We figured that with smart saving for the year we could collect enough income to complete the walk, but then what? What were we doing with our house and cars for those six months? Our house is a demolition zone, having had major renovations continuing for the last few long, long years. We would need to finish the house in order to either sell it or rent it out. If we sell it we could potentially travel for longer. If we rent it out we could create income. So for now as well as saving for the trail we are also saving to finish the renovations.

The first step in this was the list. What did we need to finish the house, and how much was it going to cost? What else could we do to get this money? So last week, a year before our travels, we had a garage sale. We got rid of most of our large furniture. Some was surplus from other moves but other things we realised, that was just stuff that we were only using as we had it but really we did not need it. Our move to a simplified life added an additional $2500 to our renovation budget.  

Other changes will come later, like selling the cars and everything else. People ask “why are you selling it if you are coming back?” Well, what do we do with it all for six months? Storage, insurance, registration… all just additional costs. If we sold the car, it will not need storing or maintaining while we are away and we could use the sale income for a bit more comfort on the trail. Also everything is replaceable, and hopefully the freedom of the simplistic tent living would continue on to help our lives stay uncluttered after we come back.

Is this going to work? Well, we hope so and we will try hard. We have just less than a year, so a good amount of time to make changes to make it better if we need to.