My Escape Life

JaredEggo

New member
At the risk of upsetting my inner perfectionist I'm just going to write what's on my mind.

So I was furloughed for the second time yesterday (thanks COVID), and despite the stress that that has caused I kind of see this as an opportunity. I've wanted for a while now to live at least part time van life, or in my case SUV life, but bills, debt, and of course my job have prevented that. Now that my job is no longer an issue I have an opportunity to test my plan for my journey. I drive for Door Dash on the side, so my plan is to use Door Dash cities as a hub of sorts. I can make deliveries to earn enough money for my bills and necessities, and the rest of the time I can just explore, do my photography, and generally be free.

This is a photo from my last trip. I went to the north shore of Lake Superior and hiked Eagle Mountain, Minnesota's state high point. It was a great trip, and the longest I've ever car camped (3 nights).
BnW wave splash_11zon.jpg

There are a few things I would need to do before I head out for anything longer, namely make window covers. It got pretty cold in Minnesota, but not as cold as it is now, and I was lucky enough to find shady places to park, but I can't rely on luck alone, and the window covers would be a huge help. I also need to order more dry storage food. Up till now I've always used freeze dried backpack meals, but those are expensive. I have used emergency freeze dried soup from My Patriot Supply which are pretty good, and most are less than $1 per serving.

My other option is to move in with a friend, or my parents to save money on rent, and just drive with Door Dash to get more of my debt payed off. I'm currently on a month to month basis at my apartment, and there's not much point in paying to stay close to work if I'm not working. If I can get enough debt payed off I won't have to go back to work when the building capacity restrictions are lifted. I work in an event arena. I was furloughed because the restrictions are making it impossible to make a decent profit. Corporate wanted to shut the entire building down until they're back to full cap, so I don't anticipate being called back until that happens.

So that's where I'm at. Stay and pay stuff off, or go and get a head start on my Escape Life? Not an easy decision however you cut it. The amount of my unemployment checks will be a big deciding factor as well. Either way, I'm going to try to post here regularly, if for no other reason than to vent.
 

OverlandNA

Well-known member
Unfortunately, you are in good company with millions of others. Opportunity knocks, where are you selling prints/merchandise with your photos on them?
cafepress.com
zazzle.com
 

JaredEggo

New member
I find myself at an impasse. I'm packing up all my stuff for the second time in six months, only this time putting it in storage instead of a new apartment. I have another apartment place lined up, I'm just not sure when I can move in. My friend has generously offered me a spare room free of charge, but she has family there now, and she's not sure when they're leaving. The idea of putting things in storage that I haven't even touched for six months makes my stomach curl, but I don't have the time right now to go through it all and decide what to keep, and what to give away. My parents are low key hoarders and I really hate the thought of becoming like that. There's just so many emotions I'm having to deal with all at once while packing at the same time. I want to be able to part with worldly possessions, but it's hard when you've been raised to a society that values the acquisition of those possessions so much. I wish there was just a switch I could turn off.
 

4000lbsOfGoat

Well-known member
Sorry to hear about your situation. This Covid business really has been the worst...

If you manage to get yourself out on the road for a while I can almost guarantee that your perspective on possessions will start to shift. Especially with respect to things you haven't used in months. After spending any significant time living simply on the road our first thought when we get back to our house full of stuff is "why do we have the rest of this stuff?" (I.e. we lived just fine for a month or more with 4 plates, 4 bowls and 4 cups. Why do we have 12 plates, 10 bowls and 37 cups at home?)
 

JaredEggo

New member
Sorry to hear about your situation. This Covid business really has been the worst...

If you manage to get yourself out on the road for a while I can almost guarantee that your perspective on possessions will start to shift. Especially with respect to things you haven't used in months. After spending any significant time living simply on the road our first thought when we get back to our house full of stuff is "why do we have the rest of this stuff?" (I.e. we lived just fine for a month or more with 4 plates, 4 bowls and 4 cups. Why do we have 12 plates, 10 bowls and 37 cups at home?)
Thanks for the encouragement. To be honest though, I'm not all that worried about the possessions. I think because I was packing at the time it was just stress bleeding out. I think my biggest concern (and it is a big one) is the isolation. I have a deep longing for genuine human connection, something I have never fully found, and being alone on the road seams like one step farther away from that right now. My frustration is in having to pack, move, and store junk I don't need or use. My fear is in being alone.
 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
Being alone is a choice not an absolute guarantee!

If you worry about being alone you will succeed.

Think of yourself as an only child where it's all out YOU making the effort to have new friendships and relationships.

It's not hard it just takes a little time, effort and practice to enjoy life on the road!
 

4000lbsOfGoat

Well-known member
Solitude is a complicated topic and it's effects on any given individual can be unpredictable. There are many excellent books (some advertised here on this site) written by solo travelers and most of them spend at least some time discussing the authors' experience with solitude. When facing a new challenge it can be a real help to hear about the experiences of others who have been down the same road. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up some such books to get an idea of how others have managed the experience of solo travel. "To Shake the Sleeping Self" by Jedidiah Jenkins comes to mind as a good one.

Personal challenge - leading to personal growth - is a prime motivator for many of us who wander off the beaten path.
 

JaredEggo

New member
So a quick update. It's been a busy and stressful couple weeks. After getting the last of my stuff into storage I headed to my parent's. It was a pretty emotional drive. It kind of caught me off guard because it's not like I was homeless, just in between homes. There were other contributing factors, but those are stories for another thread. I had planed on leaving for the road trip Sunday morning, but I got a chance to spend the day with a good friend I hadn't seen for a while. Then my other friend messaged me and said the room would be ready on Friday, so I just decided to spend the week at my parent's. Kinda boring I know, but I got to spend time with my nieces and nephews. Currently I am in my temp home.

So my biggest obstacle to living van life right now (other than the crippling fear of being alone, lol) is debt; 2 credit cards, car, and a bunch of dental. I decided that I'm just going to stay here mostly and use the money I'm saving to pay off the credit cards. I have the smaller one more than half payed off, and I am doing a drug study which should clean up whatever is left (probably for both) after my next payment. I also decided that as soon as I get the first CC payed off I will start taking short trips to some places I've been wanting to go.

Solitude is a complicated topic and it's effects on any given individual can be unpredictable. There are many excellent books (some advertised here on this site) written by solo travelers and most of them spend at least some time discussing the authors' experience with solitude. When facing a new challenge it can be a real help to hear about the experiences of others who have been down the same road. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up some such books to get an idea of how others have managed the experience of solo travel. "To Shake the Sleeping Self" by Jedidiah Jenkins comes to mind as a good one.

Personal challenge - leading to personal growth - is a prime motivator for many of us who wander off the beaten path.
I loved "To Shake the Sleeping self". I have it on Audible and listened to it at work a while ago. Probably time to read it again.

Being alone is a choice not an absolute guarantee!

If you worry about being alone you will succeed.

Think of yourself as an only child where it's all out YOU making the effort to have new friendships and relationships.

It's not hard it just takes a little time, effort and practice to enjoy life on the road!
Unfortunately it's not all that easy for me. I have social anxiety and talking to strangers is far from easy for me.
 

JaredEggo

New member
If that truly is the situation for you continuously traveling alone on the road "might" be a terrible experience!
It might be, but most everything worth doing is hard. What I know for sure is that I was not made for the 9-5 life. About a year ago I realized I was watching videos of people going places and doing things wanted to go and do, instead of going there and doing them.
 

Lovetheworld

Active member
Those videos aren't always that realistic, but yeah, better see for yourself.
If you want you can live cheaply. Find out cheap but healthy way to eat, and lots of stuff like hiking and so on is cheap to do.
 

Mtpisgah

Active member
After addressing your debt and with no other apparent responsibilities, I think you are in a great position to try the van life. See how it works out after two, and then four, and six weeks and decide from there. Maybe you adjust well and make it a lifestyle change, and maybe you do not and go back to life as normal.

My only concern with it is that the longest you have car camped is three nights. Three nights and three weeks is a big difference.
 

JaredEggo

New member
Quick update. My first CC is almost paid off. It's surprising how much you can save when you're not driving to work and buying food every day. On top of that, because I have so much free time, I am doing a medical study for 10 days. I have 6 days left on that, then a big payout which will nearly wipeout what's left of both my CCs. Because of covid we have to stay in our rooms except to eat or use the bathroom, so it's helping me deal with being cooped up all the time.

In other news, myself and 3 friends are planning a road trip for early June. Nothing is set on stone yet, but we're looking at Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico. I'm planning on going out about a week before them to do some things they might not be interested in, and maybe staying out longer as well. I figured that would be the perfect time to test drive my van life.
 

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