Image Credit – Pixabay
I want to start off by saying I picked up this book by accident.
I was given a Kindle for Christmas and I was looking for books to read. I figured I’d give Kindle Unlimited a try finally deciding to use my free month and browsing through the book selection I came across this book. Thinking it sounded familiar, like a book someone on the Tim Ferriss Podcast recommended, I picked it out, and added it to my library. That night I decided to give it a shot. I… WAS… BLOWN… AWAY!
Summary:
Ken Ilgunas is an average high school student who goes off to college to continue his average academic career. After 5 years in school, he finds himself with zero job prospects and over $32,000 in debt. Soon after hearing a Jiminy Cricket type voice in his head, he decides to take a fate filled trip to work in Coldfoot, Alaska, a town with the population of approximately 10 people which primarily serves as a truck stop on the Dalton Highway. Soon he becomes obsessed with getting out of debt taking several jobs in and around the Coldfoot area, cleaning up in Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina, becoming a voyageur, and hitchhiking all across the US. After completely wiping out his debt in only a few years, Ken decided to get his Masters in Liberal Arts at Duke University in Durham, NC. Resolute in his desire to stay out of debt he becomes a Vandweller throughout his collegiate tenure, graduating as debt free as when he started.
Why I loved It:
The short answer is almost all of it. Honestly, this hit extremely close to home for me. Much like Ken, I was an average student in high school, though I could have been better if I’d applied myself, I was an average student in college, for much of the same reason, and both of us went off to find adventure while needing to pay off a sizeable collegiate loan. One of the main reasons I left to join the Navy was to break out of the linear progression my life seemed to be taking me. School, more school, job, wife, kids, family. I was on the assembly line of life, due to no one’s fault but my own, destined for mediocrity. Unlike Ken, however, I’ve mostly continued to play it safe.
The main focus of this story is Ken’s resolute desire to get out of, and stay out of, debt. He wants to get out of debt so badly he chastises himself whenever he spends is money “frivolously.” Many of these so-called “frivolous” items are things most of us don’t even bat an eye at. Things like buying new clothes, going out to eat when there’s perfectly good food at home, having a cell phone plan, spending money to hang out with friends, or any of the myriad of things we do throughout our lives and take for granted.
At first, I thought this book was about one man’s obsessive need to be out of debt. Then I thought it was about having adventures while getting out of debt. It wasn’t until a few days ago I realized this was a personal development book and a commentary of what we think we need verse what we actually need.
For many of us, the thought of living in a van and eating food from a camping stove conjures up images of homelessness, not a choice someone’s made to save money while being frugal. The idea of moving to a town in the Arctic Circle in Alaska for work is something we would do out of desperation, not for fun or excitement. Forget about hitchhiking down the street, let alone across the country. That’s for hobos and vagabonds, not respectable folks like us. But why? Why does the thought of these things fill us with dread? Why are we afraid of downsizing our lives to need and want less, rather than always trying to get more? Why not decide to pick up and leave today with only the clothes on our backs?
I’m sure for many of us, myself DEFINITELY included, it’s fear. Fear of not having enough. Fear of what other people will think. Fear of needing something and not having it. We live in a world of excess so of course, the thought of having less scares us. It’s not the norm. It’s not our neighbors, the Jones, are doing. They want more and better and new so it becomes our default as well.
Why do we need more? Does it make us happy? Do we become more fulfilled with each new purchase and each new thing? I know for me, it makes me feel exhausted. Exhausted by the wants. Exhausted by the perceived needs. An exhausted feeling I’m swimming in stuff which doesn’t really make my life better.
This is what made this book so appealing. It wasn’t just the self-discovery or the adventure after adventure Ken took. It was the realization we are the ones who are holding ourselves back from what we really want. In fact, the things we have around us which we think are making our lives better are actually acting like anchors. They keep us from the life we want. Does this mean we shouldn’t buy the brand new car or the 70-inch flat screen? Of course not but it shouldn’t be at the expense of our dreams or put us under so much debt we are constantly drowning.
In the end, the book represented freedom. Freedom from debt, freedom from things, and freedom from the average, uneventful life. It might be an extreme example but I think Ken’s journey can teach us all how to leave happier simpler lives. I know his book has already helped change the way I see my home, what I value, and the world around me. It won’t be a quick change but I’m excited about the journey.
Come check out the book for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.