Monday - Day 50 - "Alternative Lifestyle"

I don't often volunteer to people I meet that I live in an RV at the local campground.  I hear myself saying “we live close by” or "we live in the area".  It's just easier.  I do, however, like the thought of being a nomad, it’s unconventional.  My husband likes the phrase "alternative lifestyle." Maybe we are in phase one.  I'm sure we'll come up with all sorts of ways to live as our lives continue, because the truth is, once you've crossed over; it's hard to cross back.  Getting a taste of something different builds confidence to try new things.

My husband recently shared an article with me, I was fascinated with it.  A Duke University Graduate student, Ken Ilgunas, lived in his van while attending school to avoid going into debt.  He lived in his 1994 Ford, Econoline, he called it his "Van Dwelling" and described the experience as a "financial awakening.”

Ken Ilgunas' 1994 Ford, Econoline

I realize this sounds extreme, yet I get it.  I can absolutely relate.  Ken goes on to discuss the details of his day to day life.  He learned to adapt with less and the one thing he discovered he needed most was not material things, but “a meaningful role to play in society.” His memoir, “Walden on Wheels: One the Open Road From Dept to Freedom,” will be published on May 14, and an adaptation of this book was printed in the New York Times on April 14th.

It's really not that crazy.  In hard economic times, people find creative ways to live with what little they have.  Less truly is more.  My less is significantly more compared to Ken Ilgunas the graduate student.  I'm living the life of luxury in my roomy RV; I have heat, electricity, running water, multiple beds, the internet and a bathroom that flushes.  I almost feel bad for living with so many modern luxuries.

Inside Ken's Van

It is all about perspective now isn't it?  As Americans we forget how ‘rich’ our lifestyles are, we forget that the rest of the world lives with much less than we do.  We  appear to be excessive and even extravagant. Are we lucky for our birth given rights, or oblivious to our fortune?  Are we similar to the children born into mega wealth, having no knowledge anything different, with no conception of life on the other side of the wealth?

At the end of it all, life is truly only about happiness.  Are we happy? Satisfied? Fulfilled?  No amount of money can buy any of those things; everything else is simply pie.

I tend to wonder if the United States is targeted for attacks, like the one today, because we are a privilege nation; not only in material things, but in our apparent freedoms.

In retrospect, I started this blog entry admitting I have not shared my “alternative living choice” with people freely.  I’m ending it with a new awareness, as it is my duty to share with whoever will listen.  Especially, considering I’m not living this lifestyle due to hardship, but as a choice.  We all have choices in life and I’m learning to make the hard ones every day, yet it feels easy.  I’m choosing freedom over and over again.

Hats off to Ken Ilgunas

 Our life is our own, make it a good one.

It's Day 50, a milestone.  

Please share this blog entry with someone whose life or lifestyle you admire and are inspired by.