Recently, I’ve had time to sit here and actively think about things that could potentially be much different with a career change. I spend a lot of time writing about my daydreamings on this subject such as living life as a dirtbag while not being a dirtbag and most recently, living life without a car.
The two pieces are a little conflicting. In one, I’d like to make a nice salary, be able to climb and backpack and do all those dirtbaggy things, but without actually living my life out of a car. In the other, I’m stating how great it would be to actually not even own a car.
I think I’m romanticizing the siutation a little.
Making a career change and being happy all the time and “not caring” about money is probably the most desirable thing in my life right now. Unfortunately, I have always cared about money. Growing up, my family had very little. I chose, at a VERY young age, that I would never want to have such little money when I grew up. I started basing my career decisions on that fact as early as 8th grade. By the time I was off to college, I had made that decision and chosen electrical engineering.
For many reasons, that was the wrong choice. But for one very important reason, it was the right one. Money.
For all the many wrong reasons that make me sit here and daydream of living simply off a modest salary, the one and only “right” reason is the one that often speaks the loudest.
This is very obvious when I contemplate the DRASTIC swing in income of two recently considered positions.
On one hand, the position with the lower income than I currently make is the one that would offer me the chance to follow my passion, live simply, live in the mountains, offer a flexible work schedule, and be a [bigger than now — which is pretty nonexistant] voice in the outdoor industry.
On the other, a recent engineering position I saw also had some positives: it was a small start-up, it was in an industry I am very interested in, and it, too, was located near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
So you see, one offers everything. Everything! Except, the salary. The other, offers hope and a salary. Hope that I’ll re-fall in love with engineering. Hope that I can tolerate working at a small company as opposed to a globo-corp. And hope, can be a very dangerous thing if it doesn’t work out, and I’m right back here in 2 years, contemplating the exact things I am now. Except then, my salary will be even higher and the decision to give it up, that much harder.
Depending on the path chosen, my current salary could potentially swing from minus $25k to plus $25k. A $50k swing is an extremely loud voice, especially to me, someone that has a strong psychological connection to money (right or wrong).
While it’s easy for me to sit here and dream of all the possiblities of the life that makes me happy, it’s not easy to ignore the one that holds me back. I like having newer’ish things. I like being able to go out to eat as many times in a week as I want. I like saving for my retirement. I like knowing I could help my family out if needed. Am I really ready to give that all up? I honestly don’t know, but I definitely dislike not “knowing” what I’m “supposed” to do.
I’m not sure what this post is supposed to accomplish, and I’m not really asking for any advice, but I just felt like I needed to write it. If you’ve got any life experiences you’d like to share, I’d gladly read them.
Thanks for reading.
I can relate to what you are saying. I think it’s very common to not really know what direction to take in life. Many situations can be put in front of us and they can all have positives and negatives. I really think that no matter which road you choose you will be pretty happy if you focus on the positives in that situation. If you took the job with less money, but more freedom then focus on that freedom and enjoy it. If you have the job with more money and less freedom, then use that money to make the freedom you do have as awesome as it can be.
Of course the ideal situation is to have both, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of pretty damn good. It seems like you are continuing to make small steps towards getting to where you want to be. Keep it up.
I took the job that I thought I *might* like that let us live in a small mountain town, have plenty of money, and gave me the promise of a job I could grow in (and even have responsibility right out of graduate school). We bought a house, got on the pay it off in 2 years track, and bought a cabin on 76 acres.
There were other issues with the area but mostly my job lets us live well, and if we stayed here we’d be socking away tons of money; we live pretty simply and the cost of living is really low here. But I don’t get any time off to go enjoy that money. We can’t buy plane tickets to take off to exotic locales because I only get 12 vacation days a year. Instead, we’d be doing more of what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years (which really isn’t THAT bad I suppose): puttering around the house and cabin, exploring N. Idaho and Western MT and going to Moab once a year.
And we decided that’s not good enough for us. So I’m quitting and we’re moving into the van. It won’t be easy but it’ll be more flexible.
That being said, my partner grew up with very little money. I grew up in a family with very little money that liked to pretend that wasn’t the case. So we’re both careful with money and it’s important to us to be financially secure. We’re selling our house (and maybe the cabin?) and setting aside the proceeds for buying a house when/if we ever figure out where we want to live.
That’s a tough one. I’ve never been a money-driven person but I can definitely sympathize– that $50k difference is massive. That’s an entire salary in itself! But, at the end of the day, you have to be happy, and you have to be doing something that doesn’t make you question yourself every single day, you know?
It’s a very tough situation, and I know you and I have talked about it some already too. Like you, I wonder sometimes if I took the wrong fork somewhere back in my past. I had the chance twice to pack up just a few boxes of stuff, get in my car, and drive anywhere and start over but I didn’t do it. I had nothing holding me back (no dog at that point, no boyfriend, supportive friends), but as it’s always said: “Everything happens for a reason”.
A couple of years later I took on a rather insane challenge, started becoming an entirely different person (the snowboarding climber you all know now), and met Rob. This month I celebrate five years at my global company, and had my first sabbatical this past winter. I guess I can’t regret all that, huh?
I figure in someways that as long as I don’t ever accept defeat, I won’t ever become what I’m fearing: money obsessed, lazy, work focused, angry, out of shape, and boring. I think in some ways this is the root of why we want to be dirtbags, guides, or take the $25k jobs. We don’t want to tempted to betray our morals and priorities but I think we’re stronger than that.
You come into this world with nothing, you leave this world with nothing. So what really matters is what you do to fulfill your dreams, because no one will fulfill them for you.
Wow!! Thanks for all the great replies!
To address something you’ve all mentioned, the lesser paid position would no doubt still provide me with enough income to love my life, and I would not starve to death or be scraping for rent every month. My hang-up is retirement and taking care of my parents. My parents would probably slap me if they knew that, but it’s true.
Now, for individual responses.
@Zeus
You bring up an amazing point. “Perfect should not get in the way of pretty damn good.”
@Beth
We kind of have similar backgrounds. I took my current job as a job I “thought” I could like. That never happened. And now, that decision has made me even more hesitant when evaluating new opportunities. I don’t want to get stuck at a job on the “hope” of liking it. Luckily, I get a little more vacation that you do at least. One of the reasons a lesser-paid-in-a-great-location position appeals to me is that I think I would also be perfectly happy tooling around the local mountains. Last I checked, the Rockies are kind of big, and I wouldn’t mind seeing all the peaks. 😉
Still incredibly jealous of your van! I can’t wait until you guys head out on your big adventure. Who knows, maybe if I get the new engineering job, I’ll inquire about your cabin. lol
@Heather
Yes, I agree. $50k is more than a lot of people make. One thing that scares me is being “stuck” in a bad position, making less money than now, and thinking that I could be making $50k more. Scary stuff…
@Jillian
Thanks for the kind words. I’m sure we will discuss this more in the future.
@Joe
I wish you’d stop slapping me with common sense and reality all the time! Haha! Thanks for keeping me inspired!
Interesting post. Here’s an extra two cents.
It’s one thing to live a life that’s comfortable and another to truly live one that inspires you. I will never make as much as my friends on the east coast who have corporate jobs, but that ceases to be important to me. What I love is the amount of travel, the amazing people and places I am exposed to all the time by choosing this path in life. I’m sure there are plenty of people satisfied with working all week and getting their week of paid vacation every year. For me, a much more modest salary and a lot more freedom has always left me smiling.
Make your life what you want it to be, not what you wish it would be.