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Alright, this is not a topic for any six-figured salary or full-time exempt or noble career type of people.
What I want to know is...
Let's say you are well-educated (Bachelor's degree), smart, a great interviewee, hard worker, etc. etc.
BUT, you want a basic, 8-hour-a-day, low-stress type of job that gives you plenty of free time.
So you pack up and move to, hell, let's say some town 20 miles from the Grand Canyon. With a little bit of money saved up, but no job offers or anything.
Could you find a basic job, rent a cheap apartment on your own, and then just spend all your free time hiking the Grand Canyon? Like, is that even feasible? What sort of job would you get? Salesperson at a department store, assistant manager at some chain store, random employee at some random shop? Would those be enough to live on in a cheap apartment?
Think of the possibilities if you didn't care what your job was, as long as it got you by. You could pack up and move anywhere in the country whenever you wanted basically.
Alright, this is not a topic for any six-figured salary or full-time exempt or noble career type of people.
What I want to know is...
Let's say you are well-educated (Bachelor's degree), smart, a great interviewee, hard worker, etc. etc.
BUT, you want a basic, 8-hour-a-day, low-stress type of job that gives you plenty of free time.
So you pack up and move to, hell, let's say some town 20 miles from the Grand Canyon. With a little bit of money saved up, but no job offers or anything.
Could you find a basic job, rent a cheap apartment on your own, and then just spend all your free time hiking the Grand Canyon? Like, is that even feasible? What sort of job would you get? Salesperson at a department store, assistant manager at some chain store, random employee at some random shop? Would those be enough to live on in a cheap apartment?
Think of the possibilities if you didn't care what your job was, as long as it got you by. You could pack up and move anywhere in the country whenever you wanted basically.
I tried to do that in my early twenties. It didn't work out as I expected. First, it was really hard to find a "basic job." I imagined myself relaxing and being creative while tending bar at night or something. However, I got rejected from every "basic" job I applied to (even though I had experience), and was nearly broke when I found a "real" job in my field. I ended up working 50 hours a week with no vacation or anything for 2 years. So I did move and I did find a job, but it wasn't as I imagined it.
Have I done it? Yes. Recently? No, I have kids and it wouldn't be the responsible thing to do. I am occasionally tempted, but not seriously. lol
I think the way to address your question would be to do some research into COL where you want to live and go from there. If you find that you can rent a 1 bedroom apartment for, say, $600 a month in a small town and you have a reasonable expectation of getting a job making $10-$12 an hour or more, it's probably doable.
In my case, I moved 6 states away to a place where I only knew a few people and that was before internet was widely available. When I got there, I had a job within a couple of days doing construction.
Alright, this is not a topic for any six-figured salary or full-time exempt or noble career type of people.
What I want to know is...
Let's say you are well-educated (Bachelor's degree), smart, a great interviewee, hard worker, etc. etc.
BUT, you want a basic, 8-hour-a-day, low-stress type of job that gives you plenty of free time.
So you pack up and move to, hell, let's say some town 20 miles from the Grand Canyon. With a little bit of money saved up, but no job offers or anything.
Could you find a basic job, rent a cheap apartment on your own, and then just spend all your free time hiking the Grand Canyon? Like, is that even feasible? What sort of job would you get? Salesperson at a department store, assistant manager at some chain store, random employee at some random shop? Would those be enough to live on in a cheap apartment?
Think of the possibilities if you didn't care what your job was, as long as it got you by. You could pack up and move anywhere in the country whenever you wanted basically.
You can, but it is really just a game of chance with way too many variables to consider.
It is a high risk gamble, you can get lucky and find a job right away or end up broke and homeless.
In my late teens/early 20s I drove down to Key West and got a job at a head shop. I don't think that place is there any more (Environmental Circus). I pitched a tent at campground on stock Island and eventually moved into a 1 br trailer. I got a little scooter as well. It was good.
When I lived in Tucson it attracted a lot of people like this. People with BA's & MA's willing to work at bookstores, bike shops, coffee shops, outdoor stores or tending bar in order to live their lifestyle. Remember a quirk of going to parties in Tucson and being introduced to people. You would meet someone and when you ask them what they do, they would tell you that they were a bike racer, backpacker, climber or trail runner instead of their occupation. Used to work at a bike shop and most of the guys working there had a college degree or were close to getting one.
Too me working a low wage job means working a boring job, and that life style is worse than a professional job which is more interesting work.
I disagree. I'm a scientist now making good money in corporate America. I thank the heavens that I had the insight to live how I did back then because "professional" life is such a joke. A poor person can have valuable, rich life experiences if s/he's smart about it.
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