January 2019 Expenses

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I have shared our expenses. Since we ditched on Sept 29, 2016, I keep track of all the money coming out of our pockets. That allows me to know how much money we need to fund our simplified lives. Remember, we ditched regular jobs and a mortgage to live simpler and to travel while being digital nomads (freelance translator & writer are what we do now). 

I should point out that many RVers publish their expenses and show amounts of $1,000 per month for 2 people. Either these people don't eat and don't need fuel (they live in an RV, they don't necessarily travel with it)... or they are leaving out numbers. In our case, our tracked expenses include everything, which might be very different from you or other people. We include all insurances, health/dental expenses, storage and truck payments.

January 2019 Expenses
(all amounts below in Canadian dollars). 

Total expenses for 2 people: $2,264.73
Per day: $73.06
Kilometers driven this month: 809 km
Mileage on truck: 15.3 L / 100 km
Notes:
     * We purchased a skylight to replace the one we broke on the RV
     * We purchased more groceries than usual to try a plant-based diet
     * Fuel is cheap in Eastern Ontario, approx 89 cents per liter! No complaints here :-)

Truck payment	$     658.06
Fuel	$     168.30
Groceries	$     480.89
Non-Food Groceries Items	$               -
Campgrounds & Memberships	$        17.64
Home storage	$     146.90
Misc & Gifts	$     107.96
RV/Truck repairs & maintenance	$     150.71
Truck & RV insurance, life insurance	$     202.81
Entertainment & Attractions	$        13.99
Restaurants	$     184.61
Medical & Dental	$               -
Clothing & Shoes	$        24.29
Internet & Cell phones	$     108.57
Souvenirs	$               -
Propane	$               -

Canadian Road Trip, Part 2

To read Part 1, click this and come back here after!


So, we are now back in Ontario, in Thunder Bay more precisely. We are barely at the tip of Lake Superior, one of the Great Lakes that I haven't seen yet. "Superior by Nature" is its catch phrase and we know why now! It is h-u-g-e and the views from the road from Thunder Bay are pretty impressive.  Even though the weather was blah and the light was flat, we still had some beautiful views and the sun occasionally came out to light up the horizon.

We knew there was a little bit of exploration to be done, and quite frankly at that point in our journey, we were aching for some outdoor time and walking. So we decided to stay 3 nights in Thunder Bay. Our friends Jilles & Mitch recommended us Kakabeka Falls and the Terry Fox monument, so it was on our list. We also wanted to see a bit of downtown Thunder Bay.

Kakabeka Falls is a stunning waterfall, the second highest in Canada after Niagara Falls. It is also in the Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, so while we were there, we tried to gain access by foot to the park's campground, but alas no luck for us. We might attempt a camping trip one of these days!

Kakabeka Falls from a couple of view points

The Terry Fox monument, right on the TCH, is a very simple and humble monument honoring the memory of Terry Fox. While in Thunder Bay, we also set off to Mission Island Marsh, hoping to see some birds and animals. It also has a nice boardwalk that offers a nice view point into Lake Superior (actually, the bay of Thunder Bay).

Trail/boardwalk into the bay of Thunder Bay ~ Driftwood on beach ~ Merganser ~ Terry Fox monument

Downtown Thunder Bay was pretty quiet, as we had expected during this cold and wet autumn. We were also looking forward for coffee and a night out at a restaurant. We chose Prospector Steakhouse, which did not disappoint and was fairly reasonable in terms of pricing. Of course, we sat at the bar first and ordered a cold brew of their own beers!

The next day, we were hoping to catch the sunrise over at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, so we got up early. It was another day of cold and clouds though, so we settled for a morning walk and hike instead of the rising sun. The trails were not very well maintained, which I suppose is due to the park being in off season. But still... We saw a few deer and plenty of mushrooms!

Not very well maintained trail into the provincial park! ~ Prospector brews ~ Mushrooms! ~ Deer out feeding early morning ~ Sleeping Giant ~ Walking trail

That is it for part 2. Next time, we will be in Wawa and Sudbury before entering the Toronto area.

Thank you for reading and following!

Chantal & Rob