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I have been living/staying in Santa Cruz for about two and a half months now since I returned from traveling. Already, I am having a tough time adjusting to a stationary life. For the six months I was traveling in Mexico and Central America, I never once stayed in one place for more than three weeks. This is why I wanted to slow the pace and settle down for a bit. Once I found a place to live, I started thinking about going back to school and finding a job etc. You know, all the things that normal people do. Well this brought me back to the same problem I always had: I can't get a good job that I really want until I go to school, and while I'm going to school, I will need to work 30 hours a week at shitty job just to be able to pay $700 a month for rent. And then I can hopefully take vacations IF my job will allow for it. And I have not been writing much since I've been back. I just don't know if this is the type of life I want to live.
I would rather live an exciting life, moving around from place to place, working different jobs all over the world, writing and taking lots of photos, meeting interesting characters and having all sorts of adventures along the way. This was my dream, but somehow the dream has been derailed along the way. When I was traveling, I felt as though I had a purpose and my journey was important. When I am here, I just feel as though I am some guy, once again lost and trying to find his way, with nothing to show for his twenty-four years of living on this earth.
I just bought a truck, so we will see where this truck and this life will take me...
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2 comments:
Good that you got a truck, it will be easier to make money now, and you can always just sell the frigging thing when you are done with it.
It sounds as if your decision to go back to school is one that is weighted with compulsion rather than desire. I struggled with this for a while, too. The end result that I found is that, if you want to travel, a university degree is not going to help you that much. It will a little, though, which is why I completed my course, but not nearly as much as the parents, teachers, and whole frigging infrastructure will lead you to believe.
Unless you go to school for 8 years and take a phd (and it is rare even in this case) good jobs that allow for freedom of motion are hard to come by. For 8 years I worked in archaeology without a degree. I would often work right along side phd's doing the same job for the exact same pay. They thought that by going to school for a decade that they would be able to come out and get a dream job. Nope, they just found themselves digging next to some dude who got kicked out of highschool.
Though you can make something of a university education, though it is my impression that it takes a 100%, 24 hour a day, 7 day a week effort. The people that I have met who actually obtained the livlihood that they set out or in university where completely consumed by their line of study to the point of saturation. For every one person like this, I must say that their are 500 with similar degrees working as dishwashers.
In point, observation and experience have lead me to the conclusion that a university education leads you nowhere, but passion does. If you were go combine a university degree with the right amount of passion then you will go far, if not, then that piece of paper with be just that: paper.
As you are struggling with this decision it sounds as if you are not yet 100% passionate about going to school. You can always go to school at any time. 35 years old just just as good of a time as 25 . . . only by then you may be able to do so with 100% passion. You can always wait it out, give you live some time to solidify itself, stop running in one direction just to return to where you started to run off again . . . you are not going to miss the boat.
You can also blend your two options by taking online courses while you travel or from an overseas location.
Take it easy, man. It seems as if you are thinking too much. You are young . . . there is everything under the sun out there for you.
Don't rush anything, take your time, only do what you are passionate about, and walk slow.
Wade
Thanks for the words of advice Wade. I totally agree, I think right now is the time to continue traveling.
BTW, looking forward to reading about your adventures on the high seas!
-Byron
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