16 year old seeking advice from my elders (lengthy post)
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Pikachu711
Well-known member
Welcome to the group gsfish!
Thanks Bob and to EVERYONE who replied, I'm not sure how to get to all of you but the advice is extremely appreciated. I think whats more important than anything for me to do is to remember I still have a couple of years before I have to make any huge decisions. That helps keep me centered.akrvbob said:
Wild_E
Well-known member
Hi and welcome.
Sorry if I am repeating here but little time today and on tiny phone screen reading.
Have you considered WWOfing?
Working the land, mostly permaculture type growing then get a degree in permaculture . wwoof international and USA, also wwoof Canada.
Travel from location to location then winter over on a winter place with animals they are always looking for help.
Best of luck.
PS.. Google wwoof and wwoofing as I am not sure on the spelling..
Sorry if I am repeating here but little time today and on tiny phone screen reading.
Have you considered WWOfing?
Working the land, mostly permaculture type growing then get a degree in permaculture . wwoof international and USA, also wwoof Canada.
Travel from location to location then winter over on a winter place with animals they are always looking for help.
Best of luck.
PS.. Google wwoof and wwoofing as I am not sure on the spelling..
WheelEstate USA
Well-known member
Regarding learning a trade....
I heard Mike Rowe (the Dirty Jobs guy) say, "There's more people that want to be in a corner office than there are people who know how to build that corner office".
Made a lot of sense. A trade can that one thru college when the time comes.
There are none more respected than those who have mastered their trade and put it to good use.
I heard Mike Rowe (the Dirty Jobs guy) say, "There's more people that want to be in a corner office than there are people who know how to build that corner office".
Made a lot of sense. A trade can that one thru college when the time comes.
There are none more respected than those who have mastered their trade and put it to good use.
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While you are young, your brain is hardwired to learn and as you get older learning becomes harder. Just ask any of us older guys and we will all tell you learning gets much harder when you get older.
One of my favorite sayings is "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day of your life!" I believe that! I'm working harder now on my websites than I ever have in my life but not one moment of it feels like work.
My advice to you is to explore as many different aspects of life as you possibly can now. Just dabble in bunches of stuff until you find something you love doing. Don't be limited by "normal" thinking. Everytime you meet someone who does something you've never done before, ask him to show you how to do it. Then give it a good enough shot so that you really know how you feel about it. TRY EVERYTHING! Don't limit yourself. You never know what will grab you and you will fall in love with.
Make learning something new your highest goal in life!!!!
Say "YES!" to every new experience
Beyond that I strongly encourage you to develop practical skills that will make you more self-reliant. Here are some ideas I recommend in order of importance:
1) Self-defense skills. Knowing you can keep yourself and others physically safe is probably the most important thing you can do. Explore the martial arts for the one that fits you best. if it were me I would do some kind of street fighting/brawling like Israeli Krav Maga. But find the one that works for you. The self-confidence you gain will flow into every aspect of your life--and help you with the chicks!
2) Riding a bike. I think the future is grim and being able to ride a bike as daily transportation is going to become highly valuable.
3) Learn auto mechanics. You don't need to be a master mechanic but learning the basics will take you a long ways.
4) Container or small-space gardening. You can't go wrong being able to grow your own food.
5) Basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical. Again, unless you fall in love with one of them, you probably won't be an expert but just knowing some of the basics will go a long ways to making your life better.
6) Learn to budget money and live in your means.
Just some food for thought!
Bob
One of my favorite sayings is "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day of your life!" I believe that! I'm working harder now on my websites than I ever have in my life but not one moment of it feels like work.
My advice to you is to explore as many different aspects of life as you possibly can now. Just dabble in bunches of stuff until you find something you love doing. Don't be limited by "normal" thinking. Everytime you meet someone who does something you've never done before, ask him to show you how to do it. Then give it a good enough shot so that you really know how you feel about it. TRY EVERYTHING! Don't limit yourself. You never know what will grab you and you will fall in love with.
Make learning something new your highest goal in life!!!!
Say "YES!" to every new experience
Beyond that I strongly encourage you to develop practical skills that will make you more self-reliant. Here are some ideas I recommend in order of importance:
1) Self-defense skills. Knowing you can keep yourself and others physically safe is probably the most important thing you can do. Explore the martial arts for the one that fits you best. if it were me I would do some kind of street fighting/brawling like Israeli Krav Maga. But find the one that works for you. The self-confidence you gain will flow into every aspect of your life--and help you with the chicks!
2) Riding a bike. I think the future is grim and being able to ride a bike as daily transportation is going to become highly valuable.
3) Learn auto mechanics. You don't need to be a master mechanic but learning the basics will take you a long ways.
4) Container or small-space gardening. You can't go wrong being able to grow your own food.
5) Basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical. Again, unless you fall in love with one of them, you probably won't be an expert but just knowing some of the basics will go a long ways to making your life better.
6) Learn to budget money and live in your means.
Just some food for thought!
Bob
Greetings!
Once you finish HS, and have your mobile living arrangements in order, you can find no skills required work in most any town at the temp or day labor agencies.
Pick stuff that sounds interesting to you, maybe it will help you find direction. Even if it doesn't it will keep your wallet filled so you can pursue your travels.
Consider telecommuting, I know several people that make good money writing about their travels. There are other legitimate online jobs available too.
There's good money in buying and selling, you can pick up some stuff free or cheap on Craigslist or yard sales, then sell them at flea markets or on ebay for sometimes HUGE profits.
One of my online businesses connects buyers & sellers, and I get a commission for every item sold. Another one of my businesses locates hard to find items for people. While you don't want to duplicate these, if you put your head to it, you can find something that people need, and create a new online service to fill that need. Very good money for minimal time required on your part.
There's some sites like fiverr.com where people offer to do xxx for $5.00. Think up something to sell and make $100/day for a few minutes work. I'm on a similar site, and I sell ebooks for $5-10 and sell over $100 worth almost every day. All I have to do is send them an email with a download link. I spend 15-20 minutes a day filling orders between all of my sites.
You can write your own unique reports or ebooks about things you like and sell them this way, or even on Amazon or Ebay. I sell my same collection of 100 ebooks on Ebay, and make another $75-150/day. I didn't write any of them, I purchased them with "Resale Rights". I purchased the collection nearly 20 years ago for $200, made my money back in 2 days, and between the various places that I sell them, I'm now making close to $500/day for under 1/2 hour work on my part.
You or anybody else could do this same thing, just pick titles that there isn't 100's of other people already selling. Some others who do this have theirs set up to be totally automatic. I do it the old fashioned way because I want to build a personal relationship with my customers. Just make sure that in the rare event someone asks for a refund, you give it to them promptly and politely. I issue about 1 refund per week, out of about 280-420 orders. Prompt courteous customer service will increase your sales in the end.
The potential for online businesses is almost unlimited. There is some risk involved, but that is true with everything in life. I recently purchased a $1500 stained glass window for a customer, which was exactly what she described as wanting. She rejected it, so I had to locate another buyer. No big problem, I put it up on an auction site and got $2300 for it.
I have enough degree's and doctorate's to paper a good sized wall with, but since I have almost always worked for myself, I have never used a single one of them.
Learn how to make a living to support your desired life style, plus a rainy day fund. Then if you decide you want college or a trade school, and your finances can afford it, go for it, but I would NEVER suggest going into debt for it. Always get your financial house in order FIRST. Once that is in order, everything else is relatively easy.
Do whatever is necessary to get your financial house in order, live in a van or an RV, work two or three jobs if need be, you're young, take advantage of that and build your future fast. There's people your age making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. You can too, if you make up your mind to do it and then follow through.
Being a minimalist or a monk is great, but having your finances in order so you never have to worry about your next meal or how to pay for your next adventure, that is peace of mind.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
Greetings Bob!
Looks like we were working on our replies about the same time, and I agree with you totally on this.
I've always been a workaholic, not because I needed the money, but because I loved my work.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
Once you finish HS, and have your mobile living arrangements in order, you can find no skills required work in most any town at the temp or day labor agencies.
Pick stuff that sounds interesting to you, maybe it will help you find direction. Even if it doesn't it will keep your wallet filled so you can pursue your travels.
Consider telecommuting, I know several people that make good money writing about their travels. There are other legitimate online jobs available too.
There's good money in buying and selling, you can pick up some stuff free or cheap on Craigslist or yard sales, then sell them at flea markets or on ebay for sometimes HUGE profits.
One of my online businesses connects buyers & sellers, and I get a commission for every item sold. Another one of my businesses locates hard to find items for people. While you don't want to duplicate these, if you put your head to it, you can find something that people need, and create a new online service to fill that need. Very good money for minimal time required on your part.
There's some sites like fiverr.com where people offer to do xxx for $5.00. Think up something to sell and make $100/day for a few minutes work. I'm on a similar site, and I sell ebooks for $5-10 and sell over $100 worth almost every day. All I have to do is send them an email with a download link. I spend 15-20 minutes a day filling orders between all of my sites.
You can write your own unique reports or ebooks about things you like and sell them this way, or even on Amazon or Ebay. I sell my same collection of 100 ebooks on Ebay, and make another $75-150/day. I didn't write any of them, I purchased them with "Resale Rights". I purchased the collection nearly 20 years ago for $200, made my money back in 2 days, and between the various places that I sell them, I'm now making close to $500/day for under 1/2 hour work on my part.
You or anybody else could do this same thing, just pick titles that there isn't 100's of other people already selling. Some others who do this have theirs set up to be totally automatic. I do it the old fashioned way because I want to build a personal relationship with my customers. Just make sure that in the rare event someone asks for a refund, you give it to them promptly and politely. I issue about 1 refund per week, out of about 280-420 orders. Prompt courteous customer service will increase your sales in the end.
The potential for online businesses is almost unlimited. There is some risk involved, but that is true with everything in life. I recently purchased a $1500 stained glass window for a customer, which was exactly what she described as wanting. She rejected it, so I had to locate another buyer. No big problem, I put it up on an auction site and got $2300 for it.
I have enough degree's and doctorate's to paper a good sized wall with, but since I have almost always worked for myself, I have never used a single one of them.
Learn how to make a living to support your desired life style, plus a rainy day fund. Then if you decide you want college or a trade school, and your finances can afford it, go for it, but I would NEVER suggest going into debt for it. Always get your financial house in order FIRST. Once that is in order, everything else is relatively easy.
Do whatever is necessary to get your financial house in order, live in a van or an RV, work two or three jobs if need be, you're young, take advantage of that and build your future fast. There's people your age making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. You can too, if you make up your mind to do it and then follow through.
Being a minimalist or a monk is great, but having your finances in order so you never have to worry about your next meal or how to pay for your next adventure, that is peace of mind.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
akrvbob said:While you are young, your brain is hardwired to learn and as you get older learning becomes harder. Just ask any of us older guys and we will all tell you learning gets much harder when you get older.
One of my favorite sayings is "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day of your life!" I believe that! I'm working harder now on my websites than I ever have in my life but not one moment of it feels like work.
Greetings Bob!
Looks like we were working on our replies about the same time, and I agree with you totally on this.
I've always been a workaholic, not because I needed the money, but because I loved my work.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
That quote about never working a day in your life is something my father told me and I have carried with me every day, and I complete agree with that. I know that once I build myself a lifestyle in which I can focus on my spirituality and character, the humanitarian "work" will be a daily blessing. Thank you for your wise words and to all of the wisdom that has been given to me on this thread. I now realize that there is going to be a lot of financial preparation before I can start my journey and that I'm going to need to find a way to make money. Once I do that, I can travel simplistically, working with various charities and ecological enthusiasts and political activists all the while working introspectively on my own enlightenment. ALL of you have really been a blessing to me, thank you thank you thank you!akrvbob said:While you are young, your brain is hardwired to learn and as you get older learning becomes harder. Just ask any of us older guys and we will all tell you learning gets much harder when you get older.
One of my favorite sayings is "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day of your life!" I believe that! I'm working harder now on my websites than I ever have in my life but not one moment of it feels like work.
My advice to you is to explore as many different aspects of life as you possibly can now. Just dabble in bunches of stuff until you find something you love doing. Don't be limited by "normal" thinking. Everytime you meet someone who does something you've never done before, ask him to show you how to do it. Then give it a good enough shot so that you really know how you feel about it. TRY EVERYTHING! Don't limit yourself. You never know what will grab you and you will fall in love with.
Make learning something new your highest goal in life!!!!
Say "YES!" to every new experience
Beyond that I strongly encourage you to develop practical skills that will make you more self-reliant. Here are some ideas I recommend in order of importance:
1) Self-defense skills. Knowing you can keep yourself and others physically safe is probably the most important thing you can do. Explore the martial arts for the one that fits you best. if it were me I would do some kind of street fighting/brawling like Israeli Krav Maga. But find the one that works for you. The self-confidence you gain will flow into every aspect of your life--and help you with the chicks!
2) Riding a bike. I think the future is grim and being able to ride a bike as daily transportation is going to become highly valuable.
3) Learn auto mechanics. You don't need to be a master mechanic but learning the basics will take you a long ways.
4) Container or small-space gardening. You can't go wrong being able to grow your own food.
5) Basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical. Again, unless you fall in love with one of them, you probably won't be an expert but just knowing some of the basics will go a long ways to making your life better.
6) Learn to budget money and live in your means.
Just some food for thought!
Bob
WheelEstate USA
Well-known member
Kid....I think I like the way your head works
steamjam1
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1.) Is there anything wrong with someone changing life to the van dwelling lifestyle after high school graduation for the purpose of a spiritual devotion to the planet and its people?
Nope.
2) I will need to learn a trade in order to make enough money to live. What trade would be the best to learn for a van dweller? Which trade is easiest to find work with in any particular town I find myself in?
In my experience learning trades like welding will help you where ever you go.
3)Is there anything wrong with not going to college? Or should I postpone my monk destiny after college?
Nope. You'll decide to go to university when and if your spiritually ready.
4) what advice would you give a young person in a situation such as my own? I feel as though this is truly my destiny. But at the same time I am very young and impulsive, but I feel as though I've gave this much thought.
There is only one way to find out if its your destiny, and that's to try it!
Thank you to everyone who replies and feel free to give any advice you can or tell me your own story. I wish all of you good vibrations and love on your travels and lives.
Nope.
2) I will need to learn a trade in order to make enough money to live. What trade would be the best to learn for a van dweller? Which trade is easiest to find work with in any particular town I find myself in?
In my experience learning trades like welding will help you where ever you go.
3)Is there anything wrong with not going to college? Or should I postpone my monk destiny after college?
Nope. You'll decide to go to university when and if your spiritually ready.
4) what advice would you give a young person in a situation such as my own? I feel as though this is truly my destiny. But at the same time I am very young and impulsive, but I feel as though I've gave this much thought.
There is only one way to find out if its your destiny, and that's to try it!
Thank you to everyone who replies and feel free to give any advice you can or tell me your own story. I wish all of you good vibrations and love on your travels and lives.
