Hi all! It’s been quite a while since I have posted on here. While I still try checking in from time to time, my time on the internet has been limited.
My wife and I have now been on the road for over 1 month. We are on a trip to visit all 50 States in the U.S.A. and to date we have been to 18 of them. (Driving 48 and flying to Alaska and Hawaii)
Our goal is to finish 49 by December and then fly to Hawaii in early January to complete the trip.
Many times we get the question, “How can you afford this trip?”
The truth is, my wife and I are not wealthy by any means, we simply planned and saved up over a year to make this trip possible.
We purchased a Toyota Prius specifically for this trip to save on gas, we do Mystery Shopping to save on food and we have only paid for accommodations when we went to Alaska and every other night was spent either camping in our car or staying with family or friends.
We also visit a lot of free places and bought a Annual pass to national parks so we only paid the fee of $80 + shipping.
This is truly the journey of a lifetime for my wife and I but we hope by doing it to inspire others that it is possible even if you don’t have a lot of money.
If you have any questions about the trip feel free to ask.
Also, if you know of any other ways we can save money on the road on food, gas or lodging or any other travel hacks that might help, please share your experience with us!
I will try to log on here as often as possible and will definitely be on here more once this trip is finished and life gets back to normal.
That’s so awesome and memorable for you and your wife! Thanks for sharing. Perhaps check Groupon, Airbnb or YMCA. Some gas companies have rewards points. But you seem to really be saving by camping or staying with friends and family!
I am not booking accommodation in a hotel anymore since I find AirBnB cheap and at the same, I can cook my meal whenever I go from one place to another.
Wow! Fantastic and can’t wait to follow your and your wife’s adventure! What a dream to fulfill! I have a question about camping in your car. Are you staying at campgrounds, rest stops?? My question is not only about saving money, but a safety inquiry.
I’m in tune with Margarette Stein, we’ve recently become avid AirBnB fans for anything longer than overnight, especially when traveling with other family or good friends.
If you are staying at campgrounds, many offer free space in return for hands on working, although most are looking for seasonal campers. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. It can be as simple as raking sites to trash pickup.
@pinay Yes we definitely like Groupon! It is a great way to save on fun activities and sometimes even food.
We have Groupon Select which gives us an additional 25% off local activities so we get some pretty sweet deals.
The other day we visited an old battleship in Baton Rouge, LA that with normal ticket prices would have cost us $24. On Groupon we got in for just around $13!
@mskimberly I know that my wife and I have been to at least 13 states together. Florida, GA, TN, SC, KY, IN, IL, IA, MN, AL, AR, and a couple of others. We have lived in several of those states. It was fun traveling in our younger years. Now we have to stop often, get out and walk around, but we still would like to do the same as other posters by visiting many other states. If people are prudent Penny Hoarders, they can do it quite inexpensively. I hope all who aspire to do this have fun doing so and continue to save while doing it.
@averagejoe What were your favorite states and states that you did not care for and why? How did you end up living in various states? Was it because of your job? Did you experience culture shock? I visited Paris, France for three weeks and had culture shock. Not sure if I would now. That was back in high school.
@mskimberly I was born in Indiana and my family moved to Illinois, where I was raised from age 7 to 18. At age 20 I moved to Wisconsin to attend Bible College that was not run by one church individually, and when I went home for Summer vacation, I found out my parent were moving us to Georgia. Growing up in Illinois, I liked it, but after all of the Caterpillar strikes, I was ready to get out of there. Georgia was a nice place to live, and I met my wife there. But, there was a bit of culture shock involved. I, even in the days when I was thin, I had dark skin (I’m part Native American), and people thought I was Mexican. I was profiled several times living down there. The same went for MN when my wife and I lived there. We lived down in the SW corner of the state in Granite Falls, and there were many illegal immigrant workers. My wife and I lived in IN for a while to help my grandfather when my grandmother was found to have dementia. We finally had to move back to GA to get work. Living in Bloomington, IN, a university town, the jobs weren’t as plentiful then. But, my parents did need help in GA with their business, so we moved back.
Though I had spent a lot of time during my teen years in MN, and we had lived there, I don’t believe I would go back unless it was to study family history around Bohall Lake there. I was born a Bohall but was adopted by my mother’s second husband. MN is NOT one of my favorite states, and though my mother and a sister live in IL now (my brother and his wife moved to FL from there two months ago), I wouldn’t go back to IL for anything unless I had to. There’s nothing there for us now. When we retire we’ve talked about doing so in GA or SC. I have lots of nieces and nephews around GA, NC and SC, and a sister as well. One sister passed away in GA this past June from breast cancer, and her husband still is there, as is my wife’s family, or at least most of it. Tennessee has been nice, but it’s getting to be overly crowded, even in the rural areas.
@mskimberly I loved the states of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park and the mountainous regions takes my breath away.
Our favorite stop so far on our trip was at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. The clear blue water and the surrounding scenery was breathtaking and awe inspiring!
I hear those states are beautiful. I’ve had two half-brothers live in Montana, one recently moving from there to Alabama and then back to the Louisville, KY area to be closer to our father. He lived in Missoula and the other one lived in Butte, but both have some wonderful pictures of the areas they were in. If I could handle the cold, I’d retire in Montana or Idaho. I hear they are great states to retire in.
@mskimberly I was born in Indiana and my family moved to Illinois, where I was raised from age 7 to 18. At age 20 I moved to Wisconsin to attend Bible College that was not run by one church individually, and when I went home for Summer vacation, I found out my parent were moving us to Georgia. Growing up in Illinois, I liked it, but after all of the Caterpillar strikes, I was ready to get out of there. Georgia was a nice place to live, and I met my wife there. But, there was a bit of culture shock involved. I, even in the days when I was thin, I had dark skin (I’m part Native American), and people thought I was Mexican. I was profiled several times living down there. The same went for MN when my wife and I lived there. We lived down in the SW corner of the state in Granite Falls, and there were many illegal immigrant workers. My wife and I lived in IN for a while to help my grandfather when my grandmother was found to have dementia. We finally had to move back to GA to get work. Living in Bloomington, IN, a university town, the jobs weren’t as plentiful then. But, my parents did need help in GA with their business, so we moved back.
Though I had spent a lot of time during my teen years in MN, and we had lived there, I don’t believe I would go back unless it was to study family history around Bohall Lake there. I was born a Bohall but was adopted by my mother’s second husband. MN is NOT one of my favorite states, and though my mother and a sister live in IL now (my brother and his wife moved to FL from there two months ago), I wouldn’t go back to IL for anything unless I had to. There’s nothing there for us now. When we retire we’ve talked about doing so in GA or SC. I have lots of nieces and nephews around GA, NC and SC, and a sister as well. One sister passed away in GA this past June from breast cancer, and her husband still is there, as is my wife’s family, or at least most of it. Tennessee has been nice, but it’s getting to be overly crowded, even in the rural areas.
@AverageJoe You have done a lot of traveling! I don’t think I would want to live in Illinois because everytime I think of it I envision windy Chicago, and all the crime there. Even though I know Illinois is a big state, I never felt like I had to go there. Sorry to hear of your sister passing away, but glad you still have other family members. I have family and friends in Florida. They all love it there because they hate the snow where we grew up. Yet, when I think of Florida, I think of crocs, etc. I find that scary.
@mskimberly I loved the states of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park and the mountainous regions takes my breath away.
Our favorite stop so far on our trip was at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. The clear blue water and the surrounding scenery was breathtaking and awe inspiring!
@moore.income Beautiful picture! Natural beauty is something that would draw you. When you want to retire, you want scenery and peace/quiet.
