A Thought I Keep Quiet

Of all the strange responses I run into when I reveal my living situation to someone, some of them bother me and others don't. Regardless of the response, one thing I keep close and relatively quiet is how much I like my house and my freedom. The ridiculous stereotypes and bold-faced discrimination that I've encountered doesn't change my feeling about my rolling home -- I love living in it.

The most difficult thing about living in the RV is overcoming social stereotypes. It wears on me sometimes. People who live in vehicles, RV's, or mobile homes are often lumped in with those with criminal intent, or self-induced poverty, or homelessness. The reason I do it is because I knew I was entering a rough, transitory period of my life by going into grad school and cutting my yearly pay my more than 60%.

My life plan changed significantly two years ago when I decided to abandon a decade-long career with a paycheck that exceeded that of the average American household and a luxury townhome in suburbia. I went from an image of "success" to something else, which has revealed some interesting things about society and the American mind.

The dissonance I experience exists between the fact that I have only become more educated and have greater potential to excel in the workplace, yet I am treated and viewed differently than I was before. Even though I was unhappy in my past life, my happiness and contentment with living in an RV is irrelevant to external eyes. Those looking in don't care how good a person is, how happy they are, and how much potential they have --- they care about how someone appears to fit their mold for how the world should work.

Regardless, I go home at night and even when things are broken (say, frozen pipes), I thoroughly enjoy the simplicity and peace my lifestyle brings. I own the roof over my head and can move wherever I want at the drop of a hat -- I don't have a lease that locks me down. Maybe that's what scares some people? But as a post-grad-graduate, this plan couldn't have been better. I have no idea where my next full-time job will be, but I know that when it happens, I can pickup and move there quickly with only a few steps between me and the new place.

The thought I keep quiet is that I love the way I live and I don't plan to change it until it comes time to change it.