The Millennial Path - A Journey and Blog

I decided would begin writing my progress and realizations down over time, not unlike a journal, so that perhaps it might be of some us to others in a similar position, especially in my generation, or folks in general whose lives have been ruined at some point and have to start over from scratch, and so that I avoid the "millennial malaise" that rears its head every time I think about the current market... Feeling that I haven't made any progress.

Background : Age 29. Raised in lower middle class American suburbs. Did not graduate college after a traumatic period of life. Wasted roughly 5 years afterwards in a severely depressive state. Had to restart life entirely from the ground up. I have severe anxiety, but no vices or addictions, essentially nothing that ends up costing me any money. Living in Florida with family after working in remote Alaska during the summer of 2023. Enjoys all things outdoors, physical fitness, mountain biking (though I live in Florida...), hiking, photography, making electronic music, woodworking and carpentry, sourdough baking, gardening and farming, brewing beer, fly fishing, and random homestead things.

Economic Status : (Shameful savings, this is difficult for me to display publicly) : No major debts : $5,000 in emergency fund cash : $3,369 investment portfolio ($2,784 invested, $585 profit) : $1,500 in savings I'm getting ready to invest. I have a number of useful homesteading assets already that I've accumulated over the years trying to find happiness, which now are my own property, can be used or sold, like a pressure canner, felling axes, a proper bow for hunting, etc.

Longterm Goals : Build a life suitable for the girl I love while maintaining my own principles and desires of self-sufficiency (food, natural materials, natural building, etc.), less modern stress, and more creativity in various forms, like building a simple chair... She cares about the environment very much, but she is a sensitive girl, and her lifestyle will require a safe, structurally sound and relatively standard home with electricity, ideally, I feel like I should learn timber framing so I can tackle a proper log home myself, or pay a company to haul the materials and see if I can join in to reduce the costs, or heck, even work for a timber framing company and get a discount building my own log home with their kits... She is multiple years away from graduating, so I have about 2-3 years to dig in, learn, figure something out, then perhaps sell whatever I build to relocate where she'd like (she also wants a decent bit of land so this is a great boon to me), rent it out on AirBNB/use as an occasional vacation home when not listed on AirBNB, or ask her to join me indefinitely there if she finds what I've created suitable.

Short Term Goals :
- Figure out a location to live, and how remote I'd like to be (I greatly expect to end up in the North... New England, Pacific Northwest...)

- Pack up and leave, pay one month of rent somewhere cheap while I look for land and a job

- Buy a yurt and put on plot of land I purchase to begin farming

- Figure out electricity and heat PRIOR to WINTER... I am not opposed to power at the road, although I intend to have a solar generator of some sort, or a standard generator, I do not know yet. Really, I have no idea what people do for this aspect when starting fresh or from scratch, but not being able to access Permies for instance, or being able to charge my phone, is not going to be ideal.

- ENSURE before anything else I have a ROCKET MASS HEATER built and food storage secured.

- Begin building a small COTTAGE. The COTTAGE is essentially my own personal end goal for this venture (of which, I expect in my life to have multiple ventures). I want a natural cottage, not huge, just right, I basically want to live in the embodiment of a perfect bowl of porridge, and make the yurt I was living in into some type of creative space, or office, etc.

Closing Notes :
I would absolutely LOVE to hear ALL suggestions, comments, advice, what have you relative to what I post. Suggestions for locations to live, steps I should take relative to where I'm at, you get the picture. I do not simply hear people, I truly listen to them and take to heart the things I'm told.

What I type here is not exhaustive... I do not know if it will change... I do not know where any of this will lead, I do not know if someone will hear of this and reach out to help nearby, or if I will be stuck on my own trying to make it until my love can join me, either way, I do not care anymore. I want to homestead. I simply decided... it's better to have a plan, get organized, not be pessimistic, and take actionable steps towards what I desire, documenting the process for both myself, and others that feel there might be no hope as well. It will require risk... It will require sacrifice... I do not know what these will entail.

I just don't know, and I don't think I ever will, and I suppose that's ok.

Hey Jeff, I like your plan. It has actionable steps. I think you have what it takes to make it happen.

There is no shame or anything to be embarrassed about regarding your economic status. If you have no debt, you are in the black, and no matter how far above zero you are, this puts you ahead of so many struggling people out there. One important thing - don't be ashamed of where you are! Be proud of what you've overcome to get there.

Update 1 : 16th February 2024

I found a timber framing apprenticeship in Montana. This was after I found an absolutely stunning 10 acres for sale in Paradise, about an hour away from Missoula, and they have an upcoming project there. However they are based out of Bozeman and work around that proximity. But the plot is very rough. It's surrounded by national forest, it has a few private owner neighbors, and there's no road directly to it. I'd have to hike about 0.5 miles roughly from the forest service road to the property. It's also mountainous, I'm not certain if there's a flat spot for building. Not to mention, it looks like a fire burned through there, I know there are some Permies solutions to these things but being in Florida, not in the woods, I have zero experience with fire mitigation.

Summary: it's absolutely gorgeous to an Alaskan fanboy, but probably not the most suitable for a homestead, especially if I intended to keep animals.

https://wilcolandllc.com/listings/10-acres-adjoining-lolo-national-forest-in-sanders-mt/?_pxl=djoxLGM6ZjgzYjAwMzgzMTY0MzMsYTo3

I have a few options here (and I believe these options apply to any plot of land I find in the region... Because although the views are stunning, it doesn't look particularly suitable for gardening... Hunting, absolutely... Not so much gardening). If anyone has any other 5-20 acre plots in this region that would be good for homesteading, please let me know. Not sure if taking on debt in this case would be positive or negative.

1. I suspect the company will be around for a while. Therefore, I can continue on where I'm at, go check out the property and see if it's suitable, or if I can contact some neighbors, or have forest service put a road into it, all while earning a relatively standard wage here in Florida.

2. I could buy this plot of land after visiting if there's a flat spot suitable for a cottage, move immediately, and live in a tent while apprenticing as a timber framer. This could be a bit more expensive over time due to the nature of maintaining a reliable commuter vehicle, as work will be anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours away. However, I would be literally just living there freely, in some type of basic abode or tent, with nothing to do but be patient saving up money, enjoying the scenery, practicing what permaculture skills I can, gardening, etc.

Anyway, more research to do when it comes to land.

It’s good to see you jumping in with some plans! I personally would never buy property I intended to live on and make my homestead if I had to hike in. For a secondary getaway or hunting spot no problem. Your partner will not like hiking in if you said she needs some modern things to be ok.

I think the internship is good even if you have a commute. 99% of people who live far out do this. It’s part of the game when you’re young. I know nothing about this particular area and how rural but also keep that in mind for your partners work when that time comes.

Overall I believe you’re moving in a good direction. Just may need some tweaks here and there but that’s life. Good luck on this journey

Edit. Modest debt for land and or house is not negative, they are assets. And more importantly it gives you peace of mind to have a claim staked. just check the market for whatever area and make sure the values match. Being from Florida everything will probably seem like a great deal lol.

Joe Hallmark wrote:It’s good to see you jumping in with some plans! I personally would never buy property I intended to live on and make my homestead if I had to hike in. For a secondary getaway or hunting spot no problem. Your partner will not like hiking in if you said she needs some modern things to be ok.

I think the internship is good even if you have a commute. 99% of people who live far out do this. It’s part of the game when you’re young. I know nothing about this particular area and how rural but also keep that in mind for your partners work when that time comes.

Overall I believe you’re moving in a good direction. Just may need some tweaks here and there but that’s life. Good luck on this journey

Edit. Modest debt for land and or house is not negative, they are assets. And more importantly it gives you peace of mind to have a claim staked. just check the market for whatever area and make sure the values match. Being from Florida everything will probably seem like a great deal lol.

You're absolutely right about the road, I may have gone to remote Alaska so I'm not particularly bothered by the notion, but I won't have a float plane to fly me in here! I believe that her considerations and needs will be paramount in this entire process, and although I do need to be able to follow my own internal compass at times, I simply have to take into account her needs, no matter how far away joining me may be.

So... Added to the necessities list is easy, maintained access.

I am absolutely astounded by what I'm seeing here prices wise for acreage, even in this more expensive Montana region. Oh yes, nothing like this exists where I am.

So far this mental process has been about stripping the craving for luxurious modern necessities for a while, living off of basics needs in order to build something more desirable that will manifest itself only in the future... And yet that future is built by the steps taken today.

Jeff,
 Journaling successes here, might be a good idea.  My key word being successes. Maybe take a look at "Kaizen", One Step", One Minute a Day". Document your one minute that you devoted to attaining a goal. We all are aware of the absolutes of the current economy and the location that affect all of us. What lifts one up is incrimental improvements even miniscule and focusing on that positive achievement rather than dwelling on the absolutes of our circumstance. That fog of burdens that we all face is just that a fog not a wall that one has to work in to get through. Success is a big hill but as long as I just keep walking around the base and saying "Yep that's a big fucking hill" it is still going to be as tall. Time to stop circling and climb it. Journal achievements change the mindset of being at the bottom of the hill to one step closer to the top.

I like the big hill comparison. I really do!

Fellow millennial here yearning for some acreage. I have my wants then I have my needs. The needs are where I currently am as I move towards my wants. Having a partner does push you towards compromises but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. My wife is supportive of my homesteading drive but also is perfectly suited to modern day living. I did the college route, got my bachelors and then was shocked that I did not have better opportunities. I'm not talking about a dream job right off the bat, but something in my field that wasn't requiring an hour trip either way at minimal wages.

I have taken a slightly alternative approach to you, but it was the right approach for myself and the circumstances that I was in. I needed to achieve two wants in order to be stable and have a footing to work from. The first one was that I needed to afford monetarily the needs of not only myself, but my partner who was going to law school at the time. I took a well paying job at a paper mill starting entry level for decent money and just worked my way up. Swing shift sucks, mandatory OT sucks, but it gave me some breathing room. The second thing I needed was a place to live. The parent thing was tough and not a long term option. I also did not want to take out a mortgage for oodles of money on a property that I really didn't want. I settled for a house on a 1/3rd of an Acre in a village (additional taxes) that was foreclosing. 1850's built with rubblestone foundation and slate shingle roof. The foundation was sound and the roof was old but stable. I got the property at a low cost comparatively (30k instead of 300K) and finally had a place to call home.

It wasn't easy to start. Fixing broken pipes, blockage in the septic line, replacing slate shingles, replacing the water main after a few years... but it was manageable and significantly cheaper than buying something like 'everyone else'.

I have been in this house for... Six? Seven? Something like that and I now almost prefer it. Ohh no, something broke! Well... it is from the 1960s and we got the life out of it. I can practice lathe and plaster repairs where needed, upgrading electrical, and just LEARN as I do it but not worry about ruining a new house. We have started outdoor beautification projects and now have succesfully put in a chicken coop, a fenced in garden area, and now are moving towards pollinator beds.

I don't sweep the floors anymore at that mill, I worked my way up to learning the machines and then to a salaried supervisor job. I just recently have pivoted into a mill production and safety role that is a nice 7-3 monday through friday without all the overtime or swing shift. It took a bit, but I worked my way into it not just handed to me because of my degree.

I didn't expect to be here by any means, but life has a funny way of opening doors that you didn't realize were there all along.

My advice is to not settle, but not to rush yourself into a situation if you can help it. I'm in your corner and am hoping to see some early successes for you.

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

This timber framing company, the representative was extremely kind, explaining Montana to me, opportunity, the room for advancement into managerial positions (I’m not sure with my social anxiety I could handle managerial positions, I’ll leave that up to the Universe. If I try, and it’s meant to be by virtue of my efforts, then as you say, hopefully a door opens)

Really, it sounds pretty darn good, better than I could’ve asked for… I don’t know all the details, and I’ll never know how good or bad it might be unless I try.

But framing traditional timber houses… not much else could suit my personality as well as that, and the pay is just about the same as yacht carpentry… but if I have to stay where I’m at and focus on my second job at a bakery, then so be it. I will continue to save and update my blog here.

My blog of successes!

Successes Jeff, short journal entries without the dross. Just thumbnails of what you did, leave out negative dross.  Work on changing the mindset that includes using current absolutes as walls.  You  contacted the Montana timber framer, Great! Did you?, are you going to submit an application or resume?  My observation of your previous posts seem to show that you look far more forward than you need to in the scheme of things. Put your socks on before the shoe. Get an entry level position first and suck all the knowledge you can from your position. Managerial positions?  Get your foot in the door and then see if you will even like it. One has to learn the ins and outs to be a good manager, Confidence coming from knowledge will conquer social anxiety.  One step at a time. One minute a day. You have asked for comment and advice be prepared for tough love when you ask for insight from others. By refraining to use or give limitations on moving forward by referencing current absolutes that might not  help  your forward progress.  I can't ride a unicycle, so I guess my circus aspirations will never come to fruition, nope just going to have to learn to ride a unicycle. ( I learned to ride a unicycle this summer by the way). One step at a time.

Have you or are you creating a portfolio of your yacht carpentry? I imagine that there are degrees of what some call a yacht carpenter. If you are doing fine joinery and finish work , that would certainly open up cabinetry and finish carpentry work to your search. A finish carpenter in our area is bringing in over well over 40.00 an hour for residential work depending on ability.  

Robert Ray wrote:Have you or are you creating a portfolio of your yacht carpentry? I imagine that there are degrees of what some call a yacht carpenter. If you are doing fine joinery and finish work , that would certainly open up cabinetry and finish carpentry work to your search. A finish carpenter in our area is bringing in over well over 40.00 an hour for residential work depending on ability.  

I've taken photos here and there, but certainly I should've been doing as such the entire time. I suppose I can be a little foolish at times. We've done quite a bit of variation, as shown below. The thing with yacht carpentry is... Anything goes really, you do whatever you can to make it work, make it structurally sound, and make it look nice. There are few industry standards, as opposed to widely produced and standardized things such as cabinets. Yes, there's been joinery, and working with dozens of various chemicals and epoxies and such, but the complex joinery, timber framing, Japanese hand tools, are all largely my own interest. With that said, of course, we dabble in whatever.

I'm very close to booking a one way ticket to Missoula and winging it. I know I've been instructed to post only successes here, but... Maybe it's wise to purchase a ticket without a job secured, or a solidified plan... Maybe it isn't. It's sometimes hard to reason with people or prove commitment/sincerity over the internet. Rent seems to be around $1,000 for a low end place. I can swing that for a couple months without destroying my savings. Ideally, if I started working within 1 week of arrival, even better. I found a job in Huston at a fly fishing lodge doing housekeeping (a single aspect of all I didn't in remote Alaska) at $20/hour... Seems like a good fit. There seem to be any number of suitable jobs for my socially anxious being.

Right now, I live with family in Florida, "for free", so... What's the risk? I have a fallback. Worst case... I spend about $1,500 vacationing in Missoula, or I possibly change the trajectory and immediate value of my life for $1,500. It's a little gamble, kind of fun now and then, variety the spice of life. The potential benefits of success, leveraging my life, could be astounding. Or I could put myself $1,500 further backwards in ownership of land.

Where I live in Florida, I have no hope of renting and being able to save some without making $40/hour minimum. My family's house is cramped and it's getting to be too much for me. It seems like in Missoula, if I get a cheap place and a $25/hour full time job, I can rent and save quite a bit while ALSO (very importantly) having access to a ton of things nearby I personally would crave even while homesteading, or simply having a large garden, if I don't want to call it homesteading... Like access to rivers to fly fish, game to hunt, mountain biking, SNOW might I add... etc. The environment, it simply suits me.

Montana reminds me of a Lower 48 Alaska a little bit. I had barely looked at the state previously and now I'm utterly infatuated with it.

Edit: I am really not picky with how I earn money. It has its advantages and disadvantages. I would have no problem working in a bakery making sourdough and pastry, or working in a brewery making beer, or working as a timber framing apprentice, or working at a fly fishing lodge doing housekeeping. I don't have any... Innate inclination towards specific types of work. I am willing to do whatever I know how to do, or think I'd enjoy learning about.

What did you do for your one minute?  Create a beginning of the portfolio? Create a resume for a potential job at the timber framer? Meditation and rumination don't count Jeff. Don"t lose an opportunity to start the climb. One foot in front of the other. What was your focused one minute effort? You obviously are open to several ideas, bow making, fishing, musical instrument construction, carpentry, timber framing, selling plants, unique pepper plant propagation, housekeeping. What can you do to,or are you going to do to move towards your goal. You are so fortunate to have a place to lay your head for free. For me that would mean I had that rent money to invest in a venture or tools to make ducets towards my goal. What are you doing with that windfall?

Found a timber framing job in North Carolina. Setting up a week long trip to visit the area, enjoy the scenery a little as a bit of a break, go camping, fly fishing, meet the owner of the company and see how the operations work. If it works out and I'm a good fit, move by April 1st.

My main concern is of course... living expense. I do not know whether I should rent for around $800-$1,500/month. I have found as low as a 3 month lease, which could be a nice timeframe, acclimating to the region, getting my creature comforts out of the way and finding land to buy from the comfort of the internet... Or try to get suitable land as quickly as possible and live in a tent, make do with very little so that I can avoid the rental cost...

Let me post this first. It's great advice for someone your age (or any age, really...) and hopefully it will put you in the right frame of mind:

https://goodsoilmagazine.substack.com/p/if

You've got many years ahead of you, and it sounds like you have a great plan. But the thing with life is that "we make plans and God laughs."

Don't be afraid to roll with the punches. One thing that I learned late in life is that taking well-measured chances is what makes life interesting. Fate favors the bold.

If you haven't already looked at SKIP, please do so. It sounds right up your alley.

Keep us posted!

j

Great an opportunity to explore. As far as a place to live "the comfort of the internet"  is again an exploratory . Due diligence will require more than a laid back internet query. I personally think that a short lease to settle into an area as you look about is a good idea. A land purchase will require some credit history. You're debt free and that is an enviable position to be in.
True story:  My brother who owns his own house on 3 acres of property, Together we own a auto parts store with over 750,000.00 dollars in inventory, no debt. Went to buy a car with cash. The auto was on sale at a substantial reduction, however the price was if you financed. The dealership would not take the advertised payment in cash. He has always paid cash for purchases. He was unable to get approved for financing even with his on paper personal assets. I had to cosign his loan that he ran for 6 months to establish a credit history and then pay off the loan. What does your credit history look like. It sucks but you have to borrow money to borrow money. Create a good credit history now so when the opportunity arrives you can buy.
A new place, stepping out of your comfort zone and making connections with like minded folks to see if the area is a good fit.  Just like one sits on a piece of property and develops a permaculture plan as they observe through the seasons. Take a bit of time to see if the area is a good fit. Learn all you can in a new position, grab any knowledge available and offered. A position like that will easily be knowledge that can be used on a piece of property that you eventually obtain.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I understand what you're saying.

I like the idea of renting a place for 3 or so months and doing everything I can to find some land before the lease ends while saving all I can... Once it ends, put whatever non-essential belongings I bring into a storage unit that I can easily access as I build (pressure canner, miscellaneous woodworking tools, bread baking supplies, etc.). Once I have land, get a simple structure up and get to observing the land, maybe a bit of gardening. Enjoy the peace and quiet of building a foundational life while I begin the first timber framed structure: a small home... I'd need materials to purchase for timber framing, oh right, I can just purchase through the job! They even sell DIY kits.

I have rather "good" credit for now, although it took a bit of a tumble during COVID. It's hovering around 780, a number of old accounts on there, some new ones, I always try to use credit and pay it off for points and for payment history, etc.

I guess at the end of the day, I simply have to take a chance. As I stated in my first post, I don't have all the answers, but I do have a brain (that mostly works). I have... A sketch in my head, an outline, it is not a finished drawing, nothing is set in stone, it's not a painting, it can be erased and altered as necessary without much loss.

I suppose I can't be particularly afraid of failure. I do have a fallback, my family to return to if I really need to, but at this point in my life, that is becoming the last resort. I would almost rather live in a tent on some property for the rest of my life than be stuck here fantasizing about this reality I have in my head in my comfort zone.

And this reality does include a number of timber framed buildings! A small home, a workshop, a kitchen... I want to make a little village of tiny timber framed homes rather than a gigantic house, which I would be getting paid to build and learn about anyway... Not to mention, I have personal goals that inspired this desire to jump, I want to build and design furniture, learn to make guitars, etc and the job lets you use the large workshop on your own time.

It seems like quite the opportunity for me. Everything aligns, almost too well, though balanced by my uncertainty about living arrangements and my ability to "rough it".

Jeff,

I've enjoyed reading about your dreams and what you're doing to help it become a reality!

I just wanted to give you a little nudge of hope so you know it is not dangerous to be optimistic :)

I love optimism, I think it must be why my husband married me. He can be a pessimist at times.

Speaking of whom, when we got married we set our sights on purchasing land for our 10th anniversary. The plan looked something like buying a cheap(er) fixer upper, living there, fixing it, saving as much money as we could (which would not have been much at first given our circumstance and cost of living where we are), and selling the home we fixed up to purchase land.

Well, three years later we purchased land around our 3rd anniversary!

And this is something I didn't think would be possible until more like our 10th anniversary :)

We've had the land for 3 years now. Unfortunately, we are not living on that land yet but we do have a house underway and should be moving in this summer.

Our 10 year dream has become a 6.5 year reality.

Someone with your kind of plan could had moved in sooner. We're building a standard small home and it costs a gajillion dollars to build anything around here, especially post covid.

If you intend to keep your girl by your side in all this I highly recommend setting it in stone (like, a literal stone i.e. ring... granted it doesn't have to be stone) and dreaming and doing together. Being long distance is a strain to a relationship so if she isn't completely on board with what you are doing then the stress compounds. You mentioned a lot about what you are doing and dreaming but given what she is studying she'll likely want to pursue a career after college... would you be willing to move for her job? This doesn't mean you can't go to Virginia, but just something you may want to discuss with her. If you would need to move for her job then you can always sell whatever you have going in Virginia and start fresh elsewhere, as you alluded to.

Also, I don't particularly mean marriage, just an engagement if it seems appropriate. I of course have no insight into your relationship and how long you've been together so an engagement could be inappropriate right now.

Scoured internet for various jobs. Found a nice one in North Carolina doing timber framing full time... This would teach me to timber frame my own home while getting paid for it, and would also allow me to use the shop for my own personal projects to sell through the LLC I already had established. Visited the Folk Arts Center and there are a lot of very talented woodworkers in that region. The owner has a lathe he said he'd teach me to use.

So, I booked a vacation, and I traveled to Asheville/the job site from March 12th - 16th. Met with the owner, he told me of apartments nearby. When I got back I called the apartments and they'll be ready in a couple weeks at a suitable rental price.

I was offered a job and decided to accept it, so I'll be moving in a couple weeks, working in my spare time doing some small carpentry jobs to offset the cost of moving.

The land is cheap in the surrounding area, it's a true small town, small enough to where the owners finance the land easily... Surrounded by mountains mostly, with some flat lands suitable for building and farming. Soil is not the best, but it's workable, for whatever can be grown in that zone, of which, I have no idea being subtropical... I think it was Zone 7A when I checked. However, with the mild winters (minimal snow if any) and mild summers, the region is completely suitable for raising chickens for eggs, goats for milk, etc.

Congratulations Jeff!

That is an AMAZING update. I hope you are feeling excited for this new chapter. I have friends in North Carolina that love it there for a variety of reasons. I hope you find your experience is the same and I hope your confidence builds just like your skills when you are there

Well done.

Timothy Norton wrote:Congratulations Jeff!

That is an AMAZING update. I hope you are feeling excited for this new chapter. I have friends in North Carolina that love it there for a variety of reasons. I hope you find your experience is the same and I hope your confidence builds just like your skills when you are there

Well done.

Thanks, I absolutely enjoyed flying into NC... It felt like I was "coming home" the moment I saw the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Folk Arts Center. I loved everything made of wood and clay that I saw in there, and although I'm a modern millennial, I have a bit of an Appalachian heart and think I always have. The wood there is abundant, the culture there appreciates it, and I've never felt at home in Florida. I live 5 minutes from the beach and can count on my hands the amount of times I've gone the past 10 years. Besides that, there's not much to do here, in my opinion, and the land is scarce and expensive. I drove all over the Parkway and hiked a mountain, which I've never done. It was amazing to me.

I've come to grips with and realized that all I can ever do is try, and I'll never make it if I'm not at least content with my efforts and satisfied with where I'm at, because homesteading itself is a never-ending act without a goal or destination, one must be happy with where they are, because you can't rush nature if you're frustrated and makes things grow faster (for the most part).

Not unlike The Myth of Sisyphus and the now popular quote "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Being met with constant failure and disappointment makes the mildest of successes that much more meaningful and I do not take them for granted.

Some very difficult lessons have been learned.

I drove 10 hours in a rental van with all my belongings. I got to the apartment across the street from the job. There is no Uber, surviving without a car would be unreasonable and inefficient. My time is worth more than that.

The job started at $15/hour and over a few years I’d expect to make no more than $18-$19/hour or so. Therefore, after taxes, over 3/4 of my income would be going toward living expenses. I would not be thriving. I would be working to be able to afford to work.

As a carpenter and aspiring woodworking, the apartment was atrocious. Floor boards had nails sticking up, the floor creaked, some boards were warped so badly they stuck an inch off the ground and there would be 1/4 inch gap between them, all discolored from mismatched patchwork fixes… oh. I’m sorry, but I have an eye for quality and it was unreasonable. I would never make someone pay $900 to live in a place like that, $300-$400 maybe… that $900 didn’t include electric or internet either. All night you could hear upstairs people walking on their hardwood floor. I am not weak willed, but I have a certain standard of living.

If I setup a tent to live in, it would be prettier than that apartment, more intentional and cared for.

Anyway, I swallowed my pride and drove the 10 hours back home, down quite a bit of cash for the car and gas, but that’s ok. I am the type of person that needs to experience something in order to fully understand it. I could write my financials down on paper, acknowledge I’d be without a vehicle, but until I experience it firsthand I just never internalize things, though I surely will never forget and never make the same mistake twice.

I am grateful for what I have here.

Which is the fact I make $25/hour working whenever I want to, and I’m going to a baker’s apprenticeship tomorrow. I wanted a job there over a year ago... and the owner emailed me again asking if I’m interested the day before I left.

As for timber framing. It unfortunately was a bit of a dream job… and the location was unbelievable. But I would not be thriving there, I’d be scraping by and trapped in a run down apartment with truly no hope of ever saving money to homestead.

I am going to take some timber framing courses here and there so that I can still gain the knowledge, and continue reading my books on the subject, and enjoying what little permaculture I can do in the backyard, while enjoying the little things in life, such as having cell service and fresh coffee.

Until next time… it might be a while until my next post here. I just plan on working and saving money, I can’t do anything else, but at least here I can save every penny I make. I am ashamed of living with my family still, but as an unskilled worker, you simply can’t make it on your own these days and truly excel, that’s my own experience at least, and I don’t think 5 years working there would change that.

I don’t know where I’ll end up, or where I hope to buy land, but I know that my heart is not settled in Florida (unless it’s far north Florida, I guess).

Cheers.

I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't the right situation but I applaud you for realizing it quickly and not falling for a sunk-cost fallacy.

I want to just give you a pat on the back and I assure you that you should have no shame of having to rely on family. We live in unique times where a lot of places are unaffordable for people just entering the workforce and getting established.

Life has a lot of doors, some open and some closed, and sometimes we have to see what is behind them. I'm hopeful that you might gain some insights and hopefully enjoy your time learning at your baking apprenticeship. If I might pry, what kind of shop are you working at? A small customer facing bakery or something at a larger scale?

I’ve been a hardcore baker for about 5 years, I roast my own coffee and I would safely say I’m a self declared pastry and coffee addict. Even in NC just yesterday I did everything I could to have those two things, I feel mostly satisfied when I get them lol.

I’m well versed in vegan baking as well, the owner of the bakery is vegan but the bakery itself is customer facing, serving all assortments of deli sandwiches, sourdough loaves, cakes and pastries, but they also supply a wide region their bread, restaurants and events and such.

The bakery is very well known, it’s basically “the” bakery for the entire region and all sourdough, very high quality, ancient grains, gluten free options.

It supplies all the food for the best entirely vegan restaurant in the area as well.

So… well, it’s a very good bakery. The quiet overnight solitude of being a baker suits my personality, and it’s a skill I can use to survive just about anywhere once I learn commercial processes and skills.