I'm a very judgmental person, I have been for as long as I can remember. It's certainly not a trait that I'm proud of, it's just always been easier for me to dismiss people based on superficial observations than to actually try to understand anything about them. If neither software engineering nor driving buses work out for me, I can readily imagine myself becoming a dunk tank clown, because I'm quick to recognize "flaws" with a cursory glance.* I'm sure a proper psychiatric evaluation would conclude that it stems from some deep-seated insecurity that I've yet to acknowledge, but that's entirely beside the point.

So anyway, a couple weeks ago, I'm sitting in my favorite cafe, as I often do, and I see an older gentleman playing some Anime-styled video game. My first few thoughts upon seeing this went something like, What a weirdo. Jesus buddy, get a room. Seriously, does he even realize how ridiculous he looks right now?, and so on and so forth. And normally at this point, I'd gently scold myself and make no actual effort to reform this nasty, completely unconstructive habit of mine. But on this day, I happened to be feeling a little more self-aware, and as a result, had a much more constructive response to myself, which went something like the following:

Brandon, you are straight up homeless. On a daily basis, you climb into and out of the back of a large, decrepit moving truck. You have met human beings that know this about you, and are still willing to associate with you. If everyone was as dismissive and judgmental as you are being right now, the world would be a cold, sad, awful place. Don't be such a douchebag, your insolence is toxic and is a great way to alienate yourself from all of the really interesting people in the world. More often than not, people have valid and compelling reasons for doing the things they do, and there could be an innate beauty in their hobbies and habits that you simply can't see from your admittedly limited perspective. Don't shut people out and dismiss them so blithely, at the very least, their presence will show you new ways of seeing the world.

That's that. Having a close-minded attitude towards perspectives other than my own doesn't suit me well now, and certainly won't be any more beneficial in my future travels. Applying my own Litmus Test to my actions makes it clear that I'm not doing a service to anyone with my attitude. So that changes now.

_{*I put "flaws" in quotes because of the idea of perfection that I discussed at the end of this post, mainly that to be flawed is to be human and to expect or want anything else is naive.^{in my opinion}}

So I've been at work almost a month now, and living in the truck for just as long. I've definitely established a comfortable routine, and I'm a lean, mean, code-producing machine on my team, so everything is going good. This means I can focus my non-work hours to the real goal: the big trip.

The Trip

When I interned in Silicon Valley last summer, I realized a few very important and related things:

1. I'm horrifically uncultured/culturally-unaware.
2. I'd like to change that.
3. The world is full of beautiful and amazing places.
4. Of all these beautiful and amazing places, I've only ever seen a small handful of them.
5. I'd like to change that too.

I've mentioned this here and there, but as a reminder, the end-goal of this whole situation, the culminating experience of 4+ years of van-life, is a world-encompassing expedition. Realizing how little I've done, seen, and know helps me put into perspective just how important this goal is for me. I want to experience as much of the world as possible, and over the course of the next few years, as I save money and my stocks vest and my investments grow, I'm going to plot out the journey in excruciating detail, making sure that I don't miss anything. I'm only going to be young and able for so long, now is the time to do this.

Plotting the Course

Right now, I have a very broad idea of what I want to do, and a very limited idea of what is actually out there in the world for me to experience. I know I want to spend at least six months traveling. I know I want to visit all the (inhabited) continents. I know I want to learn the basics of a few languages. But beyond these few basic desires, I don't have much concrete knowledge as to what I should even be looking for. Luckily, I'm not the only human being on the planet, and I can draw on the near infinite wisdom of the rest of the world's past and present human beings through the endlessly useful invention of The Book^TM. To get warmed up, I've purchased two whole books.

Book #1: How to Drop Everything And Travel Around The World

A vaguely gimmicky title yes, and not a super thick book, but it has exactly what I need: firsthand travel experience from someone way more knowledgeable about the topic than me. The text certainly isn't exhaustive, but at the very least, it'll point me in the right direction regarding things like: learning languages, adapting to new cultures, understanding the philosophy of travel, and tons of other useful skills. It's basically a Sparknotes-edition of what I want my life to look like a few years down the road.

Book #2: 1,000 Places to See Before You Die

This book is some serious business. In it's physical form, it's 1200 pages of tiny text, a nearly comprehensive guide of places to travel to, and what to do when you get to them. And while it's naive of me to make any estimates without having read any actual content yet, I'd like to reach at least 250 of them in this trip. That may be a feasible goal, it may not be, I have absolutely no idea at this point. But reading this book, in it's entirety, will help me understand more about the cultures of the world and how to adequately approach them, as well as less abstract, more practical things like where to stay, what events to go to, and what to eat.

Like I said, this is just the start, and I'm sure I'll have a better idea of what to read/do/learn next once I start reading these books. I have years to go, and all the time I need. The sky is the limit and the world is my oyster: you bet I plan on being the most high-flying fisherman I can be.

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about some more RV/Hippie Van/Truck neighbors.

No matter how well you plan out things, life always has a way of throwing little things at you to make sure you're still paying attention. For the past week, life has been throwing the sound of jackhammers in my direction. It makes perfect sense that construction crews would work at night, when normal human beings aren't at work and getting in their way, but I certainly was not expecting the parking lot I call home to be subjected to such perils. Like, they're actually tearing up 10' by 10' sections at a time, something to do with pipes or electricity or whatnot. I'm a computer systems engineer, not a mechanical engineer, I have no idea how any of this stuff works. It makes me think back to when I was considering getting soundproofing installed by that Happy Vans company in San Jose. It's still not really an issue, the truck actually does a surprisingly good job of blocking it out, and I haven't had any trouble falling asleep. Still, just goes to show you that there will always be something, whether it's crows, radioactive waste, or jackhammers.

In any case, I enjoy the variety and dynamic unpredictability of the whole situation.

Something I noticed when I first bought this truck was that it had a special permit in it. A special permit issued by the "Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration", authorizing it to carry…something? I'm not actually sure what this truck was used for prior to my purchase, some sort of commercial activity, and I know for a fact that it started it's life as a simple Budget truck. Call it stubbornness or naivety, but I'm not particularly interested in finding out what it actually was carrying. I've lived here a month with no adverse effects, and I've even noted my improved sleeping abilities. Who knows, maybe my ability to sleep is from toxic fumes knocking me out every night, or maybe one morning I'll wake up and all my hair has fallen out and I'll have developed some new, baffling form of respiratory cancer. That would be an interesting one to explain to a doctor. Best case scenario, the truck was carrying radioactive waste and my exposure is slowly giving me super powers. Worst case scenario, the truck was carrying radioactive waste and my exposure is slowly turning me into a character from The Hills Have Eyes.

All I know for sure is that I'm living in a truck that has "special permit authorization" to carry hazardous wastes. Given that the only things that this truck carries are me and my livelihood, that permit is effectively calling me hazardous waste. In any case, I'm authorized to carry hazardous wastes well into the year 2017, which I'm sure will totally come in handy at some point.

I occasionally mention how glad I am that I'm able to live the way I do, but it's definitely not for everyone. In fact, the reason I'm able to do this is mainly because of the benefits afforded to me by the company I work at. Not that I expect many people are envious of my lifestyle, but for all those aspiring to live out of some type of vehicle, here is a list of hard requirements, collected through experience and in no particular order, that your life should possess before you consider trying to live in a box truck.

Hard Requirements

• Good weather. You need to live in a place where the outside conditions are bearable year round. And when I say bearable, I mean you need to be comfortable sleeping in them. Unless you get extremely fancy (at which point, why bother?), you aren't going to have heating or cooling in your truck, so if you aren't in a temperate area, your life is going to be unpleasant for at least part of the year. I live in the Bay Area, which is about the most temperate, tolerable place on the planet, and even I'm mildly uncomfortable on particularly cold or hot nights. Make sure you're comfortable with mild discomfort.
• Access to facilities. You need to have a place to shower and go to the bathroom. Period. Living in a truck doesn't mean you get to abandon personal hygiene, in fact it means you have to step it up a notch so people don't think you're insane and gross. This means that regardless of where you're showering, whether it's the office, a local gym, or a bathhouse, you do need to be showering. Going to the bathroom in a crate is not sustainable, and also makes me legitimately sick to think about. You're a minimalist, not an animal.
• Money upfront. It isn't cheap to start living in a car. First off, you have to have the damn car, and depending on what you want to live in (make sure to get something with at least a little bit of extra room), that's going to cost you anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000. This is not a cheap or short-term endeavor. Second, you'll have to pay more for insurance, which is higher for larger and commercial vehicles. Expect to pay anywhere from $750 to $2,000 a year. Depending on what your previous housing situation was, you'll also need a few pieces of furniture, namely a bed and some sort of storage unit. Check Freecycle, Craigslist, and if those fail, Ikea. Basically, you've got to spend money to save money, if that's even why you're considering this.
• An address. When you don't live in a building, you don't get the luxury of having mail sent to it. You're going to need either a dependable friend or family member close by who is willing to let you use their address, or you're going to need a Private Mailbox. You need to have a real, deliverable address to put on official documents, apply for things like insurance, and get letters and packages to.

Okay, so those are all the things that you absolutely need to have before you journey down this road. Here are a few other things that certainly won't hurt.

Soft Requirements

• Be comfortable with yourself. If you're self-conscious or place a lot of value on other peoples' opinions of you, you're going to have a really tough time. You'll eventually have to explain to someone that you live in a car, and not everyone is going to be so receptive of that. If you can't handle people not accepting your lifestyle, definitely don't do this. You need to be able to admit to yourself that you're a little insane, and that this isn't something reasonable human beings do. I frequently find myself giggling at just how ridiculous it is that I'm driving my house down the highway. Sometimes, people may see you getting in or out of your car and notice that you clearly live in it. If that bothers you, this might not be the lifestyle that you're looking for.
• Have (time-consuming) hobbies. Your car isn't really meant for hanging out in, and even if you try, it's just not a place conducive to being fun. After work and on weekends, if you don't have any itinerary or activities planned for yourself, you're going to get bored very quickly. Personally, I make new websites, work on this blog, exercise, and amble around the Bay Area, exploring what it has to offer. Sleeping and walking in circles in the back of a truck are not valid hobbies.
• Be a decent driver. This is more for people who are going for box trucks, RVs, school buses, and the like. Vans and small trucks don't really have this issue, but as I've mentioned before, maneuvering and parking a large vehicle in an urban area can be exhausting, even when planned out. And if you aren't a careful driver, an accident here costs a lot more than an insurance premium: it effectively makes you homeless. So don't drive your house around if you can avoid it, and when you do have to drive it, be a very careful and alert driver.
• Be flexible and adaptable. If you're high maintenance and accustomed to a certain lifestyle, it really should go without saying that this isn't the best course of action for you. And even if you are flexible, living in such a dynamic environment means that the requirements of your life can be constantly changing. If you aren't self-sufficient and able to react quickly to the various road bumps (quite literally) of life, truck-living will get discouraging very quickly.

All of these things considered, if you're doing this to save money, make sure you actually plan it out first. I'm not talking casually daydreaming about it the day before you do it, I'm talking research and cold, hard numbers. Make a spreadsheet or something. Be very liberal with estimating the cost of various things, you'd rather be surprised by how much money you have than how little. Between eating out all the time, a gym membership, increased insurance, a private mailbox, and other random things that you'll end up paying for, you want to be sure that the lifestyle is indeed more economically feasible than the alternatives, again, if that's your goal. It's certainly less convenient in some ways than having a house or apartment, so if you're paying more in the long run, you're probably doing it wrong.