Paid to Travel, Live Rent Free, Save Money, Buy House Hack

There are many ways to live frugally, but this has to be one of the best for the young and adventurous. The company my fiancée and I worked for for five summers, now called AmeriCan Adventures, leads trips all over North America. Week to month long trips, mostly camping, with some hotel trips. You get PAID to explore the country, National Parks and cities!

Are you 23+ and looking for more excitement, while still being able to save money? Or do you know someone that is motivated and wants to get ahead without being stuck in a cubicle? Send them here!

Here's our story:

Erin and I were both ski bums living paycheck to paycheck in Vail and Breckenridge, respectively, during the winter of 07/08. We met the next summer when we both took summer jobs for different companies doing the same thing and instantly had plenty in common after the ski season and 'life on the road.' Leading small group tours, 13 people max, all over North America was the gig. 

Honestly, coming for Connecticut, I had no idea that there were jobs like this and I'd never really been anywhere else besides Colorado and Maine. It was intimidating to make the leap, taking people to all these places you'd never been before and playing 'guide'. Fake it till you make it! 

The groups are travellers from all over the world and pick the itinerary from brochures and online. You pick them up with a 15 passenger van and trailer full of camping gear and hit the road. San Francisco to Las Vegas, New York to Los Angeles, Seattle to Florida with everything in between. Many of the trips go to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion and Bryce National Parks in the Southwestern US. The California coast, Hwy 1, through Big Sur and north to see Redwoods are also very popular. 

You are the group leader which includes a good bit of driving, logistics and planning. You teach the group how to set up camp and help organize group meals. Most of the trips are participatory, meaning that they are helping with all of the cooking and camp chores at each destination. 

Each stop on the journey has activities. Hiking, biking, horseback riding, rafting, scenic plane and helicopter flights, snorkeling, boat rides, rodeos, music venues, surfing, swamp tours, museums, and all sorts of other attractions that you get paid to do and get commissions on top of it! 

This job is a lot of work and you're pretty much on duty 24/7 and away from family and friends for long periods of time, so it isn't for everyone. However, if you want to have a blast at your job and save lots of money, keep reading.

Back when we started pay was $45/day. Wait a minute, what? Yep, you heard right and we saved lots each summer! If you worked the whole season, June-Sept, that was about $5400. Plus commissions and tips which could bring that up to $10,000 in four months!

At this time we had no expenses, no rent, car payments, or student loans. The company pays for your food and back then they even supplemented our cell phone bills. I want to say my only expense during this time was for my drinks around the campfire and out on the town.

Still can't get over the $45/day? Actually, it's a lot more today after a class action lawsuit, which we both got an additional $5,000 for uncompensated hours. I'm not sure exactly how much it is, but if we did it on $45, you can sure do it today!

After a few summers on the road, we purchased a Class B RV for $27,000 and road tripped for a month in Baja California, Mexico. Then a year later, sold the RV for $28,000 and put a down payment on a condo in Breckenridge, CO.

We house hack the 2bed/2bath condo by short term renting our spare bedroom on Airbnb, which brought in $15k last year. 

Our next opportunity was 2016 when my parents decided they wanted to try living in Breckenridge to be closer to their kids. They planned on just renting a place for 18 months, 2 summers, 1 winter, at a cost of $28,000. At the same time, another unit went on the market in our building. Realizing that they were just going to blow that money on rent, we decided to partner and go 50/50 on the other condo. It hadn't been touched since it was built in 1972 so we did a full renovation with a new kitchen and bathrooms. A year later the property has appreciated over $100k. Now we are buying my parents out with a cash out refi and going to short term rent the unit and manage it ourselves.

After reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad in college, I knew I was going to get into real estate at some point. Thank you to Bigger Pockets for sharing all their knowledge to pave the way for others and we hope our story of living frugally and saving motivates someone to do the same. We're looking forward to working with other BP members on future deals!

Cheers!