Prickly City, 2009-11-29.
2010-02-23
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Over the last week as I've told people about my plans, I was fully prepared for folks to try to talk me out of it. You know, "these tough economic times" and all that. However, out of 40-ish people I've talked to so far, mostly at (former) work, only two gave me any grief about my plans (and I think they really meant well).
Wow. Just...wow. Either I've done an excellent job of surrounding myself with cool people over the last few years, or everyone else is just as disillusioned as I am. I'm not sure which, nor am I sure which is the more interesting explanation.
So I want to start things off by saying thank you to everyone I've encountered. I was prepared to do this in the face of discouragement, and to have a few dozen people get excited for me and tell me how much they wish they had the ability to do it....
Well, you can. I fully acknowledge that it's easier for me to do this since I don't have kids or a mortgage or whatever -- so what do I know? But there are folks who've done it, and sometimes they write books about it.
Check out Vagabonding by Rolf Potts and The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Especially pay attention to Ferriss' chapter on honest risk evaluation.
Nobody can lecture you about your choices, or your journey, or your happiness. Including me. But if you're envious and wishing you could grab an apple and a good pair of shoes and just go, well other people in your situation have done it. (If you're not envious and not wishing you could up-and-go, then this is not directed at you. I'm glad you already have the life you want.)
Mortgages (despite the Latin root) aren't death sentences. Having three kids doesn't nail your feet to the floor. Wealth is the ability and willingness to spend your time the way that matters to you. Wealth is not a Lexus. Spend less money than you make, and find creative ways to make it. What are the three things you're pretty good at that, when combined, you're the best person in the world at? Are you really making optimal use of that while clicking around on your Dell all day? Etc, etc, etc.
In the meantime, you're welcome to follow me and Bear as we wander the continent. Watch this space. :)
Wow. Just...wow. Either I've done an excellent job of surrounding myself with cool people over the last few years, or everyone else is just as disillusioned as I am. I'm not sure which, nor am I sure which is the more interesting explanation.
So I want to start things off by saying thank you to everyone I've encountered. I was prepared to do this in the face of discouragement, and to have a few dozen people get excited for me and tell me how much they wish they had the ability to do it....
Well, you can. I fully acknowledge that it's easier for me to do this since I don't have kids or a mortgage or whatever -- so what do I know? But there are folks who've done it, and sometimes they write books about it.
Check out Vagabonding by Rolf Potts and The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Especially pay attention to Ferriss' chapter on honest risk evaluation.
Nobody can lecture you about your choices, or your journey, or your happiness. Including me. But if you're envious and wishing you could grab an apple and a good pair of shoes and just go, well other people in your situation have done it. (If you're not envious and not wishing you could up-and-go, then this is not directed at you. I'm glad you already have the life you want.)
Mortgages (despite the Latin root) aren't death sentences. Having three kids doesn't nail your feet to the floor. Wealth is the ability and willingness to spend your time the way that matters to you. Wealth is not a Lexus. Spend less money than you make, and find creative ways to make it. What are the three things you're pretty good at that, when combined, you're the best person in the world at? Are you really making optimal use of that while clicking around on your Dell all day? Etc, etc, etc.
In the meantime, you're welcome to follow me and Bear as we wander the continent. Watch this space. :)
Introduction and background
Hi, I'm Chris.
I quit my job last week. For five years I toiled at a computer monitor and kept computer systems running for some very large banks. It paid extremely well, but was entirely unfulfilling.
I have a dog named Bear. He is a six-year-old sixty pound shepherd/chow(?) mix. He is sweet, fuzzy, gentle, and loves road trips. Of the two of us, he has probably suffered the most from living in the desolate suburbs of central Ohio; but we both deserve better.
So the plan is to load the dog in the car and have adventures, Couch Surfing along the way, until it stops seeming like a good idea. Is that much of a plan? Maybe not, but it gives me lots of time to work on a better one. Spending the next 30-40 years doing things I don't especially enjoy isn't much of a plan either, and this will allow me to try things on for a while and figure out what it is that I do like.
No point in waiting until I'm seventy, retired, and have a bad knee to go see the world. Right?
I quit my job last week. For five years I toiled at a computer monitor and kept computer systems running for some very large banks. It paid extremely well, but was entirely unfulfilling.
I have a dog named Bear. He is a six-year-old sixty pound shepherd/chow(?) mix. He is sweet, fuzzy, gentle, and loves road trips. Of the two of us, he has probably suffered the most from living in the desolate suburbs of central Ohio; but we both deserve better.
So the plan is to load the dog in the car and have adventures, Couch Surfing along the way, until it stops seeming like a good idea. Is that much of a plan? Maybe not, but it gives me lots of time to work on a better one. Spending the next 30-40 years doing things I don't especially enjoy isn't much of a plan either, and this will allow me to try things on for a while and figure out what it is that I do like.
No point in waiting until I'm seventy, retired, and have a bad knee to go see the world. Right?
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