36-year-old travels the world in a Toyota Tacoma: Her No. 1 takeaway

In 2015, Ashley Kaye’s father died and inherited his childhood house in Wisconsin, Wisconsin. He was 27 years old at the time, he worked in corporate health services and went into a consulting business where he worked 80 to 100 hours a week.
“I worked from the house, so I just walked from my bedroom to the kitchen and repeated,” he says. “I became a zombie then”
While traveling, Kaye met someone on a scuba diving trip in Honduras, which was to leave his career behind what he wanted and travel full -time.
“We just shot and chatted for the time I was there. The worst, the best of the best and we talked about the financial.” Says.
“He told me he wished to do it earlier because he’s much easier and cheaper than you thought. This changed everything for me. I went home and worked harder until I left it next year.”
Since he lived in the truck, Kaye went to more than 20 countries.
Ashley Kaye
Kaye traveled for the next three years during the Covid-19 epidemics. During a trip to South Africa, he received unexpected news that his aunt was sick and should return to Wisconsin.
“This flight is probably the moment that my existence has a single ounce ‘Sagittarius, I’m going home.’ I don’t want to be here.” I love being on the islands. I love the ocean with me. This has eliminated the hesitation I had to sell the house in previous years. “
While she was looking at her aunt Kaye, she prepared her childhood house for sale and thought about her next move. Van thought a lot about trying his life and living with his dog and traveling.
“Traveling by plane with a dog sounded like a terrible idea, or he says. “I’m doing a lot of photography, so I knew I wanted something I could reach harder destinations.”
While waiting for the sale of his house to be closed, a couple reached Kaye on Instagram to ask about his time in South Africa. They shared their experiences in a Toyota truck with a camper in the truck bed.
Overlanding is usually a self -confident way of traveling in some type of vehicle containing adventure to distant destinations.
Kaye estimates that it spends over $ 50,000 for renovation.
Ashley Kaye
According to the documents reviewed by CNBC, Kaya bought Kaye All-in and a Toyota Tacoma truck for $ 42,934 after doing its own research.
Kaye took the truck in South Dakota and took it back to Wisconsin to finish the packaging when it was officially sold in March 2023.
‘No plan plan’
Now that the new house is a truck, Kaye started his first adventure: a driving to Mexico’s Baja California. He stayed there for three months and planned the renovations he would need to make the truck more livable.
“My life is like a plan plan”. Most people plan such adventures for years.
While living in Mexico, Kaye found an American company that will provide external storage instead of truck bed and facilitates it to live and travel in Toyota Tacoma. However, the installation could not take place until September.
Kaye took things from the childhood house to use it in the camper.
Ashley Kaye
Meanwhile, Kaye learned as much as possible about the truck and the camper he would need. He estimates that he spends over $ 50,000 for renovations.
The costs include purchasing a camper, adding solar energy, replacing the truck bed, upgrading the suspension, customizing new tires, privatization of a bumper, and an electric cooler installation.
When the truck was ready, Kaye decided to travel the Pan-American highway starting from Denver. The highway extends from the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Prudhoe to Argentina.
“This is really an incredible way to travel because you determine your own speed and you can stay as much as you want if you find a beautiful and peaceful place.”
“But every travel mode has pros and cons, and the boundaries are too much bureaucracy and logistics. Especially when you are alone, you should find a balance that works for you, but in general, it is definitely one of the coolest adventures of my life.”
Kaye’s number 1 lesson: ‘Life is very short, so only live’
Since the full -time and traveling in the truck, Kaye has visited Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and every country in the parts of Argentina. In total, it has gone to more than 20 countries so far.
Orum I don’t want to be a cliché and to say that it is a dream life because there is a lot of work and a lot to take care of and maintain, or he says.
“But waking up and just looking at the map and ‘should I sleep in this volcano or should I go to the forest or should I go to the beach?’ You really have a very nice option, so I can’t really complain.
Ashley Kaye has been living and traveling in Toyota truck since 2023.
Ashley Kaye
After all this time, Kaye says that life is very short.
“Since I started traveling, [I learned] Life is too short. You don’t have to leave your career to go and walk around the world, but start now, no matter what your dreams and goals in life, and everything else is just finding a goal. ”
Kaye says he’s a father who taught him that he can do anything when he was young.
“My father raised me and says to me every day ‘I grew up’ he said, ‘I grew up’.” He was 57 years old, so he never retired.
Kaye Toyota bought Tacoma for $ 42,934.
Ashley Kaye