Every one in every of them has their challenges. For me, it is about discovering someplace that I need to be after which I can cope with regardless of the challenges and hoops are that include that,” she says.
Are you prepared to purchase a home? Take Smarter by CNBC Make It is new on-line course The right way to Purchase Your First House. Knowledgeable instructors will assist you weigh the price of renting vs. shopping for, financially put together, and confidently navigate each step of the method—from mortgage fundamentals to closing the deal. Enroll right this moment and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory low cost of 30% off $97 (+taxes and charges) via July 15, 2025.
Plus, join CNBC Make It is e-newsletter to get ideas and tips for fulfillment at work, with cash and in life, and request to hitch our unique neighborhood on LinkedIn to attach with consultants and friends.