Wanna Sell Everything You Own and Live on the Road?

Ever wake up one day and want to quit your job? Tired of conforming to societal expectations? Crave something different, new, and fun? Yeah, us too.

I was working at a job that was slowly killing me because of all the stress when my husband told me, “You know you don’t have to do that, right?” I stared blankly at him. I knew our bills and I knew his income couldn’t sustain our lives in that small New Mexico town.

“Actually, love, I do have to do it.” I couldn’t see the way out then, and felt a bit offended he would even say that to me.

“What if we sold it all?” He smiled.

“Sold… everything?” My eyes widened at the thought of it as I looked around at everything we had accumulated in our 4 years together. “But what about our pictures? My favorite books? My wedding dress?” I started to freak out a little.

Stuff ruled my life. In our society, it’s almost as if stuff is bred into us, like if we have more stuff than anyone else, we are successful. That was what we did over our relationship: accumulate more and more stuff. More books, more clothes, more kitchen gadgets, more everything. I started to see how reliant on stuff I had become, and didn't like it.

“We could keep some things, just what we can fit in the car, and we can move. Start over. Why not?” We both knew he was on to something. It stuck in my mind for the next month, and actually gave me hope each day I went in to work at a job I hated.

About a month later, I finally put in my notice at that job, and we started the process of selling everything. We started small, listing things on Facebook Marketplace, then moved up to hosting yard sales every weekend until the day we left. By the end of the process, we were thousands of dollars richer, and gave away the things that weren’t selling. We were becoming free from our stuff, and only had a few brown cardboard boxes and plastic totes full of miscellaneous things we didn’t want to leave behind. Even though the car was overloaded, we hit the road.

Initially, we planned on staying with a friend in Denver until we found jobs, but one ad in an online forum changed all that. The advertiser was looking for a someone to come stay in their home and take care of their three cats while they traveled over the holidays. I immediately lit up, and had to apply. After a conversation with them via email, we were hired and hit the road for North Carolina. We decided that if we loved what we did there, we would create a business for it and do it full time.

It didn’t take long for us to fall in love with the so-called work. Caring for kitties and keeping a home are things we did anyways, so this was perfect for us. Another friend suggested a website for us to use to find more sits, so we signed up right away. The website, TrustedHousesitters had listings for owners and sitters all across the globe, but we kept our travels to the US for our own convenience. We immediately began applying for sits and setting up our calendar for the next 6 months, therefore solidifying our new way of life.

Because we had my partner’s monthly income along with my quarterly stipend from school and side businesses, we were able to continue our travels for just over a year and a half. If the world had not been shut down for so long due to the pandemic, we probably would have continued our travels. There were of course times where finances were tight, but that happens if you’re not traveling, too, so we didn’t allow that to be an excuse to quit. We were able to secure a UPS box that we could use as our address for most things, and they would even forward our mail to us along our journey.

As we traveled, we got rid of more and more stuff along the way. Some clothes we never wore, beauty products I never used, and books we kept promising to read but never did, all got given away or sold. The things we thought we couldn’t live without melted away, and our car wasn’t as overloaded as before. Stuff lost it’s hold on us, and we are eternally grateful for the experience.

Although we have stopped traveling full time, we are still part of the TrustedHousesitters family. If after reading this you think you'd like to start this journey for yourself, visit the TrustedHousesitters website and use our discount code RAF241147. We know this isn’t for everyone, but if you’re someone who has a remote job or some other passive income, and you love animals, or you simply never want to pay for a hotel stay again, please give it a try. It's a great way to meet some pretty amazing people and their adorable pets, plus free lodging. Can’t go wrong there.