Tuesday, December 11, 2001

I'm a very lucky guy as homeless, jobless, dreadlocked dropouts go. I have nice friends.

Some years ago, a relative I'd never met died and left me a stipend of $200 a month. This never meant much to me until I quit my job and started traveling; in India that covers the entirety of my living expenses. Even in the States it goes pretty far if I live simply and don't have to pay rent.

I'd given up my apartment to travel in my van. I'd given up my van while I was in India; there was no place to store it, so I gave it to David, a friend who didn't mind having the giant green monster in his driveway.

James wanted to sell his car, but was happy to loan it to me until I got around to selling it for him.

I lived with James for the first two weeks after returning from Asia. I was supposed to be helping him prepare to move to India. I guess I helped a little, but I was pretty useless most of the time, going through mood swings and trying to adjust my sleep schedule. James flew out on September 7th, loaded with boxes of technical books and gear to use to save Tibet.

Next day I dropped the last of James's stuff at storage and moved to Jeff's place.

My friend Jeff is a pretty lucky homeless, jobless dropout too. He was invited to housesit long-term for some friends of his. Their house is on a secluded hillside in the Santa Cruz mountains. It's big. Jeff invited me to stay with him while I got adjusted.

So that's how I ended up living in a nice house, driving a nice car, and continuing my three year sabbatical from the American dream. Lucky.