There comes a time in every newly grown woman's life when she has to look at her wallet and decide whether she has enough money to pay rent for the summer months in which she is technically unemployed. Being the (wannabe) vagabond that I am, I decided to rely on the good graces of my friends in the area to allow me to, shall we say, float about for the summer. I have come up with some obstacles in the terminology I use to describe myself during these wandering months, so I have explored the various connotations of using each term.
- Homeless: this draws up images of some sort of a permanent state of living, making it look like I have fallen victim to bad economic planning. It also makes me look like I don't know how to live in a house and have maybe been evicted or something. Homelessness is a serious issue that people spend lots of time trying to rectify and/or justify why they're not rectifying it, so I think it would probably be very "first -world-problems" of me to pretend to be homeless, because I definitely am not.
- Couch surfing: surfs up, dude! Surfing is, like, the favorite American pastime. Couches are, like, the favorite lazy person pastime. So what better term to have to make my lack of a domicile sound like something everybody wants to do right now. So chill, so hip, so early-to-mid-twenties of me. An internalized requirement for this term is a vast array of friends on whose couch you are able to surf. Or you could just go to this website ?!
- Living out of my car: this makes it sound like all of my belongings are strategically placed throughout my car for easy access without removing them, and that I have a hammock behind the drivers seat in case I need to sleep outside. Which is true... but it also makes it sound like I can live without a bed or running water. This is not true. I have found that one cannot entirely live out of ones car without supplementing it with plumbing, and I have found that I personally can't live without that supplementation being from someone I'm close to.
- Urban backpacking: I love this one, and I want to say I just made it up, but I've probably heard it somewhere before. It's like the phenomenon of buying a Nalgene but never planning to use it camping, or owning all Patagonia but having no desire to leave the comfort of the city. I have a tent in my backseat and lots of outdoorsy gear, but I haven't really used it in the woods as of yet this summer. I do plan on finding some campsites to sleep in later on, capitalizing on the outdoorsy possibilities that not having a permanent home can afford me. I am also thinking that "urban backpacking" is like the American version of "backpacking around Europe," which I've never done. Until now.
Well, I am going to go back to my current existence as a vagrant. I leave you with an image that you can go ahead and ingrain in your head in place of whatever picture of me is currently in there. It's what showed up when I googled "living out of your car."
(Best Week Ever)