your ideal life

[Hiro]

While still having some grounding in reality, if you had plenty of opportunities, money, resources, etc., what would you want your life to be like?

I'd like to probably live in Vancouver or just the PNW in general, with a successful job in film, most likely editing. I'd get contracted for projects of my choosing, so I'd most likely do one a year, working only about 6-8 months. I think around $250k a year would be more than enough to never have to worry about money. The rest of the time I'd spend traveling, backpacking, spending time with family, etc. Wife would like to get a catamaran, which would be fun.
I might want one or two kids if I had tons of money, but if I had two then one of them would most likely be adopted. Kids aren't a priority for me though, so eh. I'd rather just be the cool uncle.
There's a specific house in Hiroshima I'd really love to own as my off-season home, although if I'm successful enough to afford it I could just pay the same architect to make me something. I would definitely live a cushy life, but I would still try not to have too much stuff. One car, reasonably-sized home, no fancy watches or anything like that. I do have expensive tastes for a lot of stuff, but I think it's better to have a few nice things than a bunch of okay things.

[strongbad]

I'd like to eventually be at a point where I am either working for myself or doing contract/freelance work. I'd like to move to a bike friendly low(er) cost of living area where i can buy a small house and have some land. In a perfect world, I'm not working more than 30 hours/week and am able to take 1-2 months off of work maybe once a year. I've been thinking a lot about what I feel like I'm lacking in terms of community, and I'd like to be doing more with the people around me, whatever that means. Maybe being more involved in a cycling club and hosting BBQs or something. Okay with 1-2 kids and a pet or two. I want to be able to do more extended travel and bicycle trips, ideally with my partner and my friends. I also want to have a nice garden and minimize buying shit from large chain stores and move towards things like farmers markets. Also want to continue to put in a lot of cycling miles through commuting, day rides with friends, and weekend adventures.

I think the most important principles for me are flexibility, freedom, and self-reliability. I think this will be possible for me if I can focus on career growth and minimalism.

[Hiro]

those are pretty realistic goals I think

[strongbad]

those are pretty realistic goals I think

i think so too! i think the most difficult thing will be escaping the 9-5 and still making enough money to support my goals

[tommy_no_ice]

need a goat its all I nedd

[silvertone]

ideally ill have a basement house on a few acre plot wth a lot of pine trees, a cargo van and a motorcycle. there would be a little clearing  so i can target practice a bazooka and arch ery. i can pay for it with part time at some low skilled no name job.  in my free time ill enjoy gardening and one of my various hobbies

[strongbad]

ideally ill have a basement house on a few acre plot wth a lot of pine trees, a cargo van and a motorcycle. there would be a little clearing  so i can target practice a bazooka and arch ery. i can pay for it with part time at some low skilled no name job.  in my free time ill enjoy gardening and one of my various hobbies

into this

[YPrrrr]

All of my wants are completely unrealistic without having a lot of money I am clearly unwilling to work hard for and for that reason I will always be unhappy for the foreseeable future.

I want to have no commitment to any schedule with the freedom to travel and explore the world. As I substitute for work I would like to volunteer to try to leave some sort of fleeting positive impact upon the world. Which I suppose is achievable once I save up enough to retire. But it's pretty crummy to think my ideal life is 30 years away when my health is declining. Although it would still be a lot better than what most people get.

Also having some kids so maybe they will do something important which validates my reason for existing since by myself I'm a complete waste of potential

[strongbad]

All of my wants are completely unrealistic without having a lot of money I am clearly unwilling to work hard for and for that reason I will always be unhappy for the foreseeable future.

I want to have no commitment to any schedule with the freedom to travel and explore the world. As I substitute for work I would like to volunteer to try to leave some sort of fleeting positive impact upon the world. Which I suppose is achievable once I save up enough to retire. But it's pretty crummy to think my ideal life is 30 years away when my health is declining. Although it would still be a lot better than what most people get.

Also having some kids so maybe they will do something important which validates my reason for existing since by myself I'm a complete waste of potential

Dude take a year off and do volunteer for living programs like wwoof or workaway. If you did that for 6 months - 1 year i bet you would be excited about getting back to structured life. I bet you could travel the world this way for less than $5k/year if you really wanted to be frugal.

This is probably a personal thing, but every bit of extended and unstructured travel that i have done has made me look forward to the 9-5 routine. Not just that, but all the consistency and people that come with it. I've loved all the travel that I have done but eventually I get tired of only meeting other transient people, moving through areas quickly, etc.

EDIT: also know that it's not easy to uproot your entire life to go do interesting things for a year. My greater point is that I don't think that money should be as big of a concern for extended travel as people make it out to be given the resources available (wwoof/workawaycouchsurfing/warmshowers) and i don't think it's something that people should wait until retirement to do. I read a post on reddit recently about some guy waiting until he retired to do a big bike trip. Just a couple weeks after retirement the dude learns that he has cancer.. He might be fine but he could not emphasize enough the idea of doing things for yourself prior to retirement. You just never know what will happen

[YPrrrr]

All of my wants are completely unrealistic without having a lot of money I am clearly unwilling to work hard for and for that reason I will always be unhappy for the foreseeable future.

I want to have no commitment to any schedule with the freedom to travel and explore the world. As I substitute for work I would like to volunteer to try to leave some sort of fleeting positive impact upon the world. Which I suppose is achievable once I save up enough to retire. But it's pretty crummy to think my ideal life is 30 years away when my health is declining. Although it would still be a lot better than what most people get.

Also having some kids so maybe they will do something important which validates my reason for existing since by myself I'm a complete waste of potential

Dude take a year off and do volunteer for living programs like wwoof or workaway. If you did that for 6 months - 1 year i bet you would be excited about getting back to structured life. I bet you could travel the world this way for less than $5k/year if you really wanted to be frugal.

This is probably a personal thing, but every bit of extended and unstructured travel that i have done has made me look forward to the 9-5 routine. Not just that, but all the consistency and people that come with it. I've loved all the travel that I have done but eventually I get tired of only meeting other transient people, moving through areas quickly, etc.

EDIT: also know that it's not easy to uproot your entire life to go do interesting things for a year. My greater point is that I don't think that money should be as big of a concern for extended travel as people make it out to be given the resources available (wwoof/workawaycouchsurfing/warmshowers) and i don't think it's something that people should wait until retirement to do. I read a post on reddit recently about some guy waiting until he retired to do a big bike trip. Just a couple weeks after retirement the dude learns that he has cancer.. He might be fine but he could not emphasize enough the idea of doing things for yourself prior to retirement. You just never know what will happen

I kind of always regretted not doing something like that or the Peace Corps. If nothing else, like you said, it may have given me some appreciation for a boring schedule. But I also hate feeling stuck so I may have enjoyed it who knows... I've tried moving all over the country trying to find somewhere that I am happy to be but I always seem to get bored.

Another issue is that being in a serious relationship makes it hard to just disappear for an extended period of time. I guess it has been done but I feel like it's a lot to ask of someone to indulge me.

I still plan to travel before I'm old! I just wish I had the ability to do so at a whim rather than once every year or two. And then with kids its much more difficult.

I feel like I want to be everywhere without anything holding me back but then also the security of stable income and a family. It feels like a choice of one versus the other. And in that case having close-knit people who love you seems like an overall better choice so I've pursued that but at the same time it feels like I'm missing out on so much.

Also as I get older I'm becoming increasingly afraid of death and something happening exactly as you described. That I work some boring job that makes no difference in the world, and live out an unremarkable surburban life that leaves me empty on my deathbed and quickly forgotten almost as soon as I pass.

Man death just scares the shit out of me, there's so little time for everything and for the most part I waste it

Also in the context of everything going on in the world all my worrying is extremely shallow bleh

[??????]

would like to inherit money and help my family estate grow into various businesses and start opening companies to launder more money and collect ancient Mesopotamian art from Christie's and Sotheby's auctioneering houses and throw parties with fresh ketamine and research chemicals

but really I would just want one big empty studio room with high ceilings
I'm getting into using larger canvas and sooner or later would be using ladders just to paint

that's just kinda it
I don't have it because my fiancé wants a normal life and you can't live in studios here. don't want to spend 1,500 on rent then another 1,200 for a studio where I can't even sleep at and turn it into a home. might move to a desert and live in a shack and plant a very giant cactus in my bedroom

[strongbad]

All of my wants are completely unrealistic without having a lot of money I am clearly unwilling to work hard for and for that reason I will always be unhappy for the foreseeable future.

I want to have no commitment to any schedule with the freedom to travel and explore the world. As I substitute for work I would like to volunteer to try to leave some sort of fleeting positive impact upon the world. Which I suppose is achievable once I save up enough to retire. But it's pretty crummy to think my ideal life is 30 years away when my health is declining. Although it would still be a lot better than what most people get.

Also having some kids so maybe they will do something important which validates my reason for existing since by myself I'm a complete waste of potential

Dude take a year off and do volunteer for living programs like wwoof or workaway. If you did that for 6 months - 1 year i bet you would be excited about getting back to structured life. I bet you could travel the world this way for less than $5k/year if you really wanted to be frugal.

This is probably a personal thing, but every bit of extended and unstructured travel that i have done has made me look forward to the 9-5 routine. Not just that, but all the consistency and people that come with it. I've loved all the travel that I have done but eventually I get tired of only meeting other transient people, moving through areas quickly, etc.

EDIT: also know that it's not easy to uproot your entire life to go do interesting things for a year. My greater point is that I don't think that money should be as big of a concern for extended travel as people make it out to be given the resources available (wwoof/workawaycouchsurfing/warmshowers) and i don't think it's something that people should wait until retirement to do. I read a post on reddit recently about some guy waiting until he retired to do a big bike trip. Just a couple weeks after retirement the dude learns that he has cancer.. He might be fine but he could not emphasize enough the idea of doing things for yourself prior to retirement. You just never know what will happen

I kind of always regretted not doing something like that or the Peace Corps. If nothing else, like you said, it may have given me some appreciation for a boring schedule. But I also hate feeling stuck so I may have enjoyed it who knows... I've tried moving all over the country trying to find somewhere that I am happy to be but I always seem to get bored.

Another issue is that being in a serious relationship makes it hard to just disappear for an extended period of time. I guess it has been done but I feel like it's a lot to ask of someone to indulge me.

I still plan to travel before I'm old! I just wish I had the ability to do so at a whim rather than once every year or two. And then with kids its much more difficult.

I feel like I want to be everywhere without anything holding me back but then also the security of stable income and a family. It feels like a choice of one versus the other. And in that case having close-knit people who love you seems like an overall better choice so I've pursued that but at the same time it feels like I'm missing out on so much.

Also as I get older I'm becoming increasingly afraid of death and something happening exactly as you described. That I work some boring job that makes no difference in the world, and live out an unremarkable surburban life that leaves me empty on my deathbed and quickly forgotten almost as soon as I pass.

Man death just scares the shit out of me, there's so little time for everything and for the most part I waste it

Also in the context of everything going on in the world all my worrying is extremely shallow bleh

I agree with all of these concerns. Feel similarly about death and that honestly makes me not want to leave Seattle ever because I want to spend as much time with friends + family as possible. Especially older family members.

Wish I had more of a response besides "+1" but seriously these things are so hard. Feel the relationship stuff, too. Like traveling with my SO is fun but it's still traveling with my SO and not traveling for personal growth. That is a very hard topic for me to approach.

[YPrrrr]

I appreciate you for taking the time to read all of my rambling walls of text.

I think the only times I've felt truly at home are when I've had an established group of friends so I feel that a lot. You're a lucky guy imo to have found that in such an interesting location!

[strongbad]

I appreciate you for taking the time to read all of my rambling walls of text.

I think the only times I've felt truly at home are when I've had an established group of friends so I feel that a lot. You're a lucky guy imo to have found that in such an interesting location!

Yeah I really do love the PNW and I feel really lucky that my family resides in a place that I also enjoy living in. I have also been thinking about my sense of "community" lately and how that is basically nil. Like, I don't have a local bar that I go to as a regular, or a sports club or anything. I have a good amount of friends but most of them aren't socially related and the idea of having a big party where I invited everyone that I like sounds like it would be more awkward than anything else.

Kind of a hard thing to just obtain out of the blue, but I think this is something that I want to focus on over the next few years.

[C.Mongler]

Feel more confident in what I'm doing in my career. Learn some shit. Get invested in something like the Drupal community idk. I hate having imposter syndrome all the time with my career because I literally just have a penchant for googling shit.

I want to be at a real web development shop someday but I feel like I'm out of my element most days lol