Shit Beetle
Well-known member
The quick and dirty skinny:
I'm about to turn 27 and a year ago I had everything I was told I was supposed to have by that point in my life. I had a ridiculously good paying job without a college education and I paid dirt cheap rent while crashing in my sister and brother in law's garage loft. I was in the army as a paratrooper from 2010-2015, but Afghanistan and general military life caused me to rethink my politics and military culture as a whole. I got a job working in a factory making $16 an hour, and maybe 8 months ago I got a big promotion and got a $5 raise. But it was sucking the fucking life out of me, I was suicidal, I was abusing the hell out of booze, and everybody blamed it on PTSD or Survivor's Guilt or some other Hollywood cliche of life after service. The reality was I was just bored senseless. The same thing every day without change or any sort of spiritual fulfillment, throwing around heavy chunks of metal and being hot and sweaty and miserable for nine hours a day, six or seven days a week. When my fiance and I split, it wasn't long before I had a breakdown. I left work in the middle of the day after firing off an eloquent and scathing email to the owner, president, and my department lead and I haven't looked back since. After torching that bridge, I worked as a bouncer in one bar and a dishwasher in another for about a month, just figuring out what came next. I stumbled upon seasonal work and applied for a job in an Alaskan job. I applied on a Thursday, got called back that Saturday, had a phone interview Monday, got the job Tuesday, spent Wednesday and Thursday selling all my vinyl, books, DVDs, and CDs while giving 99% of my clothes to Goodwill and withdrawing my entire 401k so I could pay off all my debt. On Friday, I left home. The only thing I have back in the Midwest is a car I'm going to sell as soon as this season is over. After that, I'm going to vagabond for a bit; only working if it's something like I'm doing here in Alaska, in that it's something I genuinely love to do. Between jobs, I'm embracing drop-out culture. After more than a quarter of a century minding my P's and Q's and dotting I's and crossing T's, I'm eager to embrace the constant change of life. For too long I've tried too hard to stand against the searing winds of chaos; I'm ready to set sail and let them take me where they may...And it looks like they've brought me to this site!
I've been lurking for a bit, after this post I plan on being more active and figuring things out and soaking up any information I can. Can't wait to get to know some of you!
Safe travels everyone.
-Nik
I'm about to turn 27 and a year ago I had everything I was told I was supposed to have by that point in my life. I had a ridiculously good paying job without a college education and I paid dirt cheap rent while crashing in my sister and brother in law's garage loft. I was in the army as a paratrooper from 2010-2015, but Afghanistan and general military life caused me to rethink my politics and military culture as a whole. I got a job working in a factory making $16 an hour, and maybe 8 months ago I got a big promotion and got a $5 raise. But it was sucking the fucking life out of me, I was suicidal, I was abusing the hell out of booze, and everybody blamed it on PTSD or Survivor's Guilt or some other Hollywood cliche of life after service. The reality was I was just bored senseless. The same thing every day without change or any sort of spiritual fulfillment, throwing around heavy chunks of metal and being hot and sweaty and miserable for nine hours a day, six or seven days a week. When my fiance and I split, it wasn't long before I had a breakdown. I left work in the middle of the day after firing off an eloquent and scathing email to the owner, president, and my department lead and I haven't looked back since. After torching that bridge, I worked as a bouncer in one bar and a dishwasher in another for about a month, just figuring out what came next. I stumbled upon seasonal work and applied for a job in an Alaskan job. I applied on a Thursday, got called back that Saturday, had a phone interview Monday, got the job Tuesday, spent Wednesday and Thursday selling all my vinyl, books, DVDs, and CDs while giving 99% of my clothes to Goodwill and withdrawing my entire 401k so I could pay off all my debt. On Friday, I left home. The only thing I have back in the Midwest is a car I'm going to sell as soon as this season is over. After that, I'm going to vagabond for a bit; only working if it's something like I'm doing here in Alaska, in that it's something I genuinely love to do. Between jobs, I'm embracing drop-out culture. After more than a quarter of a century minding my P's and Q's and dotting I's and crossing T's, I'm eager to embrace the constant change of life. For too long I've tried too hard to stand against the searing winds of chaos; I'm ready to set sail and let them take me where they may...And it looks like they've brought me to this site!
I've been lurking for a bit, after this post I plan on being more active and figuring things out and soaking up any information I can. Can't wait to get to know some of you!
Safe travels everyone.
-Nik
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