by Hope
I have started my second trip to Texas. I have a full tank of gas and $50. Do you think we can make it on that?
Don’t get me wrong. I will get paid tomorrow, so I will have access to some money…at least until I pay my bills. And Gymnast actually put $40 in my hand when I drove away yesterday and said to call if I needed money or got stuck. (There are just some days you know you did something right when raising your kids.)
I’ve lined up friends to stay with every stop along the way there.
I packed a cooler with drinks, apples, cheese, and added some granola bars and peanut butter packets. (All food from my house versus a special grocery trip.)
And, of course, I have all the food and water Addie may need. (Had some distilled water gallons from my ex-fiance’s CPAP in my closet so am using those as her water.)
Addie and I – Day 1 of our road trip
The Math
So I filled the tank of before I left. I have $50 readily available. (Not counting my $40 in cash.) And I have 1,031 miles to travel.
I get between 350-400 miles per tank of gas on the highway. So it’s going to be really close. But I’m going to challenge myself. (Not so much that I’m going to risk running out of gas on the side of the road.) Just imagine if I can make this happen, how much more travel I can do once I’m back on my feet if I get good at the packing and planning to cut down costs.
Here’s to the life of adventure I am actively seeking. And this is just step one.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
How would you feel if any of your kids set off on a near cross country road trip with 50$ to their name? Because that worry is how your children likely feel about you taking this on.
There’s only so much you can “challenge” mpg. Best of luck.