Posted: 02/12/2024
Without getting into too much detail, I've been lucky enough to fall into a digital nomad role as a Software Engineer. A previous position offered me some work on the side, which led to me quitting my full-time job in search of a better work-life balance. Without any money owing (besides a student loan that's much more forgiving than the student loans in North America), I was able to cut back on expenses to work less and live more. Part of this was spending all my money to buy and build that second campervan, which I then travelled part of Australia in. As the 24/25 season approached, I sold that camper, and was told I could keep my job as I travelled! That pretty much sorted it.
I'm also lucky enough to have some keen friends who are in similar positions with similar mindsets: We all love to travel, ski, and we all can work remotely. It didn't take much effort to convince my good mates Jesse and Karlo to join me on the trip. This not only solves the much under-discussed loneliness that can come with travelling solo (especially in a van), but relieves some of the financial burden too. We can split the cost of the RV, maintenance, and fuel. Though, there is the opposite effect, where I'm much more likely to drink overpriced beer at the bar when my mates are around, but that's a trade-off I'm willing to make.
The safety net of having friends committed to the trip also helped with the confidence part of it. When I was first considering the trip, wondering if I could afford it, Jesse made an offer that removed all my fears: He would cover the upfront cost for the RV (estimated ~ $20,000 AUD) and I'd just pay a share of the losses when we sold it at the end of the trip. Thankfully, I was in a better position financially when it came time to buy and was able to front the money myself, but that offer was a main driver of trip feasibility.
Having the initial capital to purchase an RV up front, as well as the mechanical confidence to buy an older, cheaper vehicle was also a major factor in the affordability of this trip. I'll cover this more in the next post, but some quick maths for you: 140 nights x $100/night rental (as if I'd ever find one this cheap) = $14,000 to rent, and I don't even get to sell and recoup that cost at the end. Sparing some major failure, it will be much cheaper to buy and sell than to rent.
There wasn't really much left to do; The idea was set, the plan loosely made but committed to. I purchased a flight for 7th December since that was the latest cheap flight before holiday prices set in, and should give enough time to buy an RV before the New Year. I used a dodgy third-party to book, which saved about $100, but that was a bit of a headache dealing with them. I bought travel insurance after hours of research and comparison (insurance for North America is super expensive, especially when skiing), and decided to book a rental car since I found a good deal ($22 CAD/day, with SIXT rentals). Being Australian, it was very easy to get approved for Canadian ETA and USA ESTA visa waivers.
There was a little bit of stress regarding the flight but in the end it all turned out to be fine. I'd caught the train to the airport, checked my luggage, got through security, had my pre-flight chocolate thickshake, and boarded my flight.
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