This month November I intentionally “moved” to the highest cost of living state for 3 reasons:
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it’s beautiful and I want to live here
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high cost of living also means that jobs pay more here than anywhere else
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which is a bonus for us homeless people because we don’t have to worry about handing all that extra money to landlords/ mortgage bankers 😉 We pocket the extra money. (And before you assume I’m some drug-addled hobo, nope, I’m not. I’m saving money for new lithium leisure batteries and scheduled maintenance & so many upgrades to my already awesome van. It will take a year or two until I’ve saved up enough $ for that then I can commence enjoying this healthy spirited life again.)
okay now here’s the societal hurdle I’ve been afraid of and I think I’ve conquered it today: This is the first time since embarking on this lifestyle I’ve absolutely had to get a real W-2 job that requires employees to have a permanent address in the state but I don’t want my employer to know that I don’t have a physical address.
I don’t want my new prospective employers to know that I live in a van because they will immediately cast judgment on that because there’s an unfair stigma associated with this lifestyle and they would unfairly assume all the worst things about me which would affect their decision to hire me, so How’d I get around this??
When they weren’t satisfied with my out-of-state PO Box address, and they also weren’t satisfied with my temporary 30-day in-state General Delivery USPS address, today in my FOURTH interview I finally admitted, “All right, I’m HOMELESS but I’m fine, I’m healthy, I’m clean, have everything I need, I show up to work everyday no problem, everything is fine. I just need a job.”
She said “ok,” and stepped away for a minute but it felt like forever, I was so worried that was the end of my hiring process, but apparently everything was fine! We continued on for an hour with the onboarding documents and I’m in 🎉
So glad to hear that - it’s the humans in the process who make it possible.
I know a guy who once gave his probation officer a UPS store box, and they didn’t even blink. For the thrity bucks or so, it was well worth it. Not once did said PO knock on my friend’s door a couple states away, and all was right with the world.
Also, congrats on the giant pair it takes to sa 'yeah, homeless, but look at me, I’ve got my shit together - because I’ve a place to stay, and your def of homeless is very different from mine."