I quit my $90,000-a-year job to live in a van, and it was the best decision I ever made
"You're crazy."
"This is ridiculous."
"Do you have a gun?"
"You'll freeze to death."
"Have you seen 'Into the Wild'?"
"Where will you go to the bathroom?"
"Dude, I'm so jealous. I wish I could do that."
Those are just a few of the comments I'd get when telling people I was giving up my stable, well-paying career and comfortable lifestyle as an engineer to live in a van and travel the world.
I went to college for electrical engineering. I was in my fifth year of school when it finally dawned on me that I didn't want to be an electrical engineer. However, after accumulating four years of student loans and the promise of a high-paying salary upon graduation, I decided the best course of action was to stick it out, collect the salary, and figure it out later.
During nine years of working in the "real world," I never felt connected to my work or the companies that hired me. How could I? People were getting laid off, I was getting annual raises of 0% to 0.5%, and our company's CEOs were collecting stock options.
I was answering to three managers, two project leaders, and two directors for a single project, and I was the lowest man on the corporate ladder. That's more like nano-management than micromanagement.
Additionally, the work itself wasn't engaging or challenging. Many days I would think to myself: "Why are they paying me this much money to push a button? They could easily train a high-schooler or an intern to do this." Yet there I was, bored to tears.
Every time I thought it would get better, it never did. The only thing that improved was my salary, when I'd leave one company and go to another.
Rinse and repeat three times in nine years.
When you're connected to your work or to the company, there's a possibility it will improve your life overall. But I was unhappy. Not even $90,000 a year at age 31 could buy my happiness. But it did buy me something - the ability to say goodbye.
For my final working year, I lived as cheaply as possible to save up money to buy a van, renovate it, and put enough money away for one year of expenses at my current standard of living.
And then I quit my job.
Six years before quitting, I started blogging about my first passion: athletic training and nutrition. That fizzled, but I used the knowledge I gained to start another blog about another passion: the outdoors.
The blog grew quickly, and I started to get noticed by larger online magazines. I began freelance writing for these outlets and making small supplemental income, all by doing nothing more than writing about what I do in the outdoors - rock climbing, snowboarding, and traveling. The number of clients grew, and so did the payments I received.
I bought a stripped-down 2004 Ford E350 with a 6.0 diesel engine and extended body for $8,000; I drove it to Wisconsin and renovated it with my dad for another $2,000 to $3,000 over six weeks. Now I'm able to live [mostly] comfortably rent-free.
I couldn't come up with an answer and instantly became obsessed with buying a one-way ticket to Thailand, a place I had always dreamed of visiting for an extended rock-climbing trip. Two weeks of vacation in the corporate world just would never allow it. Ten days later, I was on a plane to Thailand, where I would spend the next 14 weeks.
It has enabled me to move freely about the country whenever I feel like going on a new climbing trip or spending 10 days in the remote wilderness. I've traveled the world while working remotely, and I've been able to spend more than two months with my family over the past two years without having to ask my boss for time off.
I believe this kind of freedom is at the heart of what drives millennials. No, not everyone wants to freelance or live in a van, but we want to be able to do what we want to do and still provide a worthwhile product or service to society.
