Hey folks, I just wanted to share some things with the community here, since I haven't been posting very much lately.
I've been pretty quiet because I've been going through a weird period in my life where at 43 I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself next. I recently quit the best paying job I've ever had, and probably the best living situation I've had to move into my converted van and travel around the country again, after nearly four years of being tied down due to bills, covid, and other factors.
I did a pretty big loop around the USA, going from Austin, Texas to Washington, then spent the fall going from there to Michigan, then down to New Orleans, and then over to southern california and then back up to the pacific northwest. I got about half way around, almost to New Orleans when I kind of had an epiphany.
I am utterly bored to tears of the USA.
Here I was again, doing the same thing for the umpteenth millionth time, somehow expecting different results.
I've been told that's the definition of insanity.
I'm not trying to brag here, but it's the honest truth that over the past 25 years I've been to every major city in the USA. I've been to (almost) every national park. I've lived on the east coast, south, west coast, even the north east.
And this whole place is just starting to look like one big strip mall.
The mid-west and the east coast are the biggest offenders in this regard, since I couldn't help but notice the huge shift from camping in beautiful places (like you'd find on the west coast) and going to almost exclusively camping in rest stops and walmart parking lots (I'm speaking in regards to van/car camping, my main mode of transport lately).
It's painfully apparent that the magic is gone for me when it comes to travel in the USA. I keep saying 'in the USA' because I still haven't found any place in this country that I could really call 'home' and I have the sneaking suspicion (or maybe just hope/wishful thinking) that place might exist somewhere outside the USA.
I wish I had come to this conclusion earlier, since I could have saved myself a lot of time, money, and effort (building a van and other things) and come out far ahead financially, but hey, what can you do? Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.
I have always wanted to backpack around Europe, ever since I was a kid. I'm sure most of my friends are sick of hearing me talk about it for the past 20 years. It was always just one of those things that was like, "Oh, I don't have the money this year, maybe next." or "Well I have some money, but this is the wrong time of year to be doing that kind of thing." or whatever excuse was relevant at the time. Next thing you know, it's 20 years later and I'm tired of making excuses.
I could easily fill the next 10+ years with exploring places in the European region, so I think it's time to stop making excuses and start taking steps towards making that dream a reality.
This means that I will be selling my converted camper van and using the money to get a few things done (dental shit) and buy a cheap prius for me to get around in until I leave the country (I need transportation for visiting my folks and the occasional camping trip). I should have enough left over to hopefully make at least one short trip (2-4 weeks?) over to somewhere in Europe (not sure where yet) sometime this year.
For now, I am spending my time in Portland, Oregon, living off the money I saved up from my last job. I'm living with two other people in a cheap (at least, for Portland) apartment, one of which I met through StP (if you're in the area, stop by, we have a couch to crash on).
During this time I'm attempting to learn Unreal Engine and Blender in order to pivot from my previous IT work into a career doing 3D Environment Design (basically, making levels for video games). Hopefully, this will give me the creative outlet I've been looking for while still being in the tech industry. If things really work out, then I might get a remote position and be able to move over to Europe full time. I'm hoping I can get to a professional level in 6 to 12 months; we'll see what happens as things progress.
I moved into this apartment in December, and since then I've been spending my time doing Unreal Engine online courses (4-5 hours a day), getting my diet under control (intermittent fasting), and going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I've already lost over 15 lbs (down to 292 from 309), and for the first time in a long time I'm regaining some self-confidence and starting to feel like I have my head back on straight again. I'm feeling much more focused, I'm sleeping better, and the other day it just occurred to me how much better I feel, both physically and mentally.
Taking some time to myself to get my head straight has really helped me gain some perspective on running the StP website. Mainly, that it's perfectly fine the way it is, and that I am going to take my time regarding any further updates, upgrades, or new features. For most of the lifetime of this website, it's kind of been a leaky boat in the sense that I was always patching things and adding new features and it was always just constantly on my mind. In my opinion, the website is in a pretty good spot as it is right now. It's not perfect (and never will be) but it's mostly working fine (so far there's only one big bug I gotta squish). People appreciate it, and still find it useful in a social media age, and I'm glad it's helping people.
I've just been so used to the idea that StP must be perfect, that it's taken a while for me to wrap my head around the fact that it never will be, and that's okay.
I'm not saying we won't add anything new if there's demand for it, or might consider moving to a new forum software if it feels necessary (I'm still eyeing the discourse software), but in those cases the steps will be more careful and deliberate (and probably pretty rare).
As things stand right now, I'm not planning on monetizing StP any further than my StP store on Etsy. Donations have not been very good over the past year (for understandable reasons, i.e. covid), but folks have been buying enough patches, books, and stickers there to cover the bills, and for that I'm grateful (since I'm not currently working). I hope to add some new stickers/patches soon with the help of @jimi and maybe others.
I am still planning on doing a Dirty Scouts Jamboree this year! I'm sincerely hoping we can get things together much earlier than we did last year and get a ton of folks to come out and gather in a really great location. More on that when I post the planning thread in the next few days.
The second edition of The Anarchist's Guide to Travel is about 60% done. I'm actually very excited about the new additions, and I am updating the current chapters with more up-to-date information and other resources that I think most folks will find very interesting. I don't have an ETA on when it will be finished, but I'd like to have it done by the summer.
For the past several years we've had a weekly voice chat in the discord server (just a simple gathering to shoot the shit about whatever). Unfortunately it kind of fell by the wayside during my recent depression and me just not having the energy to rally folks together for it.
In general, I'd love to see more 'community events' going on either on the forums or in the discord server. The kind of things that bring people together and facilitate interactions. If you're the type that likes to rally the troops and would be interested in 'running' the weekly voice chat (maybe call it a 'town meeting' or whatever) please let me know. I currently have a lot on my plate, and having someone take the reigns on that task would be a huge help and I will make sure to be at each gathering to help facilitate conversations.
For now, I will be checking in periodically on the forums and you can find me on the discord if you want to chat with me directly. If you want to support StP, consider a donation or buying something from the store, it all makes things a little easier on me. I can always be reached here via PM, or at feedback@squattheplanet.com.
I've been pretty quiet because I've been going through a weird period in my life where at 43 I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself next. I recently quit the best paying job I've ever had, and probably the best living situation I've had to move into my converted van and travel around the country again, after nearly four years of being tied down due to bills, covid, and other factors.
I did a pretty big loop around the USA, going from Austin, Texas to Washington, then spent the fall going from there to Michigan, then down to New Orleans, and then over to southern california and then back up to the pacific northwest. I got about half way around, almost to New Orleans when I kind of had an epiphany.
I am utterly bored to tears of the USA.
Here I was again, doing the same thing for the umpteenth millionth time, somehow expecting different results.
I've been told that's the definition of insanity.
I'm not trying to brag here, but it's the honest truth that over the past 25 years I've been to every major city in the USA. I've been to (almost) every national park. I've lived on the east coast, south, west coast, even the north east.
And this whole place is just starting to look like one big strip mall.
The mid-west and the east coast are the biggest offenders in this regard, since I couldn't help but notice the huge shift from camping in beautiful places (like you'd find on the west coast) and going to almost exclusively camping in rest stops and walmart parking lots (I'm speaking in regards to van/car camping, my main mode of transport lately).
It's painfully apparent that the magic is gone for me when it comes to travel in the USA. I keep saying 'in the USA' because I still haven't found any place in this country that I could really call 'home' and I have the sneaking suspicion (or maybe just hope/wishful thinking) that place might exist somewhere outside the USA.
I wish I had come to this conclusion earlier, since I could have saved myself a lot of time, money, and effort (building a van and other things) and come out far ahead financially, but hey, what can you do? Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.
So, where does that leave me now?
I have always wanted to backpack around Europe, ever since I was a kid. I'm sure most of my friends are sick of hearing me talk about it for the past 20 years. It was always just one of those things that was like, "Oh, I don't have the money this year, maybe next." or "Well I have some money, but this is the wrong time of year to be doing that kind of thing." or whatever excuse was relevant at the time. Next thing you know, it's 20 years later and I'm tired of making excuses.
I could easily fill the next 10+ years with exploring places in the European region, so I think it's time to stop making excuses and start taking steps towards making that dream a reality.
This means that I will be selling my converted camper van and using the money to get a few things done (dental shit) and buy a cheap prius for me to get around in until I leave the country (I need transportation for visiting my folks and the occasional camping trip). I should have enough left over to hopefully make at least one short trip (2-4 weeks?) over to somewhere in Europe (not sure where yet) sometime this year.
For now, I am spending my time in Portland, Oregon, living off the money I saved up from my last job. I'm living with two other people in a cheap (at least, for Portland) apartment, one of which I met through StP (if you're in the area, stop by, we have a couch to crash on).
During this time I'm attempting to learn Unreal Engine and Blender in order to pivot from my previous IT work into a career doing 3D Environment Design (basically, making levels for video games). Hopefully, this will give me the creative outlet I've been looking for while still being in the tech industry. If things really work out, then I might get a remote position and be able to move over to Europe full time. I'm hoping I can get to a professional level in 6 to 12 months; we'll see what happens as things progress.
I moved into this apartment in December, and since then I've been spending my time doing Unreal Engine online courses (4-5 hours a day), getting my diet under control (intermittent fasting), and going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I've already lost over 15 lbs (down to 292 from 309), and for the first time in a long time I'm regaining some self-confidence and starting to feel like I have my head back on straight again. I'm feeling much more focused, I'm sleeping better, and the other day it just occurred to me how much better I feel, both physically and mentally.
My current thoughts on StP
Taking some time to myself to get my head straight has really helped me gain some perspective on running the StP website. Mainly, that it's perfectly fine the way it is, and that I am going to take my time regarding any further updates, upgrades, or new features. For most of the lifetime of this website, it's kind of been a leaky boat in the sense that I was always patching things and adding new features and it was always just constantly on my mind. In my opinion, the website is in a pretty good spot as it is right now. It's not perfect (and never will be) but it's mostly working fine (so far there's only one big bug I gotta squish). People appreciate it, and still find it useful in a social media age, and I'm glad it's helping people.
I've just been so used to the idea that StP must be perfect, that it's taken a while for me to wrap my head around the fact that it never will be, and that's okay.
I'm not saying we won't add anything new if there's demand for it, or might consider moving to a new forum software if it feels necessary (I'm still eyeing the discourse software), but in those cases the steps will be more careful and deliberate (and probably pretty rare).
As things stand right now, I'm not planning on monetizing StP any further than my StP store on Etsy. Donations have not been very good over the past year (for understandable reasons, i.e. covid), but folks have been buying enough patches, books, and stickers there to cover the bills, and for that I'm grateful (since I'm not currently working). I hope to add some new stickers/patches soon with the help of @jimi and maybe others.
I am still planning on doing a Dirty Scouts Jamboree this year! I'm sincerely hoping we can get things together much earlier than we did last year and get a ton of folks to come out and gather in a really great location. More on that when I post the planning thread in the next few days.
The second edition of The Anarchist's Guide to Travel is about 60% done. I'm actually very excited about the new additions, and I am updating the current chapters with more up-to-date information and other resources that I think most folks will find very interesting. I don't have an ETA on when it will be finished, but I'd like to have it done by the summer.
I am (always) looking for help
For the past several years we've had a weekly voice chat in the discord server (just a simple gathering to shoot the shit about whatever). Unfortunately it kind of fell by the wayside during my recent depression and me just not having the energy to rally folks together for it.
In general, I'd love to see more 'community events' going on either on the forums or in the discord server. The kind of things that bring people together and facilitate interactions. If you're the type that likes to rally the troops and would be interested in 'running' the weekly voice chat (maybe call it a 'town meeting' or whatever) please let me know. I currently have a lot on my plate, and having someone take the reigns on that task would be a huge help and I will make sure to be at each gathering to help facilitate conversations.
Going forward
For now, I will be checking in periodically on the forums and you can find me on the discord if you want to chat with me directly. If you want to support StP, consider a donation or buying something from the store, it all makes things a little easier on me. I can always be reached here via PM, or at feedback@squattheplanet.com.