A Wisconsin woman sold her home to travel the world in a truck after her father's unexpected death made her realize that "life is for living."
Ashley Kay, 36, lost her dad, Tom Kay, 57, in Dec. 2015, according to an SWNS report.
After her loss, friends and family shared stories about her dad's travels.
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This inspired Kay to see more of the world for herself.
"The year after he passed, there were so many friends and family who would call and share these wild, amazing stories about my dad and his travels," she said, as SWNS reported. "That pushed me to get out of my small town and visit places I hadn't been before."
Kay spent the next few years traveling around the world.
On a trip to Roatán - an island in Honduras - Kay met a full-time traveler while scuba diving. After speaking with the man, who had quit his job in Austria and traveled around the world without ever stepping on a plane, Kay decided she wanted a similar life.
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"He would hitchhike, get buses, couch-surf and that sort of stuff," she said, according to SWNS.
While chatting with the traveler, Kay asked about the worst thing he'd experienced in all his journeys.
"His answer to me was that he didn't go sooner - and that was the last straw for me."
Kay decided to sell her three-bedroom family home in March 2023 and buy a $44,000 Toyota Tacoma for her travels.
She set off to Baja, Mexico, with her black lab, Porter, and has been traveling around North and South America ever since.
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Her all-time favorite place to have visited is Baja, Mexico, a place that she said "feels like home."
"It has such beautiful nature, I love the ocean, and the Sea of Cortez is a place of pure joy," she said, as the SWNS report noted.
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Some of the most challenging aspects of her journey have been vehicle-related, she said.
"In the desert of Peru, I was two-and-a-half hours away from civilization when I had to stop and sort out a suspension issue," she said.
She also experienced flat tires at extremely high elevation. "In Costa Rica, I was camping at 12,500 feet and I had a flat tire, which I had to repair on my own," Kay recalled.
"It is a lot of work to travel this way on your own. The day-to-day aspect of stuff is a lot of work that can easily turn into burnout."
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Sadly, in Aug. 2024, Kay's dog passed away, leaving her to travel alone.
Though she's not sure what will come next without her travel buddy, Kay said the difficulties she's faced have shaped her outlook moving forward.
"Overall, all the issues get solved. You just have to figure it out a little bit more and be patient."
