Santa Cruz - My Winter Home

It has been several months and a lot has happened since I last updated my blog...so here is the latest:

I left Yellowstone on the 2nd of September. I went on an amazing last hike with a friend. We wandered through huge herds of Bison in vast meadows with surrounding mountains everywhere in the distance. The weather was perfect for hiking. On the way home, as we went over our mountain pass, it was snowing. So on my first and last days at Yellowstone, I experienced snow. I enjoyed the second half of my summer much more. I really appreciated my friend and boss, Dennis, who made the second half much more enjoyable. If it wasn't for him, I would have left Yellowstone in July. We went on at least one hike every week. And he always welcomed me to visit him and his wife, Penny. She was also fun. I also played cards with another co-worker once a week. We had another big fire just outside the East Gate - 60,000 acres.

I learned once again, that 40 hour weeks are too much for my lifestyle. Therefore, I am focusing on searching for jobs that involve 30 hours or less per week. During my summer, I was planning out where I was going to head for the winter. Some of my major desires: I wanted to be in the Western U.S., I wanted to be in a fairly mild climate, I wanted to be surrounded by liberals/progressives/socialists, and I wanted to be able to work 30 hour weeks and be able to afford a fairly simple life. I decided on Sacramento, California. It is probably the cheapest big city in California. The cost of living in Sac can be about 1/2 that of San Francisco. I ended up living with 2 other guys in a 2 bedroom apartment. It was a good deal financially. $400 for month to month rent. No contract, no deposit, no last months rent. I just showed up to Sac and gave my roommate $400. No questions asked! You don't get that kind of deal
too often. The place was in a wealthy part of Sacramento. I lived right down the street from million dollar homes. Not really my kind of area, but an interesting experience. I enjoyed my time in Sac. I met some nice people, played volleyball, went to a couple parties, biked everywhere, went to the market daily. But after a couple weeks, I realized Sacramento was not exactly what I was looking for. One major problem was that you really had to drive a good distance to get up into the mountains and the wild. I enjoyed my time there, but thought I might want to head closer to the coast. Of course, the closer you get to the Pacific, the higher the rents are. Towards the end of September, my roommate announced he just bought a house on the other side of town. He invited me to live over there, but I took this as an opportunity to travel on.

By the beginning of October, I decided to move to Santa Cruz. I know what you might be saying...Are you crazy? How can you afford the rent in
Santa Cruz without a job, or even with a job? Read on my friend.

So I figured out the thing that was really holding me back from picking a place like Santa Cruz to live in the first place is the cost of living. But, I couldn't
let that stop me from trying. So I decided to return to the "rent free" lifestyle again. For those who are new to this blog, I have lived for about a year rent
free. The "rent free/homeless" movement is becoming more popular as the days move forward. Not including time spent at my parents, I have lived rent
free for about 1 year of my life. Either a tent, vehicle, or storage unit. Tents are my favorite so far overall.

I moved to Santa Cruz the beginning of October. - I will write more soon. A great experience so far after a month.