It’s been one month since we put Colorado in the rearview mirror and headed out on this grand adventure. So far along the way, we’ve experienced many unexpected moments of joy, laughter and appreciation for life. We’ve also encountered humbling challenges. The best thing about removing yourself from your comfort zone and pushing your limits is looking back at all you’ve done and realizing you have the potential to do so much more. We can’t wait to see what the next 11 months have in store for us…

4,850 miles driven
85 hours in the car
68 miles hiked
15 nights camped
13 nights with friends
9 national parks & monuments
7 states
5 beach days
2 nights in hotels
2 bear encounters
0 fish caught

Let's Talk Financials

Based on research we did before leaving, we expected the average cost of living for a couple while traveling in the United States to be $150 per day. Our goal was to budget so that we were only spending $100 per day, knowing that it was going to be a challenge. After 30 days on the road, we've been spending an average of $140 per day (total for both of us). Although above our goal of $100, we've cut back where we can while also enjoying the finer things cities have to offer, like new restaurants and activities. We realize now that even though it often feels like we're living cheap, small costs add up, so barring eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for every meal and a record drop in gas prices across the nation, we don't expect to bring the average down to $100. However, slowing down once we hit the east coast and staying with family and friends for almost all of September will mean drastically cutting costs on gas and lodging, so we'll see how close to that $100 average we can get.

Total spent on gas: $850
$807 at restaurants
$504 in groceries
Average spent on food per day: $44
Cost per campsite: $15-35

Breakdown in spend: