Battling Stagnation and Boredom

Here we are, three weeks into a New Year! In trying to distract myself from the fact that an angry man-child is being sworn into the highest office of our country today, I thought I’d give you guys a little update on my present state of existence. People have been asking me a lot lately how I’m doing. Do I seem gloomy and melancholy? I try not to appear that way. My typical response is that I feel stagnant: I’m moving too slowly toward reaching my goals. I’m not sad or depressed or struggling in any significant way. I’m stuck. I’m bored and can’t seem to find a way to speed up the process of moving in the direction of my dreams.

Setbacks

The biggest hurdle I’ve jumped through in the last few weeks is that my transmission went out in my truck. My 2010 model truck with 140,000 miles on it. That isn’t really supposed to happen right? I mean, eventually. But not so soon? In any case, it did happen. Now I’m stuck with a $2000 loan to pay off because I didn’t have the cash on hand to fix it. I was hoping that I would soon be taking out a small loan to purchase an RV. Now that dream is further from reality than it was before. Lesson Learned: Do your banking with small banks or, even better, credit unions. Despite my long history with Wells Fargo, they were unwilling/unable to work with me at all to get a small loan to cover these vehicle repairs. Shame on them.

My living situation isn’t 100% ideal. I’ve been very fortunate to have such good friends, who have helped me out with a place to live for the last several months. However, from the beginning I knew it was temporary. It’s getting to be time to move on to someplace else, but I’m not sure what direction to move in. I wish more than anything I already had my travel trailer. Then I could just move it into one of the many campgrounds here and be set. But, I don’t have it yet. The last thing on earth I want to do is sign a lease somewhere. I cannot stand the thought of being bound into a contract requiring me to stay in one spot for a year – why is that so terrifying?

Progress

Even though the transmission was a setback, I’ve moved forward and will be making my second loan payment today. I’m significantly overpaying my required monthly payment in order to get my balance down more quickly. At this rate, I’ll have it payed off before year’s end.

Because of the debacle with Wells Fargo, I finally had the motivation to take the plunge and open an account with the local credit union. BEST. DECISION. EVER. I’ve literally been banking with them for about a month and I already walk in the door to the greeting, “Hi Stacia! How can we help you today?” I’ll be closing out my accounts with Wells Fargo soon.

 

I broke my lazy bone and got all of my paperwork done to start substitute teaching. This will be a much-needed monthly income boost. I really need to get on the ball and go around to some of the local schools to get my name out there. I’d love to be subbing 2-3 days a week so my next step is to work on that.

I also started my 52 Hike Challenge this month! This year I’m taking part in the Adventure Series, which encompasses a larger list of goals in addition to the planned 52 hikes. I’m 3 hikes in so far, and loving every minute.

Frustrations and Monkey Wrenches

I’m not working enough. I love the little restaurant I work at, but we’ve gone to winter hours and I’m only getting 3-4 shifts a week. That isn’t enough to survive on, much less be able to put money into savings. This is probably the single greatest contributor to my feelings of stagnation. It’s hard to move forward when you’re barely making enough money to cover bills and basic living expenses. If I can sub more, hopefully that will help. I also start working with North American Diving Dogs in March or April, which will be a game changer. Just have to hold out until then.

One big thing that sort of threw a kink into my plans is that I decided to bring my other dog home with me after Christmas. I’ve always had two dogs, and at times more than that. However, for the last two years my little poodle Sookie has been living with my dad and stepmom. Sookie developed a seizure disorder when she was around 3 years old which has required extensive veterinary care and medication, not to mention round-the-clock monitoring. Because of this, she has lived with them; my stepmom was better able to provide the kind of care she needed than I was due to my lifestyle. After Christmas, I decided to bring her home with me for a while to see how she does in a new environment. So, as of now, I have two sweet pooches to care for and think of when making decisions. Sookie requires regular vet care and chronic medication, which can get expensive. Her health comes first before my travel goals, though, and we will work through it as we go.

 

Dreams and Aspirations

I’m trying to hang in there until the “season” starts here in the mountains of WNC. Starting at the end of March, I’ll be traveling and working with NADD and I have a couple of other cool work opportunities that I can’t mention just yet. Hopefully I can either stay where I’m at or find a cheap month-to-month rental until then. After March, I’ll be on the road so much that I won’t even really need a permanent place for a while.

I want to work my butt off over the summer and save as much money as possible. My only time off should be in May for the Appalachian Trail Days celebration, possibly including a 3-4 day backpacking trip in Grayson Highlands, and potentially 2-3 weeks in July for a longer backpacking trip but that’s very much up in the air.

Right now, I hope to have paid off my loan by December. I’m going to start applying for winter jobs in the fall, hoping to get a position working in or near Winter Park, Colorado for ski season. I’m dying to get out west and explore some new mountains, and I think getting a job out there is the first step toward making that happen. With any luck, by the time ski season is over in 2018, I’ll have enough money to buy my camper! And I may be contemplating the Colorado Trail in summer of 2018 – maybe.