Living Car Free - What would you Want (Love!!) to Do??

I figured I’d ask this here, since we have quite a fun little community and the answers are sure to be interesting! ;)

If you did not have to work for money, what would you do??

Work to keep yourself busy?
Donate your time to a worthy cause?
Sit on your rear all day?
Ride all day?
Combination of above?

I ask because soon I could “retire”, with enough investment income to cover basic living expenses, till I die. It’s not a lot, but I will own my own house (no rent), access to cheap health care, no big bills to worry about.

I currently have a hi-paid, hi-stress, management job. It has its rewards, but I sure don’t see doing it for another 20+ years to typical retirement age. I know people who have done it, and that ain’t me, baby.

However, the job has enabled me to save a very nice little nest egg. With the help, of course, of being car-lite & living frugally!

I am considering shoving the big job in a few years and going to work on a road crew, or heck a NORBA trail crew, or mail delivery on foot, or wrench at a bike shop, or…. something. Part time, outside, physical, routine hours sounds good.

Just to keep the mind & hands busy doing something I would like to do, and at which the $$ isn’t the big attraction.

But I find I don’t know what I would love to do!

Suggestions?

And what would YOU do??

I love bikes and books and kayaks. With unlimited dough, I'd open a bike/kayak/bookstore/coffeeshop on a lake someplace nice in the woods. Also would have a shooting range out back ... :D I'm not kidding ... that would do it for me ...

With unlimited dough, I'd open a bike/kayak/bookstore/coffeeshop on a lake someplace nice in the woods.

yeah i thought similar things but... then you're married to the store, have to manage people and a budget and cash flow & taxes.... turns into what i do now!

edit: it would be cool to live close to said shop, and have a nice quiet house in the woods with the skeet range out back ;)

I would own and run my own alternative education center. Teach capoeira, yoga, painting, head up community projects. I would be my own hippy-dippy crunchy granola, except for knowing how to fight and skipping Birkenstocks.

Some things I'd do:

...Hike the Appalachian Trail
...Open a small pub
...Pedicab in a foreign city (Dublin, maybe)
...Write a novel (or two)
...Work at a National Park, living in a tent
...Learn music
...Work in a bookshop or library
...Build a home
...Sail
...Ride a train
...Enter a bachelor contest
...Follow the trail of Lewis and Clark
...Work with kids
...Eat, drink, and be merry
...Make a pilgrimage
...Help someone out
...Have an adventure

Probably sit on my backside a good bit of the day. Maybe do more hiking if I moved back to CO. maybe some travel.

Right now, there are things I could be doing, I just get too lazy to get out and do them, and that wouldn't be a lot different if I had a whole pile of money.

I would spend lots of time riding my bike and taking pictures. I would also brew my own beer.

-Nate

I'd like to teach. And, probably not the most appropriate for "Living Car Free", but ever since I've heard of it, I've wanted to race the Mongol Rally. It runs from Hyde Park in London to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It'd be a great way to see a lot of the world, and help benefit charities. Entry fees are donated, as are the cars if/when they arrive in Ulaanbaatar.

I'm already doing what I love. I get to write for a living. That's cool. I'm doing some volunteer work with organizations that interest me. I'm riding lots. I'm pursuing some projects for myself in my spare time. If I were to retire tomorrow, I'd want to do a lot of the same things I'm doing now, although I might reorganize how much time I'll give to each one. I wouldn't want to just sit around all day or lie on the beach all summer. That would be boring.

I already do what I love im a sucsessfull high paid artist its nothing to be booked for a couple weeks . but I would probably be doing the same but buy/build a building in a good location with a upstairs loft apartment and build the bottom part into a incredible tattoo shop/fine arts studio.

when choosing a career I decided to get into something that I would gladly do for free and work everyday to get better at it than I was the day before.

one thing I would take more time to work on would be a personal studdy of inner peace

I'd do exactly what I'm doing right now (no, not surfing Bikeforums) plus I'd do a little more travelling.

I would open a small book store. Be open a few hours per day. That would free up more time for riding and photography. I really like the idea of a loft above the store. You could take some of the higher quality books that you find or take in trade. Move those on Ebay. I found a local book store that pays 10 cents for most books and she is always busy. Or maybe run a book coop. Their is a guy that runs a book shop called the book thing. http://www.bookthing.org/. I currently work at the library. I spend more time keeping the kids under control with their Myspace accounts than helping them find books. Not what I thought I would be doing working at a library.

I am already doing what I love. I work in a bicycle shop full time, and have a business on the side part time. This enables me to travel for 3 months of the year, which besides cycling is my other passion.

thanks all, great stuff here. And congratulations to those of you already doing what you love. I'm one of the masses stuck doing somthing tough, that needs doing, for the paycheck.

Looks like it will take some planning to maximize my enjoyment :) I like "brew my own beer" the best!

I've travelled a lot already and am ready to move outta Texas. It has it's good points but....
So far the places on my short list for relocation are:

Hawaii - Big Island - gorgeous, diverse place, laid-back atmosphere.
Ozarks - fish, hunt, canoe, hike, nice weather, slow pace of life, cool people despite the inbreeding.

International living has never appealed, haven't found anywhere nicer than the above.

I already do what I love im a sucsessfull high paid artist its nothing to be booked for a couple weeks .

Mind if i ask what kind of art?
Can I guess Tattoo??

Well first thing I would do is make sure I had the money...so I didn't HAVE to go back to work. I was headed for an early retirement at age 50-52 with my wife. But the 9/11 screwed that up when the airlines tanked. (wife works for them) But we still aren't doing too bad.

As far as the original question::p

I would probably find a small town somewhere, open up a small custom shop. Build whatever struck my fancy at the moment; wooden toys, bicycles, tear drop campers, wooden boats or whatever. No amount of money would make me build or make something I didn't want to or for someone I didn't care to deal with.:D I would also be doing a lot of pro bono repair work for people that couldn't afford it otherwise. Along the lines of Habitat for Humanity or a Bike Kitchen type setup.

Aaron:)

Work to keep yourself busy?

Not for money...but to help people out. When I'm not here on BF, I help people with their questions about genealogy:

http://www.ukgen.com/forums/

which doesn't keep me busy enough,so I also help out at this one:

http://ourmissinglinks.proboards83.com/index.cgi

and that still doesn't keep me busy enough, so I'm working on my personal genealogy forum:

http://mylavertyandray.proboards104.com/index.cgi

Still not enough to keep me out of trouble, so I'm a moderator at this small, but growing and very friendly forum:

http://www.wildlifeuk.net/

and I have a blog that's associated with the Wildlife UK site:

http://wildlifeuk.net/blogs/kingfisher/

Phew!

Donate your time to a worthy cause?

I would love to retire back to my birthplace...and if I do so, I will undoubtedly do some volunteer work for various local wildlife causes. Even if I don't return to England, I will devote some time to volunteer work. It runs in the family--my mother is a volunteer at the Tech Museum in San Jose :) .

Sit on your rear all day?

Don't think so...

Ride all day?

A much better option than sitting on my rear all day, but I like my other activites.

Combination of above?

Riding, volunteer work, genealogy...how do I get any work done right now? :p

East Hill

I would fall back on nature and live on trails and in a outdoor environment. I would volunteer my time for a good purpose. I would learn the classical guitar. Save has much as I could of Mother Nature. And at the end of a day have a good smoke amongst the landscape :).

I would like to build bike frames and maybe furniture (wood). I've wanted to build frames since I was 14.

Wow. Who knew I was already doing so many people's dream job?

I work part-time at the public library. It feeds my reading habit, I get to talk with lots of nice people, and it's a government job with union pay scale and benefits. All for only 16 hours in three days a week! A very humane job.

In between I make web sites for not-for-profit agencies and I've recently begun volunteering at one of the local bike missions.

I get to ride a lot. Not only around town, but I enjoyed this past year's two cycling vacations so much that I'm planning one or two cycling trips a month for next season. I got back into photography this year and am showing in an exhibition already.

Meanwhile there are so many interesting books to catch up on. Why am I wasting time here?

Why am I wasting time here?

Because life is all about 'balance'.

:)

Books...I love books...

East Hill

I would move somewhere like Colorado and be a ski instructor in the winter and a river guide or something similar in the summer. Working six or seven half-days per week, or something similar.

I'd need something to make me get out of bed in the morning.

First you spend a few months de-stressing and getting enough sleep. Then you do some of the things you always wanted, like adventure travel.

After a few years of that, you realize that frantic activity for its own sake doesn't truly satisfy. Besides, it tends to deplete your retirement resources. This is the point when you look at yourself and your living situation and start thinking, this is who I am and this is what I've got, how do I make the most of it?

The settling-in phase is when life can become peaceful and quiet, also very fulfilling in a way that's hard to explain. Deep satisfaction can come from small, everyday, unplanned things. This is when you can really smell the roses.

After reaching the settling-in point, I started seeing car free living as less of a physical/tactical challenge, and more as part of an overall retirement strategy I call Convenience Living. I guess that's for lack of a better term. The concept is that one's life (in retirement) can be arranged for maximum efficiency, sustainability and convenience. And that as a result it's possible to simply eliminate the need for driving and car ownership.

I don't think there is anything wrong with "sitting on your rear all day" and contemplating reality and truth. I am reading Thomas Merton's "The Asent to Truth" right now. In it, he talks about Pascal's Theory of Distraction.

Pascal says, "Distraction is the only thing that can console us for our miseries and yet it is, itself, the greatest of our miseries."

Merton explains that that is the case because these distractions divert us "from the one thing that can help us to begin our ascent to truth. That one thing is the sense of our own emptiness, our poverty, our limitations, and of the inability of created things to satisfy our profound need for reality and for truth."

Also, "We imprison ourselves in falsity by our love for the feeble, flickering light of illusion and desire. We cannot find true happiness unless we deprive ourselves of the ersatz happiness of empty diversion"

Anyway, I think I'd probably get some acreage somewhere, then build a cabin and sit on my rear for at least part of the day.

Merton explains that that is the case because these distractions divert us "from the one thing that can help us to begin our ascent to truth. That one thing is the sense of our own emptiness, our poverty, our limitations, and of the inability of created things to satisfy our profound need for reality and for truth."

"We imprison ourselves in falsity by our love for the feeble, flickering light of illusion and desire. We cannot find true happiness unless we deprive ourselves of the ersatz happiness of empty diversion"



For a Catholic boy, Merton sure does sound like a Buddhist. I believe he did hang with some Buddhists like the Dalai Lama.

Anyhow, most people in the world would jump at acroy's offer because they would interpret it as a gift of the physical necessities of life--food, shelter and security. But for us, the gift means unlimited leisure, which might cause an uncomfortable confrontation with ourselves if we don't "keep busy.". So we need either distraction in the form of hobbies, or we need to find meaning and satisfaction by continuing to work.

I guess I'd combine the two. I'd probably work part-time, either paid or volunteer work. I'd also spend a lot more time reading, riding my bike, traveling, camping and just hanging out with friends and family. But I'd also like to spend some time alone, doing nothing, in the hope that I could deal better with the issues that Merton talked about.

First: grab a backpack full of clothes and a wallet full of money (no food, and an empty bottle for water), start on the west coast and try to ride freight trains to the east coast. This would involve jumping on a train as it starts to move, and jumping off to get food and water as you pull into town. Who knows where you would end up? No paying for a place to sleep allowed. When I get to the east coast, turn around and make it back to my starting place.

Second: Devote a few years to training for marathon racing. All I would do is train, eat, sleep, and sit around. The point would be to maximize and truly explore my limits as a runner.

Third: Move out into the bush and start a completely self-sustained life. This might take a few years to learn the tricks and slowly elliminate reliance on modern economy. After that, all my clothes, tools, food, shelter, water, and entertainment would come from the land that I lived on. No need for any sort of money or trade, everything I use/consume would be made by me.

Ideally this would have started as an 22year old or so. Then I could freight train for a year, run for 6 years, and live sustainably for 15 years before turning 50.

If I did not have to work for money, I would probably still continue to work... just not for money. I write software and I would probably continue to do that for a while.

But I would work less and follow a few distractions for a while, not make any plans, except maybe go on a few bike trips.

In fact, I've been toying with the idea of a 24-hour work week... or work six month/ take a six month sabbatical. Something like that.

Some things I'd do:

...Hike the Appalachian Trail
...Write a novel (or two)
...Work at a National Park, living in a tent
...Learn music
...Work in a bookshop or library
...Build a home
...Sail
...Ride a train
...Enter a bachelor contest
...Follow the trail of Lewis and Clark
...Work with kids
...Make a pilgrimage
...Help someone out
...Have an adventure


My brain is tired and im feeling lazy right now, thanks for making my list for me!! (I deleted a few though)

I will add this to is
...Sail the world!
...Live on a lake/stream on a mountain alone
...Live alone on an island

Run my own animation and virtual world building studio. Make the kinds of animations and worlds that I'd like.

In fact, I've been toying with the idea of a 24-hour work week... or work six month/ take a six month sabbatical. Something like that.

I'm guessing you have already read this book, but if not you should read Henry David Thoreau's Walden. It might be all the motivation you need to make that 24 hour work week a reality.

Edited to add a few quotes from Walden...

"For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found that, by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living."

"Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East, -- to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them, -- who were above such trifling."

"It is hard to have a Southern overseer; it is worse to have a Northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave-driver of yourself."

Find a small startup that needs an advisor, where you'd give them maybe 10+ hours a week as an advisor/consultant but you'd get a small salary and some stock options in return.

Work for a venture capital firm evaluating and advising startup opportunities in your field.

Both give you the ability to supplement your income with very little time/effort so you can do lots of other stuff without any financial worries.

Work for a venture capital firm evaluating and advising startup opportunities in your field.

Both give you the ability to supplement your income with very little time/effort so you can do lots of other stuff without any financial worries.

Now that's a good and very do-able one... I've built quite a network over the years and could sure make it work for me.

Very interesting replies in this thread. I'm kind of surprised how many folks do want to sit around & contemplate. i get bored silly pretty quick... I have to always be doing something to keep the mind & body active.

I get the most satisfaction & sense of accomplishment by doing, building, fixing things. It doesn't really matter what. I'd love to restore an old house, but unfortunatly, that's usually not a very wise financial decision.

Maybe I'll build my own home from a kit, on a few acres on a stream in the Ozarks, a few miles outside a decent sized town. Sounds about right.

i do have a young family, so no ho-bo-ing on a train for 2 years. though i don't really understand the attraction...

cheers

Now that's a good and very do-able one... I've built quite a network over the years and could sure make it work for me.


When you get rich doing it, don't forget who suggested it. ;)

I would rent a Ferrari V-12 for a month and get it out of my system. Next I would get a van RV and travel around the country trying to find the place I would like to live out my life.

For some reason I have no real desire to DO anything in particular for my own amusement. I've done most of the things I've wanted to do. One thing I intend to do is make a movie promoting bicycling for transportation in all its forms.

At this time I promote a product that saves lives. It is in my signature. I would continue to promote that even if I had enough money to live as a king. Too many people are dying of diseases that could be prevented by just removing the toxins in their bodies. My father died of a preventable cancer and my mother died from complications from diabetes. Had this product been around back in the 80's my father would have not suffered from the effects of all that chemo-therapy and my mother wouldn't have gone blind.

When I go I hope it is quick by being creamed by a car at 90 years old while riding my bicycle.

Spiritual work is something that I continue to do. Having enough money to retire would allow me to travel to different places in the country to get some first hand training from the few methods I practice.