road-trips, long-term travel and savings

I know you want to cut loose right now. And there’s definitely an argument for seizing the day and following your heart. You can seize the day–but it also doesn’t have to be immediately, right this second. I think having patience and waiting until you have all your ducks in a row is always a good way to go about things and also takes away some of the stress to allow you to really enjoy what you’re doing when it’s time. I went through college and a master’s program, working a pile of jobs I didn’t like much, before I cut loose and lived on the road–and even then, I spent chunks of time working between travel phases. I never had $0 in the bank, though I knew plenty of climbers who did. I just couldn’t do it like that.

Great article from Steph Davis. 

Personally I've seen it all myself. I've camped tons, traveled/lived out of a vehicle (Australia), road-tripped in cars and campers and also managed to do some decent career-based work also. And I've always made sure to put away a collection of savings that is never touched and only used for either long-term savings or professional development. In other words, any trip I've done so far has also accounted for the fact that I've a full life ahead of me. I guess-timate I've spent €50-€60,000 on climbing adventures since I started in the sport but I've also made sure to be thinking of the bigger picture, be it a home or family.

Having said that, there's also a huge perk and benefit to travel and road-tripping for extended periods. I've personally done three 3-month trips, two 1-year trips and several 1-month trips, not to mention countless weekends and 1-2 week length adventures. 2-3 months is my personal favourite for trips - enough time to psychologically get away from the rat race in towns and cities, not to mention give time to see perspective and also get to a very high level with your sport of choice. What's your favourite?

An aside for those thinking of trips, there's a nice series of articles on UKC at present.....