How would you monetize this site?

I would investigate some popular travel blogs to see what they're doing. Adsense is the obvious first thought. There may be a good product offer in there as well.

How would i make money from the idea of traveling all over the US... or.... how would i make money on the road with limited shelter space?

Some suggestions:
1. Make an instagram account and share your travel photos, grow up your followers and sell shoutout when you have 50k of active followers.
2. Make some money posts with more than 2000 words each about list of survival tools (monetize by Amazon affiliate program). Promote it by your daily posts.
3. Write Kindle book about your adventure and sell it on Amazon.
Good luck.

Hey there

Here in OZ we call people who are doing what you and Brian are going to do as Grey Nomads most have retired and just go place to place in Australia.

Maybe see if you can set up a go fund me page for the trip , as I am not a blog person not sure what works but I am sure some one will give a goods heads up

Be safe have a great time look out for the snakes

Jason

Do travel blog. You could generate a great income from it.

Post some of your travel photos. Be sure to choose high quality.

Share your experiences while you were in that place. Share some tips to people who also want to go there.

I suggest you fix your Title tag.

Hi Dee, lovely blog.

Couple of suggestions for the blog traffic generation:
better resolution on the photos in the header image
Use related niche keywords for categories - travel, pets, nature, camping...

when you are visiting then posting about a location, research local landmarks and unique points about that city, state, region etc. then use those, take pictures. If you meet people and become FB friends then mention them in the posts. Link to the social media, that's what it's for.

Maybe have a recurring post or column called "20 things you didn't know about xyz" where xyz is where you're visiting. Could become popular. Tweeting and FB, social media tied into your blog can be handy for rankings and backlinking. And, as always, with WordPress use keywords in the title to boost seo.

Keep up the great work. Michael Harris has a WSO about using YouTube Live Events. Perhaps you could do something with that. People would love to catch live events about a place that they may want to visit. Camping niche? Nature Niche, traveling with dogs, you name it.
__________________________________________________ _____________

NOW to monetize:
clickbank products about travel, camping, pets,
amazon affiliate links for products you use
your writing could be featured and of course, Amazon Kindle.
Could you write your memoirs during this adventure?

Hope that helps. I'm totally jealous of your adventure. Be safe :-)

I'd decide the breakdown of the sections of the site first.

Right now I see a need for "preparations" section, which could easily lend to some Amazon promotion of things you are buying for the trip.

And I just realized something else and should pm you immediately.

Some adsense on the sides.

Once you actually get the travel going, there is a way to get attention of places you will be on your way to visiting.

I met someone earlier this year who has been getting free tickets to events and lots of things paid for in exchange for her doing reviews and mentions on her blog.

Consider if there is a portion you'd lend to exchange of goods or if you are looking purely for $.

Use some travel affiliate banners you can find on shareasale.com. Viator is a good one. Also use adsense on the sidebar. As someone else suggested sign up for Amazon Associates and Clickbank and add some banners about some products related to travelling and camping.
I actually would improve the design first. Is just me but when i get into an "ugly site" i get out immediately. I am a design freak...
It won't be too hard to do. Grab a premium wp theme, add a nice banner (i dont like the header) and add a nice logo...
Design is important.

Also since you are travelling all over the us, i would talk to business owners of places you visit during your trip, like restaurants and bars, and ask them if they are interested in a sponsored post that you will write in your blog.
To get them interested you need some traffic proof first...

1. Write reviews for products/services you used along the way and then do affiliate stuff.

2. Definitely write a book.

3. If you find out "insider knowledge" about how to travel like this more easily (with dogs, as people in their 40's, etc.), then write a book/guide and sell it.

4. Create a guide for pet-friendly campsites.

5. Create a camping cookbook.

Hope this helps.

There is no title in the browser so Id go inside and put something there. Keep doing what your doing and optimize to build your list. You can also maybe later when you have a large following is promote banners on the side. You can even track stuff and then rent out the advertising space on your site. In the end it will come down to you understanding your readers and what they like and who your audience is. From then you can suggest more targeted offers hopefully increasing your conversions.

Thank you all. Later today I'll reply to each of your suggestions.

Dee

google adsense & promote some affiliate offers

Hello)
It can be travelling digest! I think it is a very cool topic for video! It is like a funny family travelling with knowledges dogs!)) Why not? All you need it is a good mood, trip and adventures! I think everything will be fine)

The methods that work best for me are

1. Writing good quality blog posts with your true experience described, giving helpful tips and how-tos.

2. review the products you use while travelling cause everyone likes reading reviews and people always search for them. Review everything - backpacks, cameras, personal items, shoes, accessories, food, places, events, etc. That's a good way to be found among search results because you'd use good keywords naturally while writing.

3. Invest in a great camera and take as many photos as possible. You can then post them to your social channels, on G+ and pinterest mainly, growing your followers' network. Everyone love big high-quality photos, you could actually sell them on various sites if they are good enough.

4. Create videos and run your youtube profile. There are many people lazy to read who search for videos on the first place. Besides, you could do better reviews, when you show the things and places you use and talk about them.

5. Run some contests, cooperate with brands, ask them to provide you with some travel gadget or something that you would review if you like it and you could become their brand introducer in future.

6. Register in affiliate programs when your site gains enough visitors. It could be anything travel related like booking hotels, flights, travel insurance, etc. I personally used hotels.com, holidayextras and globelink affiliate program.

7. Be active in social media, post often, engage, ask and answer, comment on other travellers' timelines, or on those of brands and travel groups, but do it wise, I mean don't just say Hi, this is my site, but post smth useful, interesting, or funny. The latter is the best option.

8. And finally, never stop developing your site and never ever think of giving up.