In 2015, Ashley Kai and the father of Ashley and She inherited her childhood house In Waterford, Wisconsin. At that time, she was 27 years old, working in the field of health care and moving to a consulting position, where she worked from 80 to 100 hours a week.
“I worked from the house, so I just walked from my sleep room to my office to the kitchen and I repeat,” says Kai, 36, told CNBC. “I was a coma at those times,”
While traveling, Kay met someone on a diving journey in Honduras that helped her realize what she wanted to leave her career behind her and travel full time.
“We have hit it and talked all the time when I was. We talked about the worst in the worst, the best of the best, and the financial data as well,” says Kai.
“He told me that he hopes he would have done so soon because he is much easier and cheaper than you think. I have changed everything for me. I went back to the house and worked more and more until he resigned next year.”
Since living in the truck, Kay has traveled to more than 20 countries.
Ashley Kai
Kai spent the next three years traveling during the Covid-19s. While she was on a trip to South Africa, she received unexpected news that her aunt was sick and that she would need to return to Wisconsin.
“Perhaps this journey was the moment when one ounce was not like me like” Yay, I’m going home. “It was,” I don’t want to be here. “I love to be on the islands. I love the presence of the ocean near me. I have removed this frequency that I faced in the previous years about selling the house.”
While Kai returned home while she was interested in aunt, she prepared her childhood house for sale and considered her next step. I thought a lot about trying the life of the truck, living and traveling with her dog.
“Traveling by plane with a dog seemed to be a terrible idea,” she says. “I am doing a lot of photography, so I knew that I wanted something where I could reach strict destinations.”
While waiting for the sale of her house, a couple contacted Kay on Instagram to ask about her time in South Africa. They shared their wild experience in the Toyota truck with the cart in the truck bed.
Overlanding is a form of self -travel travel that includes adventure for distant destinations, usually in a car of some kind.
Kai estimated that she spent more than $ 50,000 on renovations.
Ashley Kai
After doing a few of her private research, Kai was all and bought the Toyota Tacoma truck for $ 42,934, according to the documents reviewed by CNBC Make.
Kai picked up the truck in South Dakota and returned it to Wisconsin to finish filling her house when she was officially sold in March 2023.
“The plan is the lack of a plan”
Now that her new home was the truck, Kay went on her first adventure: by car to Baja California, Mexico. I stayed there for three months and planned the renovations you will need to make the truck more suitable for living.
“My life resembles” the plan is the lack of a plan. “Most people are planning this type of adventure for years.” It was a very incentive at the present time, so you needed to stop and get to know things. “
While living in Mexico, Kai found an American company that made truck bed alternatives that would provide external storage and make it easier for her to live and travel in Toyota Takoma. But the installation cannot happen until September.
Kay took property from her childhood home for use in the cart.
Ashley Kai
Meanwhile, Kay learned as much as she could about the truck and the type of cart that you will need. It is estimated that it has spent more than $ 50,000 on renovations.
The costs included buying the cart, adding solar energy, replacing the truck bed, upgrading the suspension, new tires, customizing the bumper, and installing an electric cooler.
When the truck was ready, Kay decided the American highway, starting from Denver. The highway from PRUDHOE Bay, Alaska extends to USHUAIA, Argentina.
“It is really a great way to travel because you will put your own bird, and if you find a beautiful and peaceful place, you can stay as long as you want,” says Kai.
“But there are positives and negatives for every way of traveling and a lot of borders across the red tape and logistics. This may be exhausted, especially when you are alone. You have to find a suitable balance for you, but in general, it is definitely one of the most wonderful adventures in my life.”
Kay’s lesson 1: “Life is very short, so they lived” just “
Since living and traveling in the truck completely, Kay has visited Mexico, every country in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and parts of Argentina. In total, I went to more than 20 countries so far.
She says: “I do not want to be clichés and say it is a life of dreams because it is a lot of work and there are many things that you need to take care of and maintenance.”
“But it is really stunning to be able to wake up and only look at the map and say:” Should I sleep inside this volcano, go to the forest or go to the beach? “You have a lot of really beautiful options, so I can’t really complain.”
Ashley Kai has been living and traveling in the Toyota truck since 2023.
Ashley Kai
After all this time on the road, Kai In says the biggest lesson I learned is that life is very short.
“Since you started traveling, (I learned) life is very short. You do not have to go and stop your career to travel around the world, but whatever your dreams and goals in life begin now and everything else is just discovering a goal,” she says.
Kay says when she was younger, her father was the one who taught her that she was able to do anything.
“I grew up with my father who raises me and tells me every day,” she says. “You can be anything you want when you grow up and you can do anything.” His death taught me how to live life because you never know how much time you spend in life. “
Kai Toyota Tacoma bought 42,934 dollars.
Ashley Kai
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