File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Well, looks like I may lose my job as a programmer in the economic downturn. I've got a few thousand dollars saved up. And I'm at a crossroads at what to do in life. I don't have any friends, and haven't spoken to my family in years.

I've been thinking about moving from the medium sized city I'm in into a bigger city. I've priced out wireless internet and a library card for a university campus library to about $400/annually. That's pretty cheap and the library is open from 7am until 1am every day of the week. I can get a gym pass for $30/month so I can use a shower.

I'm thinking about living out of my van and spending most of my time at the library with my laptop, and picking up some freelance computer/software programming work.

I'd have to spend a bit of money and time outfitting my van for this purpose.

Good idea or bad idea?

I'm really unsure because my biggest fear is that the plan fails and I end up begging on the streets 6 months from now. But I don't see myself getting a job better than flipping burgers for $12/hour where I'm at, plus I need to pay $800/month in rent currently.
>> Anonymous
Where are you going to park that van so you won't get fucked with by the cops?

Don't worry about failing at the freelancing thing and not being able to pay your bills. You'll do fine if you have some skills. It's how i get by.

Also, why would you just want to barely scrape by? If you're going to work online, you can do this anywhere in the world and live a way better life than doing the same thing in the US.
>> Anonymous
>>82040
>you can do this anywhere in the world and live a way better life than doing the same thing in the US.
This. Go to some cheap-ass non-anglophone country with a warm climate, staying there on tourist visas and doing the freelance thing and tutoring English (No one cares if you have a degree or not in such countries, except proper language schools). Warm climate -> little to no heating bill. You learn a new language. See new places. You win on all fronts.
>> Anonymous
>>82045
Hmmm. Yeah, but what do I do when my visa runs out? Move on to the next country? I won't really have much of a home to move back to. What about my retirement?

This all seems really unsettling. I've been a shut-in most of my life.
>> Anonymous
>>82049
>Yeah, but what do I do when my visa runs out?
Some countries have open-ended visas, where you just pay a fine for overstaying. You can always just hit the next country, stay a day or two, and come back.
>I won't really have much of a home to move back to.
Home is wherever you're sleeping that night.
>What about my retirement?
I believe that's called "death".
>> Anonymous
>>82049
Simply renew it, should be doable.
I didn't propose this as a way to spend your entire life, of course you should keep on looking for jobs back at home or somewhere where you could settle. Then your retirement can be sorted out.
>> Anonymous
>But I don't see myself getting a job better than flipping burgers for $12/hour where I'm at

YOU FLIP BURGERS FOR $12 AN HOUR?

Holy shit, where the fuck do you live?!

A $12/hr job here is a call-center position for a fucking airline. Burger flippers get like $7/hr if they're lucky.
>> Anonymous
Do it faggot. Live the dream.
>> Anonymous
>>82058

In-N-Out associates start at $10 or so. Tough to get a job there from what I hear, and they fucking bust their ass on the job though. I don't see any fast food workers work as hard as they do since In-N-Outs are always busy as fuck
>> Anonymous
Believe it or not, people are still hiring out there.

It sounds to me like you just need to sort your life out. Go and get a new job (simplyhired.com is the best job search site IMO) in somewhere like New York or San Francisco, maybe at a well funded start-up company or somewhere like google where it's nice to work. Then start going out and meeting people, go on meetup.com if you need to and find events that are happening that you might be interested in.

At the moment it sounds like you're barely existing, I've gone through phases like that, but you just have to look at yourself rather harshly and highlight what needs to change.

Good luck.
>> Anonymous
Many people live out of vehicles, temporarily or permanently.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/VanDwellers/
>> Anonymous
I have to second the lone wanderer thing. Being a shut-in just means you have less people to miss. Get the fuck out of Dodge and see the world. A few thousand dollars will get you on the road.