How Living in My Car Went from a Necessity to a Lifestyle Choice.

Life has always been easy for me. I grew up in in a middle class, multicultural family in the suburbs. Sure, I had my fair share of emotional struggles growing up but for the most part, life has been easy.

I was on way down "the path of success" as it was explained to me: graduate high school, go to college, get a full time job. Next was getting married, buying a house, having children, etc. This is the American Dream. Maybe I’ll want these things someday, but who says I can’t make a couple detours along the way?

I graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Chemistry. Soon after I got a job as a chemist and nestled into the life of routine. The monotony of life caused the days to blend together. Then the uneventful weekends began to blend together. Before long, months blended together and there was nothing to show for the 2 years that had gone by since my graduation.

I had a conversation with my dad in the summer of 2017 that changed my entire perspective on how I wanted to live my life. He said to me "You know honey, I'm 52 years old and I'm just now starting to do the things I want to do. I let all these years go by without really living my life. So don't make the same mistake as me. If you want to do something, go do it. Don't let yourself get in the way of enjoying your life."

Opening my eyes to how sedentary my life had become, I decide to make a drastic change. Within a month of that conversation, I quit my job and enrolled in a coding bootcamp.

Two months into my program, my savings was running out and I was beginning to worry about how I was going to stay afloat. Having supportive parents, I knew that I could always go to them for help if I needed it, but I was determined to make things work for myself. I took a couple of days to try to figure out where I could cut spending - but I had already cancelled my climbing gym membership, my meals were down to about five-dollars a day and I wasn't spending any money on any luxuries. Cutting those things out of my life still wasn't going to be enough. I then asked myself the terrifying question: Why not cut out rent?

At this time in my life, I was spending most of my time studying, or hanging out with friends, which kept me out of my house for most of the day. I didn’t think my time spent at my house was worth the $700/month I was spending to live there, so I spent a week in September camping out in my car in familiar and safe neighborhoods. It was a challenging week and I learned very fast what I needed and didn't need, bust most importantly I learned that I could make this work long term.

So after I concluded my experiment, I told my roommates I was moving out, started to get rid of most of my belongings, and began organizing the items I was going to bring into my car with me. November 15th was the first day of my car-dwelling journey, and only 5 people knew about my decision.

A couple months in, despite the challenges, I was starting to find enjoyment in my new way of life. Each night, I had the option to explore a new part of town, discovering new restaurants, coffee shops and neighborhoods. I spent most of my time in public spaces, giving me the opportunity to meet new people. I continued to improve my space, making sure every inch was used to its full potential. I learned what I needed and didn’t need, what could have dual uses, and the few personal items I had to have, regardless of its functionality. I started dreaming about all of the places I wanted to travel to, and that dream of becoming a digital nomad started to feel more achievable.

It’s been over a year since I decided to move into my car, and since then, I’ve become more emboldened and taken more risks for the sake of adventure. I’ve successfully changed careers, moved to Colorado, and travelled a lot. Weekend road trips around Colorado and surrounding states had become a norm and has been made simpler with a mobile AWD home. Though I have gained these things, I’ve also sacrificed more than I originally anticipated I would. On those cold Colorado nights as I try to fall asleep to the sound of cars driving by, I think about how differently my life would have turned out had I just asked for help when I needed it.

Life is constantly moving and changing, that's undeniable. But we have the choice of what side of life we get to be on - the side that's moving or the side that sits back and watches the world move around them. I'm not satisfied with watching the world fly by around me. I don’t know how long I’ll continue to live this crazy life on the road, but I know that I’ll always choose challenge over complacency. I want to live a life in motion, no matter what that looks like.