Tennessee couple Romano and Linda Sims sold all their belongings and drove off into the sunset. They traded their $2.1 million lakeside home for a life on the road in a dolled up $700K RV they named "BoomerBus." With dog Izzy in tow, it was the perfect picture. That is, before the fuel crisis occurred in the wake of the U.S. war with Iran.
The Sims set out for their endless adventure in 2024, when a gallon of gas was about $3.30 (1). In mid-March 2026 when the couple was interviewed by Business Insider, they were paying $5 a gallon (2). Top Picks Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers.
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While Romano said they don't drive every day, if a 150-gallon gas tank gets them 900-1,200 miles and they drive 300 miles every other day, they're probably still going through a tank a week. At $5 per gallon, that's $3,000 a month — versus $1,980 at 2024 prices. That's an extra $12,240 per year, which is enough to throw a retirement budget right off.
Driving up the budget No couple wants to be nickel-and-diming in their golden years. The Sims are in their 70s and in good health, and they could still have two or three decades ahead of them. If they choose to spend the next five years on the road, that would cost them over $61,000 extra based on current prices.
Yes, the war will end, and fuel prices will cool off, but no one knows when. And that points to a bigger problem. And it isn't necessarily current fuel prices.
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