$20K was a drop in the bucket for him. He left a wife who was probably about 7 months pregnant to go camp for two months and then risk his life.
You risk your life driving to and from work which I’m sure he did while his wife was pregnant. This is a trip that takes a year or more of preparation to attempt, it’s not something that you do if your family isn’t okay with, he likely would not have gone if his wife wasn’t okay with him going and possibly missing the birth of their daughter.