It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the road for half a year already. It seems like we just left.
In the beginning, when we first had the idea, I thought we’d have time to see the whole country in six to nine months. Now I know better! We have only had our motorhome in 10 of the 49 states possible. And we haven’t even explored them fully.
For those of you interested, here’s the breakdown:
We traveled 22,686 miles: 13,401 in the motorhome and 9,285 in the Jeep. Our total fuel costs (gas and diesel) averaged $70 per day. Which is approximately 27 cents per mile in the motorhome and19 cents per mile in the Jeep. Yes, our Jeep is a gas guzzler!
We spent:
83 nights in California,
24 nights in Arizona,
08 nights in Nevada,
03 nights in Utah,
04 nights in Colorado,
03 nights in Nebraska
13 nights in South Dakota,
02 nights in Wyoming,
05 nights in Idaho, and
33 nights in Oregon.
Our six month average cost per night of camping was $16.32.
Our average traveling miles in the RV was 167 per day we traveled.
The average number of nights we stayed in one spot was only 2.
We spent:
13 nights in driveways of relatives
12 nights in parking lots or casinos
03 nights in truck or rest stops
09 nights in County fairgrounds
34 nights in City or State Parks or Recreation Areas
30 nights in National Forests or Corps of Engineers
14 nights in BLM land (Bureau of Land Management)
62 nights in RV parks
We have spent $5,033 in repair and maintenance costs for the motorhome and Jeep. Yikes!That’s after we hit the road – not in preparation.
We have spent $230 in doing laundry. That’s an average of $9 per week. That is a cost we did not have before!
However, we have not dropped a dime in gardening costs or pool maintenance!. Not one penny for utilities like gas and electric or water and trash. No housekeeping costs, no storage fees, no mortgage payments. It’s very freeing to think about all of the expenses that we no longer have.
We have spent more time star gazing, talking around campfires, learning about our country’s history, playing games, and hiking than we EVER did before.
We have seen more types of trees and flowers and rocks and landscapes than we could imagine. We have seen such a variety of wildlife – in the wild – that we’ll probably never visit a zoo again.
We have made new friends and added items to our bucket list. We are far from done!
My only hope is that the next six months doesn’t go by so quickly!
Happy Travels,
Peace & Love, Joy
I thought statistics were dry, but yours had a lot of life in them. I really enjoyed this summary of six months on the road. Well done!
Thank you!
Wow! You guys have put on some serious miles! We travel much slower (usually staying in most places for a week), but I think we spend as much in campground fees as you all do in gas. We’re hoping to change that up as we head west. We have yet to try any free camping options, sticking mostly with campgrounds instead, and campgrounds in the east have been very expensive. I’ll be interested to do more of what you guys have been doing – mixing up the places you stay to bring your average cost down. But either way I agree with your point – no matter how much you spend, it still beats having a mortgage and all the other costs associated with home ownership… Plus, it’s way more fun!!
Happy travels!
It seems like we have slowed down a lot this past month and look forward to getting to a place where we can spend a week in one spot! We haven’t been east yet but we think it’s much cheaper in the west. We hope to cut our costs considerably in the next six months by staying in a lot more free places – and there are a lot of them in the southwest. We’ve been to (or seen) some really great (and free) places in Arizona, Nevada, Nebraska, SD and even Cali. Thank you for commenting!
What a wonderful adventure! You guys are living it to the fullest and have been to some beautiful places. I can’t wait to see what the next six months for you, also!
It’s gone by so quickly!