Screw Van-life, I’ll Take the Line-life
Let’s be honest, the answer to happiness would be to win the lottery, use the money to do something meaningful and fulfilling, and do whatever you want. The end. But for the rest of us making our own luck, life changing events created by the motivation of self-improvement tend to be premeditated. In my and Rich’s case, over several years of planning, and many glasses of whisky. Before I get ahead of myself, this is not a how-to on anything, really. I’m simply doing what every other narcissistic paper-crowned millennial is doing, telling you ALL about myself, and my life, because I know you really want to hear it. If the sarcasm is too much for you already, stop reading. But, if you want to know how we escaped debt without being trust fund babes and are gearing up to “dirtbag” it for 5 weeks while still owning a home, careers, and with a baby on the way, then here’s our story!
If you decided to read this you are either a friend, family member, or van-life aficionado who was intrigued by the title; possibly offended, and ready to defend yourself, your van, your religious beliefs, the type of cheese you like, and the ethics of climbing in Yosemite. Well I don’t care, this isn’t about you. I see a lot of articles out there about the van-life dream, and honestly don’t get me wrong, I totally see the appeal. I understand why it calls out to many my age, knee-deep in student debt, working the grind, hating life. It’s a way to live affordably, see the world and live a little. Taking the odd job here and there to make enough to live on and pay off debt seems logical. If you’re one of those lucky few that can work remotely, even better! (no scrubbing toilets!) It’s a way to escape a little (from your problems?) and be “different.” Although, I think the type is not as different as it used to be, outside of the ‘60s that is. Every other person I talk to tells me this is what they’re hoping to do one day. I could be biased, being a climber living in Colorado and all (wah, she’s really just a sport climber though Inserts judgmental climbing friend for no applicable reason). The truth is, a lot of these articles seem rather whiney to me. It’s like a way for the aimless and struggling to rally behind the collective Fuck You of Corporate America, Government, and everyone else that’s responsible for fixing your problems. Kind of like being a Trump supporter, gasp. If you’re offended it’s because you should be; you are either a) a Trump supporter, and I hate you, or b) insulted that I just likened your liberal, kombucha making, vegan ass to a Republican. Maybe this tangent is a little cynical of me, but it’s how I feel. Since I feel it, it must be true (check out Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired 7/24/16). The point is, if the van life isn’t just about getting from crag to crag, but rather a way to live outside of the norm and escape the burden of debt and a less than fulfilling life, van-life isn’t the only way to do it.
I want to live my life too. I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck to barely afford mediocrity. I want to see the world, travel for longer than the allotted 2 weeks PTO, meet interesting people, and eat food that’s still moving on my plate (I’m talking to you Courmayeur!). I also want to stop throwing money away on rent, or towards the interest on a student loan, and among most of all, raise a beautiful baby or two giving them all the spoils and opportunities this big wide world has to offer. Basically, I want it all. Rich and I have always walked the fine line between wanting to sell everything we own to just wing it on the road, vs. having the fancy house, car, and career. Over the years, we’ve realized what we do best is walk this line, finding the balance, and a way to have a lot of both. This is the Line-life I’m talking about.
At 24 we left Boston for Chicago for a career opportunity. We were ready for a change, to be daring and start a life somewhere completely new in a city with no ties to either of us. We also decided that the best way to dig ourselves out of a tremendous amount of debt (student loans, cars, credit cards, etc.) was to take on more debt! Duh! At 26, after two years of scraping together all of our savings while sharing a basement jr. 1-bedroom with a dozen roommates of the cockroach type (sorry, Waterbugs – fuck you property management), we were the proud homeowners of a 3 unit investment property in a pretty damn good neighborhood in Chicago, knowing very little about what we were doing. Just a couple of kids with big eyes, and even bigger hopes. Well, we turned out to be right. We flipped the building, and paid off all of the aforementioned debt within 2 years of purchasing the property. I’m not bragging here, and I’m not saying real estate is the answer to all of your financial problems, what I’m showing you is how Rich and I combined our skills (me in real estate, him in finance) to do something life-changing. Also, of the head-on-and-attack variety, rather than the run-away-from-your-problems method. You are a skilled individual, you can do so much more than just your job. If you’re a genius this doesn’t apply to you, you’re not even reading this, because you’re breaking the world record on teleporting the quantum states of photons, while on the way to work your station, in your self-driving vehicle. But if you’re an average Joe like Rich and I, this is so important to realize. It’s taken me a while to believe this, but man, has it unleashed a wealth of opportunity. We are problem-solving, challenge embracers. No sad face, write-on-a-blank-card-how-much-I-owe-in-student-loans-because-I’m-too-distraught-to-speak commercial over here, none of that. So we continued our empire of being Lords of the Land in Chitown, right? Wrong.
We were miserable in Chicago. If all we cared about was money, then sure, we would have stayed and continued down that path. But living in Chicago was a lot like Santiago, working as a crystal merchant in Tangiers (If you haven’t read The Alchemist, read it now). It wasn’t meant to be our path. Rich and I are outdoor enthusiasts; we love climbing, mountain biking, hiking, basically a bunch of things that keep me from being a raging alcoholic. So we decided to improve our standard of living and move out to Colorado. Bingo bango, just like that. He was able to transfer his job, and I got a new one right off the bat. Lucky right? No, that took diligent effort and years of being good at our jobs and building key relationships. My next advice (even though I’m not really doing that), is to be good at your job. It doesn’t have to be the profession you dreamed of as a child. Do you think I grew up wanting to be a property manager? Or how about Rich, an actuary? Well probably, he’s Jewish. Ermargherd I just went there, it’s ok, I’m a Muslim terrorist (because those two are inseparable right?) so it’s all good. Anyway, be good at your job. (A little hint: the better you get at your job the more you might enjoy it too). Build yourself financial stability, and a reputation. While Corporate America might suck, there are a lot of myths about it too. If you’re an asset to the company, you’ll be surprised at what they’ll do to keep you. For example, like taking personal leave for months at a time. If you’re lucky, even partially paid. Yes, large corporate companies will do this, even here in ‘Murica! Your boss will work with you. It’s not lucky, or coincidental that BOTH Rich and I have managed this outcome with our super-duper corporate robot companies. Just remember that your colleagues, your boss, are people too. Learn from them, respect them, and you may just be surprised with where your hard work gets you!
So here we are, pushing yet another envelope and going out our comfort zones to achieve betterment and fulfillment. We’ve worked really hard out of our comfort zones, having owned and maintained an investment property when most other 26 year old’s were worrying about their fixies. We sacrificed careers to move somewhere that supported our lifestyle. Now, we are doing the unthinkable and going on personal leave to have one heck of a Babymoon (how millennial of us). Heck, writing this piece is out of my comfort zone! I don’t write, I don’t know what I’m doing. Freshman year at BU I was placed into Writing:99 or something like that, basically a course for foreign exchange students or if English was like your 5th language. I didn’t belong to either group, in fact, my writing probably got worse. Sooo because we walk the line with everything, we’ll be “dirtbagging” in a luxury camper throughout all of August and most of September while exploring some of America’s finest national parks. I’ll start this out at 5 months pregnant, and end it at 6 months pregnant. What could go wrong? Well, like everything we do, we’ll just have to wait and see! My husband often likes to refer to a quote from John Wooden, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of how things turn out.”
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