I’m just a frustrated hobo at heart, who were it not for the restrictions of marriage would be riding the rails and swiping plates of left over Chinese at the local food hall. So when I read what other creative hobo types have done to wrestle back their free time, I am in awe. Terry K takes hobo to a new, and well shaven, level. As you can tell from the title of his Salon article < I secretly lived in my office for 500 days >, he camped out under his desk at work and pocketed his rent money for a year and a third. It’s simple. It’s genius. And I have to admit, it’s something I also thought about when I first moved to West Palm Beach in 2008.
When I was hired under contract by the South Florida Water Management District in Feb of 2008, I had to relocate fairly quickly. That meant maintaining two houses: the one in Arkansas that my wife lived in, and a second future abode for me in sunny Florida. The thought left me in a miser’s panic. I spent hours searching Craigslist assessing roommate options, short-term leases, and even dog sitting arrangements for the summer as a means to save cash on accommodation. At around the same time, another possibility struck me: buy a VW Camper and park it somewhere cheap. That could either have been up the road at Jonathan Dickenson State Park, or at work in the nice and secure ‘District’ car park.
Now I came no closer to acting out my fantasy than walking my employer’s campus to see where I would shower and where I would appropriate power from, but it did cross my mind. The savings would have been huge, well north of $12K a year, but I had to be realistic. I had a wife. Furthermore, I had a wife who considered staying in a La Quinta to be a form of urban camping. And so that is where my dream ended. I am glad, however, I got to see someone else prove its validity. A tip of the hat to you Terry K, very well done!
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