Mendi-can

I've become like an old squirrel, hiding my precious nuts about town and then forgetting about them.

When I came back to Sarasota from FSU, I moved into a tent in my mother's backyard. I couldn't deal with listening to her television blasting all night, or the hum of the air conditioner when I knew people were paying good money to experience the gentle summer breezes I got for free.

Over the next year my belongings gradually spread out across town at my friends' places, their parents' houses, and even in the trunk of one girl's car, though I don't think she knows I keep a pair of sneakers there. I have a full change of professional clothes in several locations, and about 4 complete sets of keys with keys to all these people's houses stashed in a few places, not including the set I keep with me; if I can't get to one, surely I can get to another. My important documents are mailed to the household least likely to move in the next year, my packages are sent to the household with the most attentive mother who will call me if something arrives; not the same house.

Since I live at what would traditionally be described as "no fixed location", I pay no rent. I have no car; I refuse to shoulder such an expense. I work at Starbucks, but with my minimized expenses, I'm saving over $500 a month and still buying everything I want. Hm....

This all happened organically, I didn't intent to become a bum, but I'm really glad I did. Having a fixed location to put my belongings and sleep would be nice, but will happen soon. I'm not sure I would opt to do this all over again but it's been fun.

I think the reason I'm happiest with how things have turned out is that I'm confident that I would be miserable if I had real bills to pay every month or other obligations looming overhead.

All in all, in spite of how it looks, I can't help but feel I'm in more actual control of my life than many of the people I know, and that's nice.