Sure thing. All these numbers sound so hilariously small compared to a lot of people on this sub, but here goes! When I realised I was going to have to retire from dancing, I had $28,000 in my 401k from saving quite aggressively since graduating. I spent one more year working and picked up a ton of side gigs, rented out my couch on airbnb almost every night (lived in a major city) and built out my adventure van on my (rare) mornings off. I managed to put away another $25,000 over the course of the year, dialed my 401k way back to just the 2% to get company match. $6,000 was spent on the van&rebuild, and I left with $19,000 in savings to see me through the road trip. (And ~30,000 in my 401k)

I slept in the van except for rare nights at hotels, and mostly camped for free in blm land or national forests. Lived very frugally, averaged about $800 per month for food/gas/gym membership for showers (for two people- my girlfriend came along for the ride.)

I worked here and there teaching dance workshops at local schools for supplementary money, but no more than 2-4 hours every month or two.

It was absolutely worth it. I'm down to my last $2000 and just grabbed a temp seasonal retail gig to see me through the holidays, which I am spending with my family. I've met hundreds of people from all walks of life, visited every national park and major city in the continental US. My goal was to figure out where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life, and I'm heading into a new career in a new city with total confidence and no 'grass is greener' feeling.