Autonomy vs. Comfort: Leaving the 9 to 5 for Van Life and Creating my own Freedom

It’s funny how life can take the most drastic turn when you least expect it. I originally chose accounting because it was safe, predictable, and I didn’t know how to take risks. Throughout a period of just a few short years, I could feel my identity and peace withering away. Does it make sense to sit in a desk 40+ hours weekly? To take orders from individuals that don’t have your own well-being in mind? To miss out on memories and enjoy the simple pleasures of nature?

The older I get, the quicker time passes by. Increasingly, I wonder how the 60 year old version of me will look back on everything. This thought pattern caused me to finally realize that I have control over my own autonomy. It is a choice to accept behavior that isn’t conducive to collaboration or positivity. It is a choice to be willingly employed by an entity whose only purpose is to please shareholders. And it is a choice to bet on your dreams, regardless of how uncertain it may seem.

After spending way too long sitting in cubicles, I finally took a chance and bought a camper van. One that makes me smile each time I glance over. Selling off my material belongings felt like taking bricks out of an imaginary backpack. Each item was one step closer to freedom. It’s now been roughly a week since living full-time in my van, and the repressed tension from years of going against the grain is seeping away. For the first time in a long time, I feel fulfilled. Content. Happy. Hanging out with my cat and watching trees sway with the wind has been therapeutic.