Ashley Kaye is a 36-year-old adventurer who has fully adopted an unconventional lifestyle by living and traveling full-time in her Toyota Tacoma. Over the past few years, she has traveled around the world. She has traveled to more than 20 countries, with a special emphasis placed on the journey taken to South Africa. It was in 2020 that Kaye took a chance and resigned from her position. With $37,000 in savings, she decided to follow her passion for adventure and exploration.
Kaye purchased her Tacoma truck for $42,934. Then she poured $50,000 into renovations to make it a livable home. The vehicle doubles as her home and her transportation. Most importantly, it lets her navigate the world on her own terms. She’s the first to admit that her mobile lifestyle isn’t always easy. For her, setting up and breaking down her camper is the hardest part.
“The easiest part for me is being comfortable in very small spaces and I’m totally content,” Kaye noted, highlighting her adaptability. Through vivid, compelling poetry, she confronts the brutality of life in tight spaces. Still, she seeks comfort in the outdoors and enjoys the independence that her nomadic life provides her with.
Kaye deeply appreciates the freedom her new lifestyle allows her, life got hard after she left her job. “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,” she admitted. But slowly she figured out how to make sense of this brand new life, from juggling her budget to paying her bills.
Kaye’s monthly expenses amount to approximately $1,305. She just budgets $96 a month to cover her cellphone bill. Lastly, she allocates $200 for Starlink internet, so she can work and play seamlessly no matter where she’s parked. She spends an average of $556 on gas per month, and more than $453 on food. In order to maintain her hygiene, Kaye regularly uses a box toilet. She showers with a camping-style portable shower bag because her truck doesn’t have a bathroom built in.
In order to finance her adventures, Kaye sold her childhood home for $320,000. This fiscal choice opened the door for her to experience a wide range of environments free from the restrictions of conventional life. She has flown to amazing experiences and spent more than $6,000 on otherwise-elusive activities. One of her favorites was a week-long scuba diving experience in the beautiful Galápagos Islands.
Kaye’s travels are not only an exploration of the world around him, but an exploration of himself. “My life is kind of like ‘the plan is there is no plan,’” she reflects. She’s lucky enough to have spent most of her life enchanted by stunning, tranquil haunts, and so can linger indefinitely. “It’s really an incredible way to travel because you get to set your own pace,” Kaye explained.
In September 2023, Kaye swapped out her Tacoma’s truck bed, making her mobile home even more comfortable. She is always on the lookout for her next great adventure. She’s planning more dream trips to the south of France, Spain or Italy.
“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,” – Ashley Kaye
These realities have shaped Kaye into a leader who understands the power of resilience and the necessity of adaptability. She has learned to organize her living space efficiently: “I try to organize everything in the truck and camper so that it’s just the way that it’s supposed to be.” Her capacity to flourish within smaller confines enables her banks of rage to deep dive all day long indoors without the walls closing in.
Kaye has seriously considered taking her operation in a new direction, she’s not done pioneering new routes. “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,’” she expressed.
Kaye’s journey is just one example of a surging movement of people looking for more freedom and adventure beyond the constraints of the modern lifestyle. Her story now leads the way to others seeking to escape from reality’s expectations. It inspires them to find out what really counts in life.