People who are caught up the regular 9-5 thing and strapped with mortgages, car payments and the usual bills often ask me how I could afford to do some of the extended, adventurous trips I've done by kayak, backpack and sailboat. A lot of them will never understand, but they could do the same thing if they are careful in the choices they make in life. But that's the subject of a different topic I'll address later. Those are the big choices that determine whether you will be free and able to travel or pursue your interests or simply live as slave to wages to pay for all the things most people buy that they cannot afford without the use of the credit trap.

The cost of travel itself does not have to be high, especially if you chose one of the self-propelled methods of moving from place to place, like walking, bicycling, canoeing and kayaking. I dislike travel that is dependant upon others. I like to be self-sufficient, and for that reason I would never hitch-hike. For the same reason I avoid as much as possible public transportation such as buses and airplanes, although on some of my trips logistical considerations at either the beginning or end made the use of public methods necessary.

To be self-sufficient and self-propelled means being prepared. You have to have the proper equipment and gear of sufficient quality to see you through to your intended destination, or else you are not traveling independantly and will be forced to seek help. Although I've stressed in my book and other writings how important it is to me to remain free of a confining job, I've never been adverse to work when I need money to meet a goal. When I began planning my solo journey to the Caribbean in a sea kayak, I knew that my life would depend upon having a high-quality, well-built boat and the other necessary survival gear to cope with the variety of conditons I would encounter offshore, both following the coastline and hopping between islands. At this time, at the age of 25, I was making a transition to a life of adventure from a few short years on a different path I quickly saw was not for me in the high-technology work force. I had accumulated some expensive possesions like a nice car, a motorcycle, guitars, etc. These were easily sold and the cash was enough to pay for the kayak, tent and other camping gear I needed and provide the basic travel fund which amounted to a few dollars a day for many months of kayaking. I also made sure I had the necessary equipment to do as much foraging and hunting as possible, because when I left I wasn't sure when I would come back, if ever. This equipment included: a fishing rod with basic saltwater lures and hooks, a cast net for catching smaller fish and bait, a dip net for crabs and such, a simple Hawaiian sling speargun and mask, fins and snorkle for underwater hunting on the reefs, a compact take-apart .22 rifle for hunting ashore, and a good, sharp machete for foraging plant food such as coconuts and palm hearts.

Parts of my route took me along unpopulated shores, such as the mangrove coasts of the Florida Everglades and among the smaller, uninhabited cays of the Bahamas. In these places, I could put my food gathering equipment to good use. But I also knew that to do this trip I would have to pass through developed areas where I would have to keep a low profile to avoid run-ins with local police and marine patrol, and in these places I would have to buy my food in stores, so a trip like this without money was unthinkable. I also knew that I would need cash for customs and immigration fees at the entrance to various island countries I would visit, and for unforeseen problems such as equipment failures that would require buying replacements. And, because I was not spending much in my day to day kayaking and camp life, when I arrived at a cool place such as Key West, Georgetown, Puerto Plata or St. Thomas, I could afford to splurge a bit on a restaurant meal or two, some rum and coke drinks or cold beer.

As long as you are willing to work, there is always a way to earn more money while traveling, and when my cash was getting dangerously low in Puerto Rico, I met couple living on a sailboat who were in the process of refinishing the the woodwork on deck, among other things. They took a great interest in my trip and offered me a job helping them that lasted a couple of weeks. This earned me enough money to continue the trip without worry, and introduced me to the boat repair and marine woodwork business that I have been involved in all these years since that encounter.

I came back to Mississippi from that trip with just 4 dollars to my name, wondering what I would do to earn the money for another trip, which I was already planning in my mind. A friend of mine who is now a writer but was once a jack-of-all-trades struggling to be a writer, told me that all I needed to make money was a paintbrush and a ladder. He was right. I painted the exterior of two rather large houses and just a couple months after returning from the Caribbean had enough money to embark on a 4-month kayak trip through the rivers and lakes along the Canadian border and back to Mississippi by way of the great river. Painting has earned me a lot of money over the years, between even higher paying woodworking and boatbuilding gigs. I did some painting yesterday and will again today, as a matter of fact, and the money earned will go into equipping my simple wooden sailing catamaran that is almost ready to relaunch:

http://tiki21element.blogspot.com/2006/10/element-is-ready-to-relaunch.html

Like my kayak, this boat will allow me to travel independantly, but I can go even farther by harnessing the power of the wind. It is a camping platform that can be anchored anywhere, making it easier to avoid bothersome private land laws, but still allowing for a simple lifestyle close to Nature, unlike more complicated and expensive yachts. So I don't mind working to equip and maintain this boat, because the freedom it will give me will be more than enough compensation, and wherever I go, the work I've done to restore it is all the advertising I need to get paying work if I need to make money by working on someone else's boat.

My transistion from kayaking to sailing has been done over a long period of time, but I still paddle my kayak when I want to get away into the solitude of a deep woods river, and I still enjoy hiking as well. There are many means to go in an independant manner and for little cash. Right now my interests still lie mainly in the sea and the islands I can reach by boat, but if I were to desire more to travel on land, I would likely choose a touring bicycle as my chosen mode of transportation, because like a kayak, the bike allows independant travel, ability to carry camping gear, is relatively cheap to buy and maintain, and can carry one long distances.

I believe that anyone can find adventure if they are willing to do what it takes to make it happen. I don't believe in wandering around without the gear to be self-sufficient, mooching money and rides off of other people, but I know some people travel far this way. I prefer to work awhile for what I need, then go where I want to go, asking nothing of the people I meet, but remaining open to possibilities that present themselves and not turning down good opportunities when they arise.

This article was first published on Astray of the Herd, 10-20-2006