It’s no secret that housing expenses are through the roof, and many single people and families are struggling every month to pay rising rents and mortgage prices.

Experts say your housing costs should be just 30% (or ideally less) of your monthly income, but for many, finding something suitable and safe in that price range proves impossible.

This young woman thinks she has a solution that works for her, though – and it’s living in her truck.

36-year-old Wisconsin native Kaye Wilson told CNBC she got the idea while traveling abroad after she met someone who travels full time.

“He told me he wished he had done it sooner because it’s so much easier and cheaper than you think. That changed everything for me. I went home and worked more and more until I quit the next year.”

@hifromashley

What a year!! 🥂 Thank you 2023 for the generous blessings Porter and I spent 80% of the year traveling. Four months living in Baja Mexico was an absolute dream come true. The sea of Cortez blew my mind with the best whale encounters of my life. I worked tirelessly on my website, writing, and photography. Most recently, filming long videos for YouTube. Bursting with joy my 2024 calendar sold out, I have started writing my first book 📝 lastly, I am over the moon excited to start selling our stickers [coming soon] It may have been the hardest decision of my life to sell my childhood home to travel the world in our @toyota overland build with my dog @porterdaexplorer Do I regret it? Not for a single second. Full transparency it has not crossed my mind once. How can I possibly miss the past when the present and future are so incredible and unknown? go places – make memories – capture moments – say yes Year in review: 🇺🇸🛻January / Feb / March: WI, SD, New Truck, Sold House 🇺🇸🇲🇽March/ April / May / June: Route 66 and Baja Mexico 🇺🇸⛺️July: California, Camper, Four national parks 🇺🇸🖤August: Cali, My birthday, new suspension 🇺🇸🛻September: Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and two national parks Bowen Bed replacement, grill upgrade y mas 🇺🇸🇲🇽October: New Mexico, Whitesands National Park and Mexico 🇲🇽 November: Mexico 🇧🇿🇬🇹December: Belize y Guatemala #overlandtravel #liveyourpassion #traveltheworldwithme #travelaroundtheworld #guatemala #guate #belize #worldplaces #bestviews #mustseeplaces #visitmexico #usa🇺🇸 #nationalparks #roadtrips #toyotatacoma #tacomaworld #sayyes

♬ original sound – Ashley ✨

She told told CNBC she wasn’t sure at first how she would fill her time, but she plowed head anyway.

“I didn’t know how to just do nothing. The first few months were really hard and I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decision. Once I got into the rhythm of traveling and growing my confidence…I’ve never looked back and don’t have a single regret.”

When she quit her job, Kaye had around $37,000 in savings, as well as around $320,000 from the sale of her childhood home. She spent three years traveling the world before learning about “overlanding,” a kind of self-reliant travel, and deciding to try it out for herself.

@hifromashley

♬ original sound – Ashley ✨

She bought a $43k Toyota Tacoma and spent another $50k renovating into a small camper that she could live in comfortably. These changes included the cost of a camper, adding solar power, replacing the truck bed with the camper, upgrading the suspension, installing an electric cooler, etc.

Kaye uses a box toilet and a portable shower bag to compensate for not having a bathroom.

Once it was ready, she decided to drive the Pan-American highway, which runs from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina. Her days are spent between travel and leisure. On the travel days, she has to break down her living areas, pack it in, and drive 5-7 hours to her next destination.

Her costs are $556 a month on gas, $453 a month on food, and around $300 on her cell phone and internet, which is obviously much less expensive than living in one place – at least in the States.

Instead, she saves her money for experiences she finds along the way.

“The easiest part for me is being comfortable in very small spaces and I’m totally content. I can spend all day inside the camper and not feel suffocated or claustrophobic. I’m constantly seeing so many vast spaces within nature that I’m really content.”

@hifromashley

5 years of full-time travel ✈️ #takethetrip #travellife #traveltips #solotravel #solotraveler #seetheworld

♬ original sound – Let’s Goal Up

On her leisure days, she spends them exploring the new place she’s stopped and doing it on her own timeline.

“It’s really an incredible way to travel because you get to set your own pace and if you find somewhere that’s beautiful and peaceful you can stay as long as you want.”

She told CNBC that as much as she has enjoyed her time traveling, it hasn’t been without its challenges.

“There’s pros and cons to every mode of travel and a lot of red tape and logistics crossing borders. It can be exhausting, especially when you’re along. You have to find a balance that works for you, but overall, it’s definitely one of the coolest adventures of my lifetime.”

For one thing, setting up and breaking down the camper can get extremely tedious.

For another, she’s just started to feel the itch to try something different, though she’s not ready just yet.

“Part of me wants to just get rid of it and move on and enter the next chapter of my life but then the larger part of me is like ‘no, maybe just wait because I want to see some other places and just chill. I want to finish my adventure. I’m not tired of living in the camper and I’m not tired of that lifestyle, but I am tired of driving.”

@hifromashley

Thank you 2023 for the Best Year of My Life 🥂 cannot wait for 2024 🩵 @porterdaexplorer and I are over the moon excited to continue our world travels by land in our home aka a 2023 @toyota Tacoma built for overlanding #soloadventure #getoutside #letsgetlost #tacomaworld #adventurealways #solotravels #overlandtoyotas #overland #seetheworld #adventuredogs #blacklabsofinstagram #toyotatacoma

♬ original sound – Ashley ✨

As far as next steps, she’s still thinking about it.

She’s not sure she’ll ever sell her truck, or where she might want to settle permanently after she’s done driving. It probably won’t be in the States, though – she’s considering different places in the Mediterranean, mostly.

And honestly, who could blame her?

When you’re used to seeing beautiful scenery out your camper windows every morning, your permanent residence is going to have a lot to live up to.

If you liked that story, check out this one about a couple who forgot to turn off their ice machine and returned home after 4 months to find their freezer had turn into a frozen cavern.