"How can you afford such a prolonged excursion?!"

Hailey: I am (slowly) making my way through "The Way is Made by Walking" by Arthur Paul Boers (2007), and I've come across some good food for thought:
Why fly all the way to Spain to walk? Why not just step out of the house and begin?

"Well, for one thing, not every walk is a pilgrimage."(...) "There was a time when pilgrimage meant traveling far, usually by walking, from wherever one happened to live." (from as far away as Austria even! see maps post!)  "Now, tens of thousands of Santiago pilgrims annually move by plane, bus, train or car to some more convenient place to begin by foot, bike, or even horseback." (my mom said she and my dad had to avoid stepping in horse plops along the way!)  

 "While a five-hundred-mile pilgrimage" (that's 800 km)  "may sound pious - and I admit to some self-righteous pride about this - it was a tremendous privilege.  How many people can afford such a prolonged excursion?  More than once someone asked: What do you do for a living that makes this possible?" (pp. 18-19)

To answer that, as I already have in post "The way to The Way", for me, I've come to what feels like the end of a long journey and life dream to become an art therapist. I've been working towards this since 2008. That's 7 years on the road to becoming an art therapist. There were points (I applied to my MA program 3 times) where I didn't think I'd make it to my goal.  It's funny to think about that now as the thought never crossed my mind to give up, but I sometimes just doubted I would reach the end.  I am full of self-doubt despite my life being full of amazing opportunities and things turning out for the best again and again.  So now, after this long journey (during which I have barely travelled or taken a holiday or break from studying or working) I am FREE!! Like, truly free. As in I have no obligations to anyone except myself and now utilising my hard-earned degree and newfound status as an art therapist.  Other than THAT small detail, I am FREE!! I do not have children or a spouse and though I am sometimes lonely, the feeling of being completely untethered is pretty fantastic, I have to admit! And I am privileged to be able to afford this trip (having worked all throughout my master's and lived off of my savings). So what should I do now that I've come to the end of my MA in Art Therapy journey? Embark on an 800km journey on foot across Northern, Spain, and not buy a return ticket - of course!
I'll let my dad tell you more about why he's so privileged to be able to afford such a "prolonged excursion."