Why not now? Asks the television commerical that they used to sell Hondas with, that I would watch at my grandfather’s house when I was young. I can tell you a good reason why not now. Good things happen to people who wait.
Waiting is not without risks. We all get older and there is a risk of health and injury, and sometimes opporunties pass by. But it’s often better to take you time and be calculating, allowing savings and interest to grow, and not be subject to the tyrancy of banks and paying them for the privilege of borrowing.
On my blog, I am often known for my wild and free nature, the cowboy hat, saying my thoughts on how I think the world should work. My ideas are some liberal, some conservative, there’s a mix. I am pretty much know for my maps, camping in the wilderness with Big Red, and open, rural country I love to explore.
At the same time, I have to contrast that to my much more mundane life on the weekdays as a communications professional and political coordinator. The cowboy hat and big jacked up truck is put on the rack for the suit and tie, and a ride on public transit to the big office building downtown from the suburb to the city.
As my bottom of my goatee turns increasingly gray, as do splotches of my hair, I become more and more concerned about my professional development, my retirement, my savings and my tomorrow. Not because I expect to ever become a suit and tie guy at heart, but I do like the money, especially what is saved and invested for tomorrow. I dress up and play the role, not because I love the suburban life, but because I know what it’s paying for tomorrow.
It just seems like all my friends are buying home and homesteads, getting land, moving out to country and raising stock and families. Then I follow all these off-grid and homesteading groups on Facebook, and my feed is constantly filled with pictures of cattle and hogs, vast open spaces out west, Alaska, the true west and mid-west.
At one level, I feel like I am getting older and not making much progress. It seems like I’m still in my miserable little apartment, which is so cold and dirty, worn out and broken, but I like the location. I like the library and park, and choosing to go without wired internet. I am dropped the hotspot plan when I went back to working downtown.
But at the same time, I totaled up this evening the money I’m investing and saving on a weekly basis, and while it looks relatively small on any one account, it does add up when you add up the various accounts, especially over time. But it’s not where I need to be today, although I probably could put down a pretty good down payment or even buy a modest house, but that would require me to sell of many of my investments and deplete a lot of my savings.
I just don’t want to live the suburbanite life, with the big screen televisions, the status symbols of the SUV or hybrid car, the chemically-fertilized lawn, the neighbors right next store. And the plastic! I’d rather die then live in a house with vinyl siding and two car garage. My heart is not in suburbia, it’s in the open country, some of the wild places I’ve explored and even more so the places I’ve read about and seen on the Youtube. The small towns that smell like silage and cow shit, the farm country, the ranches and vast mountains out west. Or even the small-towns like you might find in many parts of New York in a more subdued fashion. Upstate New York is fine, but it’s expensive and it’s a land of red tape and waste.
Some of my friends and colleagues took the small leap, buying land out in country, and still commuting back to Albany-area for work. It’s a lot of driving, and much of the rural land around here, while rural is far more urbanized and regulated then what you might find in the wilds of West Virginia, Missouri or Idaho. Land prices are pretty high, especially for acreage, and there are still a lot of codes to be followed. Yes, I’ve been to places like the Southern Tier and the Black River Valley, or far reaches of North Country, but even the most remote and wild small town in New York isn’t like so much of world I’ve been learning and reading about.
I really hate to sign my new lease and the commitment it brings at the higher price for the next year, but I can’t make the numbers work to move. I’d love to own land, but it’s expensive locally, and I don’t really have enough money to buy what I want or would need outright. I sure like having the bus I can take to work downtown, the library, park, and wildlife observation grounds a short walk from home. And honestly, I don’t really want to spend my whole life in Upstate New York, when I’ve seen there are other places in the world and other places. But I feel like re-upping my lease is just kicking the can down the road — sure I have fun traveling now — but I also feel like I’m making little progress compared to what my friends and colleagues are.
On this day, January 29, 1983 there was one baby boy and girl born to parents residing in Albany County. One of 123 babies born state wide on that day, and 2,583 nation wide. I guess that means today is my birthday 🎂
In case you are wondering, January birthdays are actually relatively uncommon. The most common birthdays are in late September as many people request babies 🎄for Christmas and with the supply chain disruptions aren't available for about 266 days or 9 months later. 🤱
