- Alice Everdeen left her workplace job to turn into a digital nomad and has doubled her annual wage.
- Everdeen’s major bills embrace transportation, cell service, and meals.
- She and her accomplice lately refurbished the varsity bus they name dwelling.
Alice Everdeen has traveled the nation in a college bus for greater than a 12 months.
The 32-year-old give up her workplace job at an Austin-based complement firm in 2020, and now makes $130,000 a 12 months working remotely whereas on the highway.
She stated she labored 50- to 60-hour weeks and made lower than half of what she makes now in her earlier profession as a content material supervisor. She wasn’t comfortable, she advised Business Insider, and wished to journey extra.
Everdeen has since leaned into her earlier aspect hustle doing voiceovers. She additionally makes user-generated content material movies and does digital facilitating and talking engagements.
She loves touring the nation along with her accomplice Jared their canine. The couple has been on the highway since September 2022 — and so they lately completed refurbishing the varsity bus they name dwelling.
Van life and distant life have turn into more and more widespread in recent times, with many individuals documenting their expertise touring and budgeting whereas on the highway on social media.
“We really spent a lot of time making sure that it was ours,” Everdeen stated. “Of course we’re sacrificing space, but we didn’t have to sacrifice our sanity or livelihoods in order to live our dream.”
Everdeen’s distant job permits her to make extra and work much less
Everdeen calls herself a digital nomad, a time period for individuals who journey freely whereas working remotely.
She finds gigs on web sites like Fiverr, and the flexibleness not solely permits her to highway journey with larger pay than her earlier workplace function, however she stated she solely works two or three hours per day.
Everdeen’s bills are additionally decrease than they had been in Texas, she stated. Her predominant finances gadgets are restricted to cell service, meals, and prices related to parking and gasoline for the varsity bus.
If she and Jared are parking at a campground, they could pay $30 to $60 per night time. But, in the event that they keep in a public parking zone, on public land, or with family and friends, it is free.
Sometimes, Jared will work at a campground in trade for area to remain.
The college bus drives at about seven miles per gallon, Everdeen stated, so she may spend $1,000 on gasoline for a giant drive — however she and Jared sometimes keep in the identical place for weeks or months earlier than transferring on. She additionally pays automobile insurance coverage on the bus and on her 2003 Chevrolet that they pull in a trailer.
The couple pays $50 a month for 2 cellphones, and so they spend between $300 to $600 a month on meals.
Still, Everdeen advises anybody fascinated with life on the highway to count on the sudden.
“If we have a breakdown, we might spend $5,000 fixing it. And not only that, you’re also out of a place to live for a week and have to pay for a hotel,” she stated. “I think embracing anything that comes your way — good and bad — is the best way to live and to get the most out of this adventure.”
Traveling has given Everdeen a brand new outlook on life
Everdeen stated she has discovered quite a lot of classes whereas on the highway, and minimalism has modified her perspective.
“I think the biggest thing is how little we need in life to be comfortable and to be happy,” she stated. “My whole life I was always the person who was shopping at Marshalls and T.J. Maxx and finding the next best thing. I couldn’t do that anymore because I don’t even have any wall space to put things on.”
Still, components of touring have been lonely, Everdeen stated. She doesn’t usually speak on to shoppers for her freelance work, and she or he does not have coworkers.
Last summer time, she and Jared spent a couple of months in rural Maine.
“I remember at one point thinking to myself: Why am I so sad? Why do I feel depressed? And I couldn’t figure it out,” she stated. “I had somebody who loved me, I had a dog, I was taking care of myself. And I realized I was missing the connection aspect with people.”
Everdeen stated she now makes an effort to be extra social when she travels, past simply seeing individuals at grocery shops or whereas sightseeing.
Sometimes others have misconceptions about Everdeen, she stated, and so they marvel why she resides in her college bus by alternative. But she stands by her way of life.
“There are a lot of especially older people —especially people over 70 or so — that have really been through life and enjoyed a lot. They’re always the ones to be like, ‘I am so happy that you’re following your dreams and you’re loving life and you’re doing what you want to do.”‘
By May, when the climate is heat, Everdeen plans to be in Montana. She may wish to purchase a home and stay on a farm finally, however she does not plan on giving up her life on the highway any time quickly.
Are you residing on the highway? Have you made a serious profession change to suit your way of life? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.
