Excerpt from the Book
Once you get past the “dream” stage, the first serious
issue that faces all of us is how do we afford to do this? The
attached budget worksheet gives you some tools and thought processes
that we used to think through the financial considerations.
These ideas are, of course, not the only road to success, but
certainly ones that worked for a couple of compulsive list makers
with bad memories.
This trip is most likely done by someone who has already
retired, but that is not the only way to make it a reality.
We started contemplating the idea well before retirement.
What you do need, of course, is a source of funds for the
year. If you are retired, you can utilize the same dollars
you are spending today at home – just using them on
the road instead once you have eliminated your expenses at
home – the book tells you how.
If you want to do this before retirement (and we would encourage
you to do that), then you are probably going to have to come
up with a combination of funding sources as well as the time
to make this happen.
The sources can be retirement income, savings/investments,
working on the road, proceeds from a house sale, or, how about
a paid sabbatical? There is an excellent book on the market
called Six Months Off by Dlugozima, Scott & Sharp that
explores ways to finance extended trips without going broke.
A seminar by one of the authors is what got us going on making
our dream a reality. Another braver idea, if you are really
intent on doing this now, is to take out a loan and consider
this an investment in your future. We guarantee that you will
come back vastly enriched from the experience and with an
understanding of this country that can’t be gleaned
any other way.
Even if you are retired, you will naturally still need to
review your own monthly financial situation and your desires
for a trip of this type. Our goal with this budget worksheet
is to help you think through the myriad of potential expenses
and sources of revenues that might apply to your household.
Your job is to think through your own situation and decide
which ones apply to you and which sources of funds are most
applicable to your situation.
We always welcome your feedback on
this tool to help us make it more useful.
Email us at feedback@roadtripdream.com.
Have fun – you’ll soon
be on your way to planning your own trip of a lifetime. |
