"Normal" life

If you want to teach, there are way better places to do it than at a college, and if you want to research certian things, why that can be done in the field, talking to people and studying places, and in the library. Unless they're talking about high-profile fields like genetics or physics work, you can study a lot with no money at all. It's just stupid and pointless, and takes us away from the things we love. It pisses me off when people don't get it, or rather, they do get it, but they choose to do nothing about it. Fucking stupid.

WrecksPowercolt said:

I'm surprised my venting was able to spark this great of discussion between everybody.

every time I bring up the thought of making a life out of traveling to my dad, he just shuts it down with this gem, "that's not a life"

And I just can't think of a way to nicely say "you don't have any idea what you're talking about"

I'm all for hard work, there's nothing more satisfying than being sore because of something you accomplished that day. But that doesn't validate a 60+ hour work week and mean you're making a life, you know?


I wake up, go to work, go to work after that, go home, maybe eat, maybe shower, and go to bed. Sometimes I only work 8 hours that day and that's come to feel like a day off to me.

I sacrifice my time for the jobs, and I don't make anywhere near enough because of the fact that I have near to no "me time" I just feel like i'm getting shafted ya know? Giving a hell of a lot more than i'm getting haha. I'm sure y'all know what I mean.

We're just all being lied to from the day we learn to talk; being told that if we don't go to college to get a job to pay off crippling debt that paid to go to college to get a job to pay off the crippling debt that paid to...sorry I just got really dizzy doing that.

If we don't enter that cycle, we're lesser humans. And that doesn't sit right with me...or obviously anyone on these forums.

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On top of that the people who say getting out of the draining routine of work, eat, sleep, pay bills (rinse, repeat) are often unhappy too! But hey at least they're of "value to society" (unlike those good-for-nothing vagabonds gosh darnit).

WrecksPowercolt said:

I'm surprised my venting was able to spark this great of discussion between everybody.

every time I bring up the thought of making a life out of traveling to my dad, he just shuts it down with this gem, "that's not a life"

And I just can't think of a way to nicely say "you don't have any idea what you're talking about"

I'm all for hard work, there's nothing more satisfying than being sore because of something you accomplished that day. But that doesn't validate a 60+ hour work week and mean you're making a life, you know?


I wake up, go to work, go to work after that, go home, maybe eat, maybe shower, and go to bed. Sometimes I only work 8 hours that day and that's come to feel like a day off to me.

I sacrifice my time for the jobs, and I don't make anywhere near enough because of the fact that I have near to no "me time" I just feel like i'm getting shafted ya know? Giving a hell of a lot more than i'm getting haha. I'm sure y'all know what I mean.

We're just all being lied to from the day we learn to talk; being told that if we don't go to college to get a job to pay off crippling debt that paid to go to college to get a job to pay off the crippling debt that paid to...sorry I just got really dizzy doing that.

If we don't enter that cycle, we're lesser humans. And that doesn't sit right with me...or obviously anyone on these forums.

Click to expand...

On top of that the people who say getting out of the draining routine of work, eat, sleep, pay bills (rinse, repeat) are often unhappy too! But hey at least they're of "value to society" (unlike those good-for-nothing vagabonds gosh darnit).

I actually really like hard work, or really any sot of work I find interesting, for short periods of time, make some dough in a few months or so and bounce back out and travel until I get bored or tired of eating dumpster food. Then I get a job again, learn some new things, get pissed at the system and cash out. Rinse and repeat.

I've been working different jobs since I was 14. I always felt sucked into the system of make money make money make money.
I go to university now and some days I just really feel like it's a waste...I don't see myself getting a "real job" and living a "normal life" after I graduate, so what's the point of a degree?.
But at the same time, I don't want to let my parents down. I'm their only child. I've made them proud my whole life. And as much as they say they would love me unconditionally, they would never support me if I lived a life of travel and simplicity.
@WrecksPowercolt, I feel you 100% on the dad not supporting you thing.

On another thought...who wants to start a commune?

If your parents dont support your desicions, tell em to shove it. I did that 6 years ago, and now have a fantastic, albeit long distance, relationship with the old folks. Your job in life is to make your self happy and any one in the way of that can fuck off imho.

I find myself caught in a bit of a bind where I actually physically need to work or I don't sleep. Not form stress or anything like that, it's that if I don't engage in some kind of physical labour I have no way to burn off my energy. Which is where my lovely decent paying desk job screws me over, because after my shift at work, I basically have to go home and create enough physical tasks for myself to allow for sleeping! I'd be better off as a welder or a mechanic, but my family frowned on becoming a legit blue collar worker. My dad and I had a machine shop, and after working in the back for years and mastering tool and die (without going to school!), I was forced into the office doing the paperwork. Now my resume is all white collar crap, and my choice is a desk or 5 years of minimum wage as an apprentice, which wouldn't even cover my rent, let alone craft supplies or travelling! I've come up with a work-around for the apprenticeship where I can still end up with my ticket, not that it matters cause I'll be 50 by the time I earn it.

Long story short: follow your instincts while you're still young enough for it to make a difference!

So I'm in New Zealand working the kiwifruit harvest, and its the squarest job I've had in the last four years. I've been living in this hostel, paying rent and taxes for three months and even THIS is almost too much! I hurt my shoulder and went to sleep in the van for a few hours at work... woke up confused for a minute, wondering were I was, strangely excited. Then, it hit me just how over it I am, waking up in the same place every day... I was brought to tears by waking up in a van instead of my tent in the yard of the hostel where I've slept for months.

So, yeah. I'm still doing tramp work and sleeping in a tent, but I just being in the same place this long is getting to me. I was thinking of trying to buy land, before this, but now I'm pretty sure I'd never actually end up living on it...

Seeing the sun rise in a new place is such a treasure.

im in the sameboat right now. I'm trying to tell myself i need to build a foundation for when i can't travel anymoreand go to school and and work my ass off but the end result of a shitty apartment and massive debt is killin me.
But then i feel guilty as hell when i travel havin to bum off of people when i can't find work. why should they give me anything? too much pride i suppose.
blagh. I need a skill set that lets me travel and work, seems like odd jobs are harderto come by these days.

Oh yes odd jobs definitely are. I am torn too. But lack of care helps. Fuck your future. Die young

As black bart roberts always said, "A brief life, but a merry one."

juliesunshine said:

I go to university now and some days I just really feel like it's a waste...I don't see myself getting a "real job" and living a "normal life" after I graduate, so what's the point of a degree?.

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If you are about to graduate in near future, I would always suggest to get the degree. It's something you can make use of or not. But you have it then.

juliesunshine said:

But at the same time, I don't want to let my parents down. I'm their only child. I've made them proud my whole life. And as much as they say they would love me unconditionally, they would never support me if I lived a life of travel and simplicity.

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Are you sure about that? Try to explain it to them (maybe after you graduated). Just "declare" it as some kind of sabbatical after your time at university. Perhaps they will understand.

a girl I once new said it best: the happiest she ever was in her life was when she was a pizza delivery girl.
Then, her parents convinced her to go back to school and get a real job, and once she finished school she needed a real job to pay back all those loans !!

I myself had a childhood love for aviation during the early 1970s, aviation and music so I went to school, got a slamming job which over 28 years later I want to just get let go from - because the rat race has finally caught up to me.

I mean - I made incredible money - built the recording studio of my dreams [all 1970s/80s analog technology] and now - all I care about is walking away from everything I previously set out o do.

Why ??

Because I got tired of how people live to destroy our planet through their greed and wonton destruction / carelessness.

I currently live with my beloved dog + three wild cats.
I have my parents to look after one town over, along with their cat.

All very serious responsibilities but things which I gladly do out of love.

But once it is just me - I'm done.

I'm casting off with a canoe on a trailer packed with camping and hunting gear - and I plan on paying someone - a person who does not know me preferably so there are no personal ties - paying someone lots of $$$$ to get me as far north as possible by a good sized lake / body of water, un-hook me trailer + gear and simply depart, although if he or she wants to spend the night that might be an acceptable thing to allow to happen.

I don't want no pension or social security - no mailing address - none of that shit. I just want to disappear and not have to deal with banks or anything or anyone...
I just want air, trees, water, and animals.... because to me, nothing else matters.

I'm thinking doing this 10 to 15 years from now - so this is not something that is going to be rash - but I'll know exactly where I'll be getting dropped off at and the legalities of what it is I am setting out to do.
If people need to be paid off, I'll do that too.

I also recognize that I don't expect to last that long, I plan on doing this in the spring when it will still be quite cold, and if I make it to winter, then that's great, if I don't, then even better because at least I finished things of on my terms.

I make mention of all this not because I wished to hijack this thread but because I really bought into that straight way of living, going to school, getting a good job, home, etc.... but today - shit today, none of that exists anymore.

It's all a lie.

Go to school, for what...... so you can assume a bunch of debt you'll spend the rest of your life paying off while flipping burgers ??

Fuck that.

There's no such thing as landing a good secure job, everything has to be viewed as temporary employment at best.

While I don't have any regrets about how I have made it to the wrong side of age 50, as I have had an incredible life overall - if I had to do it all over again, I'd be living out of a backpack.

Simplicity, mobility..... that's where it's at now.

Forget about that so called normal life, it no longer exists.

Right on. But the whole getting away from it all I'm feeling sooner. Its romanticism but sometimes the though of just moving around certain wilderness areas and maybe going to town once and awhile is euphoric. Obviously rough

I have said it many times and tell my family. If I end up broke still and house less I don't care I don't want and won't have all the head aches that come with old age and trying to live a boxed life I want to live with some critters in a shack and or teepee or whatever. Some people love 9-5 I'm sure but most lose all passions and loves of life for jobs cars and houses.

not sure if I mentioned this - but my time frame for leaving [10 - 15 years out] is due to some very serious obligations which I currently have. Within those years, I am fairly certain that all these obligations will have been successfully met - then it's time to sell what can be sold and donate things worthy of being donated, and give everything else away.

I'm one of the lucky ones in that I currently enjoy a hell of a life outside of work, I am currently hiking and swimming with my dog pretty much every day in a river close by, I can do more or less whatever I want whenever I want at home without fear of the cops being called, on the other hand I do a tremendous amount of volunteer work too [river clean-upss, wildlife monitoring/rescue] which costs not onl a great deal of time but also money.

One day I caught myself thinking about something Greg Ginn [thee Greg Ginn] told me regarding the last time he allowed himself time off - he said something like in the last 20 years, he has allowed himself 1 three day weekend - again, not word for word - but something to that effect.

I was like whoa.... then it occured to me - when was the last time I had a day truly to myself - no volunteering, just me and my animals ??

I could not remember.

Last time I went on a little vactaion ??

Early 1980s..................... for real.

So, one of the reasons why I came back to STP after a small break [I used to be known as Earth here...] is because my mind has changed. I used to think the squatter life was wrong, and in the process lost the best woman I ever had

Suddenly I want nothing to do with the straight life, the politics, all that bullshit that goes with living in so called civilization - I want to be free, where I can do what I need to do to survive - and nothing else.

My goal is to live as close as the native American's once did, and thankfully I have quite some time to learn what I need to know between now and when I do leave, as I'd rather this not be an epic fail.

Yeah, a good tipi, canoe, and some camping and primitive hunting gear and I'll be all set.

I do plan on bringing alot of canned goods to tide me over as I settle in, but once I am where I need to be, then I will be truly on my own.

I also think it is very important to be not only mentally and physically prepared to drop out of society but to also have the tools needed to pull off what it is one wants to do.

In my case, I need a bomb-proof canoe - something that will last the rest off my life with minimal maintence - which, I just scored.
Yes she is 45 years old - but completely re-glassed and weighs in at an astounding 120 pounds !! That's crazy heavy for a 17 foot canoe, but as the owner told me - it's bomb-proof.
Thankfully, it came with a trailer - as when it comes time for me to leave, I have a choice: I can drive myself - or I can pay someone else to drive me [I like that option best] while all my gear is in the canoe on the trailer.

For those going the rubber tramp way, I would think securing a reliable ride is paramount. Something that will start all the time, is good in snow and off-road, and something which parts are easily obtained and is not ready for the junk yard.

It's a big deal to simply want to "leave" [to me anyway], perhaps because I've never really considered it prior to now, and I'm now old enough to be an AARP member !!

**but you know, it really sounds very liberating !!

[even if my journey only lasts a short while]

OTTERWOLF said:

I used to think the squatter life was wrong, and in the process lost the best woman I ever had

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Sorry to hear that. Was she a squatter?

And - if I may ask - how old are you? I'm 41 ...