2 brothers traded the desk job life for a year of travel across all 50 US states - here's how much money they saved
"We're two Floridian brothers fighting society's natural pull to the post-college desk life," they write on their blog. "Who says you can't do meaningful work that you love and have fun doing it? We say you can."
To prove it, they left their home base in Orlando, Florida on January 1, 2016 - and any semblance of the traditional career path - for an 82-square foot sprinter van and a year of adventure.
Before "The Bro'd Trip," Justin, 25, worked in commercial real estate lending. Adam, 23, graduated from college in 2015. He didn't experience a traditional desk job, but as he puts it: "I don't need to sit at a computer, twiddling my thumbs and tapping my feet anxiously under a desk from IKEA to know that the cubicle life isn't for me."
They didn't make this decision on a whim.
"We saved for about two years while Justin was employed full-time and freelancing," Adam tells Business Insider. "And I finished school and worked part-time, freelancing as well."
Their goal was to set aside about $45,000 before hitting the road for a year. That money would cover the cost of the van, any renovations and maintenance, gas, auto insurance, and food.
Living rent-free at home allowed them to build up savings relatively quickly and the brothers explain they were able to reach their goal, and then some.
In addition to their trip savings, they're generating income on the road by producing blog posts, video clips, and social media posts for their primary sponsors Merrell and Enerplex.
Plus, they each have personal clients they work with remotely. "Justin maintains a few monthly writing gigs and I do video editing for a couple local businesses back home," Adam explains. "That income is steady and separate from our trip account."
In Orlando, they would expect to be paying between $1,000 and $1,500 a month for rent (they weren't going to stay in their parents' house for the long term).
On the road, they aim to spend no more than $1,500 per month total.
"Granted we're still early in the trip, but so far it hasn't been an issue," they explain of their budget. "So instead of paying rent, we get to see the country, do activities we love, eat good food - plenty of Ramen, too - and do work that excites us. We think that's a pretty sweet deal."