Funding a Motorhome Trip
This is Glen's story about funding their Motorhome trip Many people are eager to know but embarrassed to ask us outright how we fund our trip. They often begin by asking if we have won the lottery – well that is fiction because we most certainly did not. Today our trip is funded by the income from a property that we have rented out in England, at the moment this is bringing in £840 (approx $1200) a month although we rarely spend more than £700 ($1000). We also have savings that we use for extra (non essential) things such as cruises. In the early days we checked our expenditure on a daily basis. This did not work well as a big shopping trip could blow more than a days’ budget in one hit as could filling up the vehicle with fuel. Next we began to check things on a weekly basis which worked a little better but the best way for us is monthly. I think this is partly because our income is monthly but also because our expenditure peaks and drops according to where we are. Within a month we may have one week of heavy driving and possible stopping to sight see and eating out then another week camped at the beach where we spend absolutely nothing. Over the last 13 years we have been traveling an average of 1000 miles / 1600 km a month. Many months we come in under budget and save the extra for things like air fares and insurances. We could live on a lot less if we did not eat out so much, slowed the speed of travel and cut out many tourist attractions but we still have the desire and money to do this.
If we had our time again we would probably have bought 3 new small apartments to rent out. There would be no gardens to maintain, the property would be in good condition and would probably be rented by professional people. If one of the properties was not being rented out or if we needed to live in it then the other two would still provide enough income to live on. We have met people who travel with virtually no permanent income and few assets. In Europe it is possible to buy motorhomes in Germany, run them for 1-year and sell for a profit in England. Alternatively you can buy a motorhome in USA, travel in it, ship back to UK and make money. Other people do seasonal work (such as fruit picking) and work hard enough over a few months to travel the rest of the time. If you have skills such as hairdressing you could probably earn money whilst touring. If you can arrange an Internet connection it is possible to run an on line business or work the stock market whilst travelling. Another option may be to seasonally live and work on a campground earning enough money to travel out of season. Once you are traveling and not working you will suddenly find you have far less expenditure. No suits or special clothing required for work. Goodbye water and electric bills and if you travel to get the climate you enjoy then large winter heating and summer air conditioning bills will be a thing of the past. Motorhome insurance can also cover contents so you will no longer be buying buildings and contents insurance for a property or paying council (property) tax. As you will be on a permanent tour there will be no annual holiday to pay for. Motorhomes are comparatively small and compact so you won’t need a cleaner and you can forget the gardener or pool attendant!
If you wanted to travel really cheaply it would be possible to do so by walking or cycling and camping in a tent but that would not be comfortable enough for us. In fact we met someone walking round Australia with a wheelie bin, emptying his contents out at night and using it to sleep in. When the wheels wore out he just called in at the next refuse depot and was given a new one! If you are a couple it is important to talk through what your basic levels of comfort are and to try and go with the higher one, this should ensure a much happier trip. Too much compromising rarely works. TIP: Don’t give up if you initially don’t appear to have enough money to live your dream. Try to see if you can make savings on any of the components. For example buy an older motorhome; travel in a cheaper country, visit less places or spend more time free camped in one spot. Keep checking my blog for more money saving suggestions and inspiration!Glen's Blog There are many ways to fund a trip. Buying a motorhome can be a huge cost on its own let alone funding the trip itself. These are just ideas to get you to think creatively. Write down all your assets and see what it amounts to. Owning a property is a good way to start. Have your house valued. You could be surprised at how much it’s worth. I’ll share with you one scenario.
It’s interesting because it is possible to travel in a motorhome for very little. Play about with your figures and see what you come up with. You might be able to fund it with one house, interest rates could be cheaper, rents might be higher or lower.
Leave Funding a Motorhome Trip and return to Traveling in a Motorhome, RV or Campervan |
One thing that I always want to do when I find a good idea is share it with people. This is the reason I wanted to create this website. All the experience and ideas I'd come across from obtaining all this free accommodation I wanted other people to have holidays like it too.
So I created this website. Not being very tech savy I thought I should buy a program that helped me create the site and gave me tutorials along the way. So I bought an SBI program package, Site Build It and it was like having a real teacher in my house teaching me everything I needed to know about building a business on line. It tells you about Search Engine Optimization, Montetization - all new phrases for me. It helps you with Key Words - there's people you can contact to help you along the way. You can even try it out for 30 days. I'm now making money from my site and I'll continue to build it. I'm planning more travel adventures and my passive income form my site will help fund it.