This 36-year-old from Wisconsin sold her house and spent $50K to retrofit the truck she now calls home — travels full time on $1,300/month

“He told me he wished he had done it sooner because it’s so much easier and cheaper than you think,” she recalled to the broadcaster. “That changed everything for me.”

So, she returned home, kept working until she saved about $37,000 and then quit her job in 2020 to go traveling.

Surprisingly, she says one of her biggest challenges was not having a job.

“I didn’t know how to just do nothing,” she said. But once she “got into my rhythm of traveling and growing my confidence” she never looked back.

The overlanding lifestyle

In 2022, Kaye learned about overlanding, which CNBC describes as “a form of self-reliant travel that involves adventuring to remote destinations, typically in a vehicle of some type.”

After selling her childhood home for $320,000, she bought a Toyota Tacoma truck for $42,934, per CNBC, and then spent over $50,000 to renovate it — replacing the truck bed, buying a camper and integrating solar power. She uses a box toilet and portable shower bag, which aren’t installed in the truck.

“My life is kind of like, ‘The plan is there is no plan,’” she said. “Most people plan this type of adventure for years. I didn’t even have a truck when I accepted the offer on my house.”

Once the renovations were complete, Kaye began a journey along the Pan-American Highway — which stretches from Alaska to Argentina — starting in Denver. She estimated to CNBC that she spends $556 per month on gas and $453 on food, as well as $96 for cell service, $200 for internet. Once in a while, she’ll splurge for “unique experiences” — such as a scuba diving trip in the Galapagos Islands — spending up to thousands of dollars.

Kaye has been living in her truck for several years and, although she’s not done traveling, she’s thinking of selling the truck.

“I’m not tired of living in the camper and I’m not tired of that lifestyle, but I am tired of driving,” she said.

Homeownership feels out of reach

While Kaye didn’t turn to an alternative living situation for financial reasons, her $1,300 monthly budget would likely appeal to many young Americans faced with high living costs. Like Kaye, some are turning to non-traditional housing arrangements, while others are looking to move abroad.

Nearly 3-in-10 Americans (29%) say inflation or the cost of living is the most important financial problem they’re facing, according to a 2025 Gallup poll. Other problems include the high cost of housing (12%) and not having enough money (12%).