I'm poor as shit but I really want to get into the animation industry because I realized many years ago that creating animation is my passion.
I don't have money to go to a school to get a degree (yeah I know you don't need a degree for art shit but it's easier to get jobs that way and you have more selection) so no connections or being properly trained. It doesn't entirely hold me back though because I have the drive to study. I can't really afford industry programs currently but I'm trying to work towards something toonboom so at least I would have some experience in using that and could put that on a resume.
I'm also from a state that only has a few 3D animation studios which I'm not interested in as I'm into 2D hand drawn animation, so I obviously can't work here but I have no money to travel and live in any other state with bigger studios so what do I do? Do I send portfolios to studios in other states and hope they'll let me work from home if my animation is good enough or am I completely fucked and will have to work on shitty internet shows freelance my entire life?

Give me the harsh truth so I can figure out if I'm wasting my time.