Yeah, just get a bear and do treasure maps. Me and a buddy are playing by ourselves and we stocked up 6k gold in the last week doing blue maps with just 2 bears. Our island upkeep is good for the next month or so. Smaller island. This being said, the higher end blue maps can still be tough with just 2 people on bears. The level 90 or so damned hit pretty hard and have a lot of health. Quality 20 or higher maps we had a few close fights with.