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One Month Homeless: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The truth is more surprising than fiction… That’s what my friend Joe Johnson said after introducing me to a friend of his who had just heard me say...
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How Going Homeless Made Me Healthier
I should clarify… When I was preparing to go homeless, there were a number of factors I had to consider. Shelter Clothing Hygiene Nutrition Gear & Equipment...
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From Home(full) to Home(less): A Story in Pictures
That’s what my bedroom looked like. I remember it quite clearly as it’s only been a little over a week since I saw it last (though it’s felt...
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In 30 Days, I’ll Be Homeless
It’s the tail end of the 1st of August, and as of today, I have exactly 30 days to prepare for my newest experiment: leaving my apartment behind,...
Where is Charles now?
If you’re reading this, then you may have noticed that I haven’t updated the site in awhile. Why? Because I live in a real home again! I probably should have posted awhile ago explaining the situation, but you know how life is, things happen faster than expected and suddenly a year has past. So here’s what happened in a nutshell: June 2014 – I realize I have a problem. I have over $25,000 of debt across my 4 credit cards. July – I look for ways to drastically…
The truth is more surprising than fiction…
That’s what my friend Joe Johnson said after introducing me to a friend of his who had just heard me say that I’m homeless. The onslaught of questions that followed reminded me that I’ve been meaning to sit down and consider what my life is like right now. Things are moving so fast that it’s hard for me to really consider what’s going on, instead, I often find myself simply jumping from one thing to the next.
I’ve made it a full month without a regular place to sleep. Actually, almost a month and a half now. I was planning on writing this post on October 1st, but as has been the case with many things in my life recently, it’s been hard to make time for it. A lot has changed since going homeless over a month ago. And that’s the topic of this post. The good, the bad, and the “ugly” of my transition into this new lifestyle. The change has been overwhelmingly good. But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.
THE GOOD
- $$$. I’m saving bundles of money. No rent, no electric bill, no internet bill. Additionally, not drinking has saved my wallet as well.
- Healthy eating. I eat spinach for breakfast. Along with chard, kale, brussels sprouts, olive oil,
Guac-broc with egg, banana, and salmon.
cinnamon, and flax seeds. The rest of the day is similarly themed. This diet started as a way to strengthen my immune system, but the energy and “clean feeling” benefits have bolstered my resolve to keep this going strong.
- Healthy moving. I workout every morning before work. This started with the intention of getting my brain functional in the morning as I was ditching my morning coffee routine, but I also see the value to my health and physical fitness.
- Time. I don’t vacuum carpet, mop floors, change bed sheets, wipe down dusty surfaces, or take out trash/recycling. That’s a lot of extra time I can re-purpose.
- Learning. Not having a place to recline and be lazy means I’m almost constantly in a state of action. From taking an online course on the history of our species to studying the fundamentals of entrepreneurship to lunch dates with local innovators to stay abreast of progress… I’m soaking in the knowledge.
- Comfort zone. What I’m doing is still outside of my comfort zone (though I’m growing more comfortable with it every day.) Having made this big leap, other things outside my realm of comfort have become more attainable. Hand stands in public places, dancing with strangers outside the subway station… I’ve even started going to church on Sundays to challenge my non-belief.
THE BAD
- Lack of sleep. I average 5 hours of sleep a night. For someone used to a solid 7.5 hours a night, it’s a significant change.
- Bug bites. I know they’re necessary for our existence, but damn… bugs are all over the place. #notinmybackyard (or rather… #notinmywoods)
- Stupid mistakes. I’m finding myself making mistakes due to not being able to always anticipate the consequences in my new environment. For example… diving into my hygiene container to “discover” my razor had slipped out of it’s holder. Or… the fact that I haven’t done laundry in 3 weeks due to timing issues. Thank you Ministry of Supply for creating awesome non-iron and super wrinkle resistant clothing.
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- Sliced and diced
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- Spiders like my gun show
THE UGLY
- Relationships. Out of everything, my personal relationships have likely taken the biggest toll thus far. How do you maintain an intimate relationship without personal space of your own? It’s difficult, that’s for sure. Even friendships aren’t as easy to maintain since I’ve thrown a ton of activities into my life. This is definitely an area I need to work on.
And there you have it folks… the good, the bad, and the ugly of my homeless lifestyle (thus far.) I’m wiped and not going to review this so apologies in advance for any mistakes / errors.
I should clarify…
When I was preparing to go homeless, there were a number of factors I had to consider.
- Shelter
- Clothing
- Hygiene
- Nutrition
- Gear & Equipment
I knew right from the get-go that without a regular home where I could rest and re-cooperate, I needed to take every precaution to not get sick. I’ve always been the type of person who seems to get a cold almost every month or two. With frequent drinking, not enough sleep, and rampant stress, my immune system has been a mess for years.
All of that changed when I went homeless.
As mentioned in an earlier post, the month before ditching my apartment I joined Tim Ferriss (and a bunch of other people) in a NOBNOM month. Well guess what? That month turned into two… and I don’t intend to stop. Not drinking booze has not only saved me a ton of money, it’s kept me in good health during a period of HUGE change and stress. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle.
I’ve given up:
- Alcohol
- Masturbation
- Computer and iPhone games
- Coffee
- Foods developed during/after the agricultural revolution in our species’ history
- Movies
This often brings up some questions…
So you don’t go out anymore? I do! I still go out to bars / clubs from time to time. I just drink non-alcoholic beer or soda water with lime. It’s forced me to become comfortable without the help of the so called “social lubricant.”
No masturbation? Yup. But that doesn’t mean no sex 
What’s with the weird food thing? I’ve recently been trying the Paleo diet. No grains, cereals, candy or the like. In the past month I’ve likely eaten more vegetables than I’ve eaten in the past couple years. I’m monitoring progress and will continue or alter this regimen depending on results.
While I’ve given up a number of things, I’ve also taken on quite a few as well.
I’ve taken on:
- Morning workouts before work
- Standing while working instead of sitting
- Eating vegetables I used to not be able to identify (e.g., chard, brussels sprouts)
- Reading online articles in my industry and about my passions
- Reading books (what a concept!)
- Writing (in a daily journal and here on this site)
- Professional development activities (e.g., startup competition judging, speaking engagements)
Which comes back to the original point of this post.
Throughout my life, I’ve spent countless hours playing Civilization, eating junk food (I love pizza), and watching movies (sometimes back-to-back.) But now… I’m doing push-ups in the office (Push-Up Friday’s have become a real thing — even Engineering joins in), gobbling up broccoli with guacamole, and studying the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Not only has my lifestyle changed, but my sense of who I am: my values, my goals, my competency, has changed.
You obviously don’t need to “go homeless” to take any of this on. It just so happened that making these lifestyle changes wasn’t such a big deal in contrast to ditching my apartment. It makes me wonder what else I can take on… =)
Image Credit: Nancy Regan
A laundry and dry cleaning service…
…or more specifically: a laundry and dry cleaning service right near my office.
I’ve now been homeless for two straight weeks and I think I’ve done a pretty bang-up job so far. From the most basic needs like shelter and nutrition to those closer to the “want” section like fitness and socializing; I’ve found economical and efficient means for addressing the majority of them. But until today, the one piece that was always missing was laundry. I was going through clothes like I had ants in my pants. And on that note, the other night I DID have ants in my pants.
During the past two weeks, I determined efficient ways of:
- Buying groceries in adequate quantity on a budget (while maintaining focus on good nutrition)
- Trading out clothes from my backpack with those in storage
- Incorporating an occasional catch-up with someone from outside my little bubble
…but there was always that sack of laundry in a garbage bag under my desk. Until now.
This discovery is big.
It’s HUGE.
The alternative options required a significant investment of time. And surprisingly, it’s not spending money that is my biggest constraint, it’s time. It’s funny, you’d think someone going homeless to save money would be willing to deal with quarters and a couple hours of time to save the buckage instead of having someone else do it for you at a premium, but I truly don’t have time for it. The opportunity cost of doing the laundry myself is just too high. In those two hours, I could’ve made close to $100 doing consulting work. When you work a full-time job and two consulting jobs on off hours and weekends, time becomes scarce fast.
I’ll have my first order of clean clothes in my hands tomorrow afternoon. I hope they’re still warm =)