As a dude on a journey to freedom, a big part of that if becoming financially free or just financially independent. After I lost most of everything I owned to Hurricane Irma in 2017, I had nothing but my dog, a couple of weeks worth of clothes, work computers, and newly purchased PA gear because I had just signed some contracts for DJ gigs in the FL Keys. Well when I left, I went back to Alabama and knew quickly I didn’t want to settle in there because I had been there done that state and knew I needed different. I went and stayed with a friend in TN for a while until I could get by bearings and figure out what direction I was heading.
When I was there was when I really started looking into alternative living situations like tiny houses and RV and van living. Started watching all the van and rv life YouTubers out there and got some great information, but still didn’t have allot of money to get started. The only debt I had been in in years was the PA gear that was just now sitting taking up space. But after FEMA denied my claim for assistance, I knew I had to suck it up and use some credit. So I got a personal loan, bought a van, loaded up and moved out to Oregon to be closer to my kids, which that is a whole other story in itself. But I vowed to myself that I would never again be homeless, so as long as I have a van, I have a home!
Once in Oregon, I was still not quite comfortable with the whole van life idea, especially in an area I didn’t know and with the type of job I have, I had to make sure I was in a stable place with stable internet connection. My sister who had been in Oregon for a while at that point needed a new place for her and my nieces so we decided to get an apartment.
During that time, I never felt settled. Plus she had met a great guy and eventually got married and moved out of the apartment which left me in a spot. So I said screw it, and moved on into to the van. I was really trying to take account of my bills with the debt I had built up to get rebuild my life, as well as living expenses, and not to mention child support, I had to knock out the biggest bill I had, which was rent.
The day I moved into my van and turned in the apartment keys was one of the scariest and most freeing days of my life. I realized real quick that I had to learn how to be comfortable, being uncomfortable. The thought of it at first was pretty depressing. The thought of ‘how did I end up like this’ swam around my brain allot and had me questioning everything.
It has taken a few months of adjustment, but I am at this time the most free feeling I have ever been. I have gotten used to being in a small space with a big dog and figuring out my work situation as well as different places to go and sleep that I feel safe. Pretty much any public park I can call home, hell, I pay taxes so I look at that as prepaid rent!
When I first moved into the van, I had packed it full of stuff I thought and was told I would need, but have since put most of it in my storage locker. The less stuff I have around me makes me feel lighter. I don’t feel so burdened down with having to keep up with material things that I really don’t need.
Being free of rent is really a magical thing. It allows me the opportunity to try and smash through this debt as well as being able to actually do a bit of crypto investing and some traveling with the kids. I can actually afford to enjoy life instead of just working to live.
For the first time in my life, I have been able to have a bit of savings and I have been putting that savings mainly in the form of bitcoin, ethereum, LINK, STEEM, and some other random cryptos. I also have some stock from my company as well as I have been playing around with Robinhood and M1 Finance, but I just really love being involved in the crypto space vs traditional finance, it is way more fun and way more of a free market. I do what I can to earn crypto from staking, trading, earning on STEEM, hitting up faucets, and clicking those Brave browser ads and making that BAT. Before I moved into the van, I had a couple of ASIC miners as well as a smaller GPU mining rig that I was running. But of course all of that is now packed up in storage. Not worth trying to sell any of it at this point because it isn’t worth near as much as when I paid for it. But I can say that I did pay it all off with the mining rewards I received, so there is a bonus. I would live to have a set up one day that I can use that equipment to mine on solar power, but for now, I will just stake coins and use different Defi interest bearing crypto accounts like Blockfi, Crypto.com, and Stakecube to earn more crypto.
The combination of living the minimalistic van life and investing in crypto just makes me feel more free than I ever have before. Living in my van and being able to travel where I want to go and pretty much do what I want, outside of my corporate business hours, which is the last chain to break. That keeps me tied down to Eugene for the most part, but when I am not working, I am trying to find things to explore with my kids. Once I can break that corporate chain, which hopefully by saving money in van life, and investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will help propel that dream of full financial freedom and I can finally be the fully free dude that I dream to be! Hey who knows, maybe this channel will blow up one day and I can make that crazy YouTube money, haha.
Anyway, I will be doing more posts and videos on my van life and my journey to health wealth and happiness, which is when you truly find personal freedom! Bringing different niches together all in a dudely kind of harmony!
Peace everyone!
Be Cool, Be Real, and always Abide!