Mile Marker #18: Travel, Moving, and (Always) Money
I went to a wedding this weekend for two dear friends of mine and had an absolute blast! I didn’t realize until I got there that it was a teeny-tiny wedding with only 35 people, including both the brides, so I was really touched just to be invited in the first place.
It was a TON of fun, with some of the nicest and funniest people I’ve met in a while, at this adorable little AirBNB in the woods in Pennsylvania. It was peak leaf season too, so just all these gorgeous fall colors everywhere. I wore my very first suit (well, the vest and matching pants) and felt fabulous and fashionable the whole evening.
I’m pretty zonked today, which I think is just from all the driving all weekend, but that’s to be expected I think. I have 6 more client blogs and then I’m done for October. I’m hoping to get some November work done too before I start my new job on Monday (eeeeee), as well as submit all my grad school applications. But I spent the morning playing Civ 6 instead of getting any work done, so that’s where I’m at right now. Whoops.
Although the job problem has now been solved (hallelujah), I’m still mired in another limbo: my living situation. I’ve been ready for months to find my own place again, but finances have aggressively been in the way. Now that I’m starting this new job I’ll be able to afford striking out on my own. It’s just a matter of saving up for a couple months so I can pay deposits and whatnot. I don’t start this job til the 30th, so I won’t have a full month’s salary until early December. And for my price range on apartments n’stuff, I think I need about $3K in the bank to move, and that doesn’t even account for furniture and stuff once I do.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of a short-term loan to get me into a new and more comfortable living situation ASAP, but interest rates are just bonkers right now. (Seriously, the lowest I’ve been able to find is 9.99%. WTF?!?!) It also seems kinda silly to kick off this new job with a hefty increase in my debt. But at the same time, I know I’d be happier and more comfortable if I got my own place and could move my office out of my bedroom. (And generally stop feeling so smooshed all the time.)
Money sucks, man. Where have the wealthy patrons of the arts gone? Why can’t we all lay around eating grapes and painting nudes? I know realistically I should wait to move until the new year, or not move at all given I’ll likely be moving out of state in September. But also, I miss my independence and want to get back to a stable version of my life that makes me feel successful. I’m kinda done with this mopey version of myself — and really hoping the next few months will turn into a super amazing productive wonderful wowza omg sort of time.
That’s the scientific term. Don’t @ me.
Another reason I’m so excited for this new job is that it’s fully remote, which means I can start traveling again!! I met someone cool at the wedding this weekend who also works remotely, and spends her time bebopping between cool places for a month or so at a time. Kind of like my original idea for the Highway MFA!
It would be fun to do that properly — my original idea of jumping between AirBNBs around the continental US — but I also want to save up some money for a while. My bank account is dusty, and I really want to fix that.
NaNoWriMo also kicks off next week, and I’m going to do a separate blog post on my plans for that. TLDR I’m not officially participating, but I’m also not not participating, because I do need to crush some major word count goals to stay on track for my manuscript deadline. I’m still feeling good about it, though!
The only problem is that I have this additional idea in my head that I’m trying SO HARD not to start on until I’ve finished this second draft… but lately it’s been all I can think about (of course). Hopefully that can be a project I start in January :)
In the meantime, I’m going to get some actual work done (boring, I know), and come back later to write down some of my thoughts on NaNoWriMo.
Til next time,
Mags