The Adventure Possible approach to modern life builds adventure into life’s trajectory, borrowing five years from retirement to give professionals the structure, tactics, and opportunity to make adventure possible over the course of your life.
In summary, the life looks like this:
The Adventure Possible life borrows five years from retirement. Inspired by Stefan Sagmeister.
During the working years, we make money and save money to fund the next adventure, covering gear, travel expenses, and bills back home while away from work for a year or so on an adventure.
However, for longer adventure travel trips, adventurers (especially adventure families feeding multiple hungry mouths) may exhaust the money squirreled away in a travel nut and need to augment savings with income that either slows down or covers the adventure travel burn rate. (What is a burn rate?)
To Work or Not Work on Sabbatical?
Read about how we afforded to RV around America
I’ve determined there is no right answer to this question. A sabbatical by definition means a break from work, and perhaps we too loosely use the term “sabbatical” to define our year of adventure. However, just because one takes a break from work does not mean the person lazes around all day or doesn’t earn an income. Professors, for example, whom often earn sabbatical every so often, leave teaching work to pursue other research or academic interests, working on passion projects while away on sabbatical and still earning an income.
Working while on sabbatical can take many forms, and with so many options available for remote work and entrepreneurship to earn income, I think the right answer to this question depends on one’s personal circumstances.
In my own adventures, I’ve addressed the concept of work in different ways. On my Appalachian Trail thru-hike, I did not earn any income and remote work was not an option, though I spent serious time journaling and writing books about the experience. On my bike ride across America, I left my day job behind, though I committed to writing a weekly article for the hometown newspaper, exercising new journalistic muscles. On our RV trip around America, my wife left her job entirely, though I was able to leave my full-time day job while staying on in a part-time consulting role with reduced and benefits. In our year living in Chile, my wife opted to leave her job, and I have decided to stay on full time in a remote capacity, providing us with income while we live in a new city and spend on pricy trips to Patagonia and Antarctica.
Aside from the actively working to earn income, we also manage a chunk of investments in stocks and real estate that produce produce income. The effort is low relative to active work, but there is some effort required to evaluate investments, make investments, and review quarterly performance reports.
In summary, each person should do what they want as it relates to working or earning income in a year of adventure. In some cases, a person may not have a choice. The only option for supporting adventure travel may be to make money while traveling. The important concept of adventure is not whether or not you work. The year of adventure is about getting into the adventure mentality by pushing into new experiences, disconnecting from one’s the typical work life, and forcing change that causes growth and evolution.
Ways to Make Money & Travel
We’ve managed to do a pretty good job creating income streams that enable us to live our long-term adventure travel dreams, deriving income from a combination of consulting, book sales, product sales, investments, and real estate.
Below we share posts about how we and other adventurers can develop income streams that let them embark on their adventure, travel farther, and stay out longer.
Great Ideas. Appreciate your approach and input.