evolosophy/grad school Endings end. Beginnings begin. Life meanders.
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Van Life Forever!... or... Never?
Publish: 2024-08-16 13:52:56
Categories: life

I like airports. I do. Maybe, even, I love airports.

I don't know what it is, but I enjoy everything about airports except for going through the security bullshit. But quite literally everything else? Love it. That hustle? Love it. The bustle? Give me a double? Those people movers (the moving floor, treadmill, thingie)? Give me 3 in a row with a little gap between each so I can walk on them and launch myself to each next platform, please!

Know what else I love? Hotels. All of that too. The new room. The made bed. Your entire world fitting in a carry-on and a personal bag. Like a dandelion floating around in the wind. Is there a pool? Well... maybe I will! Did you say a complimentary continental breakfast with that little make-your-own-waffle set-up? I may have died and gone to heaven.

You know, when I was in my 20's I worked for this company that had this client. We were in San Antonio, TX, but the client was in Ann Arbor, Michigan (crazy coincidence). There was this point with one of our big projects with said client that they needed very aggressive on-site support. The short story is that that I ended up volunteering to "take the brunt" of the support and travel to Michigan. I can't remember if it was every other week, or one week a month, but for a short while I was traveling very, very often.

You know what's funny? I won some big points at work for stepping up and sacrificing my time. 🥲 I never did tell them how much I loved giving a big tip on a fat steak that was all being paid for ye olde employer. Or how much I loved that single fucking mint sitting on my pillow every, single, night I returned from the day.

My Tiny House

This isn't the first road trip in my little 2 seater. It's at least my 3rd major one. It's not the first time I've slept in my car for that exact reason. But, on those other trips sleeping in my car was a hear-or-there occurrence between planned camping or planned hotel stays.

This time around, it's been a lot more of the sleeping-in-car than I wanted. And, maybe I'll cover some of that in some other post, but I don't want to digress here. But the micro-version is I have other options now, but logistically it turns out to be easier to crash night-by-night than try and plan whatever as I'm figuring out the apartment.

On top of that, it was also planned poorly and hastily (I will literally blame 100% of everything that's happened so far on the entire elevator debacle) because of the rushed exit. I did indeed pack the car for a little camping time, but I've been in the city the whole time... and the road trip was just a mad dash across the country.

OK... so, yes yes, this could be going better. And, in this current phase where I'm literally burning hours just waiting to hear about the apartment, it is shittier than I want. Yes. But, wanna know something? I kinda love it. 🙂

I mean, there are some big, big pains that I could do without. And I'm spending money on gas as if I'm taking a stand against both, financial literacy and environmental sustainability. But I don't find myself having to look too far passed all that to really enjoy myself.

There's a ton of stress regarding the housing situation in every sense (location, timing, availability). But these last couple of days, where I'm stuck just waiting, there's really nothing to stress out about... kinda fun. 😋

I'm "homeless" right now (in the most superficial sense of the word). But, what if I didn't need the apartment to be home?

Do You Know #VanLife? Wanna be a Digital Nomad?

Depending on where you hang out on the internet, the #VanLife movement was pretty popular for a hot second like 5-10 years ago. During that time, I was eating it all up (and left no crumbs?). Airport-loving Kane was all, about, the van life.

Except the no-toilet thing, that was the deal breaker.

But it appealed to me then and always has.

The 'Digital Nomad' was another rager that had its 15 minutes of fame. And, yes, I was all over that too. I still am... more than ever honestly. Quite frankly, if I can end up a successful white-collar digital nomad after the Master's... that alone would make it all worth it.

Anyway, I've always liked the idea of van life, but never found it quite practical enough to give it a try. Though, to be honest, 20/20 hindsight has made it pretty clear I should've spent my money of VanLife and not rotting away in Seattle. Poor choice... but that's neither hear or there now. Back to my point... airport-loving Kane has always loved the idea of van life, even if just as a fantasy.

Did You Say Fantasy? C'mere Baby, I'll Make This Fantasy... Reality!

You know what's been the hardest thing about car life so far? It's not the smallness of living in a 2-seater. It's not even sleeping in the front seat... which has been made shockingly comfortable with a body pillow, a lumbar support pillow, a normal pillow, and the most comfortable planet on the planet. No, honestly, sleeping is surprisingly not bad.

The hardest thing so far is, now that I'm not looking at apartments and talking to leasing agents... wtf do I do with my time? I've been to the movies once, I've been to Dave & Busters twice, another place with go-karts and stuff, and I've spent tons and tons of time in Culver's, Starbucks, and IKEA just to have a place to sit on the laptop.

You know what solves this, other than a house?

🙂

A van.

Now, let's push it a little further. Since getting here... I'm blown away at how many high-roof cargo vans with solar panels and roof vents I've seen. And at every single rest area and truck stop I've stayed in, there's always a handful.

[Fuck.... when I get pictures working, I'll come back here and update this post with some pictures of vans in a parking lot. Until then... imagine them! A dark blue one parked in the corner. 3 Mercedes Sprinters, all in for the night. Beautiful pictures taken by a true photographer.]

When I was fantasizing about van life while living in the Pacific Northwest, I was imagine van life out there. Out there, if you're living van life, you're largely living in campsites and state & national parks. If you don't have a toilet, you're pooping in the woods.

Here the people sleeping next to me are minutes away from civilization (if they want to be), and have ready and easy access to showers and clean toilets pretty easily. Van life here seems just the tiniest bit less crazy out here. And these aren't the broken down RV jalopies that would infest neighborhoods in Seattle. These are modern day vans which, from the outside, look pretty nice. The ones I'm seeing online for like $8OK.

Admittedly I've only been here during good weather. Also, it's been barely over a week, and my spend rate is much too high to be sustainable. Long term would require groceries and cooking. So, I totally know that I've got some rose-colored glasses on. But still, it hasn't been the worst... and when I look at how apartments here are either A) way too expensive or B) way too rundown... I dunno. 🙂 Fun to fantasize I guess.

So... Never?

In the first few days, when I was a bit freaked out about landing a place to begin-with, I spent one night looking at used vans in the area. It was... a back up plan. If things go smoothly, I should have a lease signed in the next couple of days... and will, in fact, be living in an enclosed wooden structure for the next 12 months.

After that? Well... a year from now, I expect life to be looking and tasting very different. And if life looks different, decisions do too. 🙂

I'm probably never going to actually do the van life thing. I admit that. But... who knows... I also said I'd never go to grad school.

Whatever the case, this road trip hasn't been what I wanted. The apartment hunt has taken way longer than I wanted. But stress and school logistics aside, it's been nice to float a bit... and just fall where life pushes you.

The Master's degree will take 2 years to finish, maybe a bit less. I'll have to work 2 or 3 years afterwards to recoup the costs. That takes me to 50 years old... maybe 51.

If it turns out I'm happiest floating... then I should consider floating a little more before my time on our blue little planet wraps up. No?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Not just the housing situation... but the fact I'm signing up for a lot of work and a lot of debt in the coming years. Hopefully, I'm buying wings, and not anchors...

51 👀

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