Living A Spartan Lifestyle

I have moved around a lot in the last decade or so. A lot of it was within Michigan, however in the last four years I have been to Ohio, Minnesota and now Oregon. Moving is not a particularly fun endeavor by any means. Its time consuming and can be a bit stressful. However, there can be a silver-lining if you approach it with the right frame of mind.

When I moved within Minnesota I had a fairly bad experience. The truck ended up costing more than I was quoted, I had to spend a night at a hotel, and the movers were over four hours late at my new place, which resulted in me unloading everything but the furniture that was too awkward to lift myself. Not very smooth at all, but the worst part was yet to come. 

Once everything was in my new place I took a look at all my worldly possessions and said to myself "Wow, I just paid to move a bunch of crap." Albeit everything was useful, but was it really worth all the trouble and money I just expended? My bed was well beyond its prime, the dresser and nightstand were Ikea specials and the desk was bought second hand from a coworker. Not to mention my desk chair had definitely seen better days. While everything had a use, none of it was irreplaceable. 

Needless to say, the next time I moved (into my current place) I took a much different approach. Everything was expendable for my move to Portland. I made the decision I was only taking what could fit in my Forester. Furniture, kitchen appliances and even clothes didn't make the cut. The clothes part was fairly easy as I was losing weight, and most were too loose. The real impact was felt about three months after I got to Portland, because that's when I realized I did not miss any of the possessions I left behind or sold.

I've tried to stick to that philosophy moving forward, but due to my cheapness and continuing to lose weight (I promise I am not bragging) its been a bit difficult. New clothes that fit better are purchased, and old clothes are kept because they are still in good shape. However, I now go through my closet once every three months, and will even donate clothes that fit if I just don't wear them much. An added benefit, which I did not consider was, while I have less possessions, they are usually of a higher quality than before.

The best bonus is my place is a lot less cluttered and I have more room for activities. Seriously though, its so nice not having a place cluttered with useless or unused possessions and clothes. Its made me realize how I can save for the things I want in life, without sacrificing the present. I am able to enjoy the outdoors, traveling and even pay off my vehicle and student loan debt quicker, without sacrificing quality of life. Whether it is on a small scale, or a complete lifestyle change, I highly recommend living a more Spartan lifestyle. 

    

Waking Up Before the Sun

After high school you couldn't pay me to get out of bed early. I became a full-fledged night owl, staying up until 3 am and sleeping in until whenever I felt like it. It was glorious. Very rarely outside of college and work did I ever need an alarm to wake up. Then the worst thing in the world happened: adulthood and responsibility.

All of a sudden I had to be up at a certain time, and it was an ungodly hour. It was also for something awful, work. Not the typical summer/part-time job I had during college, but real work, 9 to 5, 401k, and knowing what your medical benefits were. WTF?!

This lasted for what felt like an eternity. Get up early, go to work, come home, and stay up as long as possible to make up for it, then struggle to get up again. Oh and whether I partied or not, the weekend was for catching up on sleep. So even when I did fall out of bed, the day was half over. I turned to the internet in hopes of an answer, and after falling down a couple dozen YouTube rabbit-holes, I found some.

Like most people I had a LinkedIn account, and like most people for the longest time I never used it. No profile picture, barely any info and definitely did not check it regularly. However, I got a tip from a coworker that LinkedIn was good for prospecting and finding sales leads, so I jumped on the bandwagon. While it did help with prospecting and finding leads, it had a lot of useful articles and blogs people shared.

I found a lot of the list-based posts had some good advice in there. While every list wasn't life-altering, and some were even complete busts, there was a high success rate that at least one to two points were something I hadn't considered or was completely new. This led me to a life-changing decision.

I can't recall the first time I saw it, but when you look at enough of one subject, you begin to see patterns and commonalities. This was one of them. Whether it appeared under "10 Tips For Improving Productivity," or "The Top 7 Things Successful People Do," one commonalty was always: "Wake up early."

At first this did not appeal to me...at all. But the more I saw it come up, the more I began to think about trying it. What really drew me toward trying it started when I began to work longer hours, and it felt like that was all I did. So, what could the harm be in trying it?

At first, I just began to get up early to watch some TV, mess around online, read or make a real breakfast. It sucked at first. I was a zombie, trudging through my apartment, running into the little furniture I did have. Like anything the more I did it, the easier it got, and the more I actually enjoyed it. My morning morphed from making breakfast, to doing laundry, running errands, and eventually working out.

This plague of productivity spread from the weekday to the weekends, especially once I got to Portland. With so many opportunities for weekend activities, it was a no-brainer. If I wanted to hit the coast for the day, I was up and on the road by 5 am. If I was going to Seattle, I was through Vancouver, WA by 5:30 am. If I wanted to hike around Mt. Hood, I was bringing breakfast with me, because no place was open yet. It was a a good plan, because I get shots like this regularly:

I would get to the trail-head hours before most people were even thinking of waking up. No looking for parking, or contending with someone's unleashed dog for space on the trail. I had done six miles and was packing up my car when everyone else in their matching hiking attire was showing up. This was better than not setting an alarm. I get to Manzanita just as the sun is peaking over the mountains, and am back in Portland before dinner. 

There's been some adjustment, and it most definitely is not something that happens everyday on the weekend. With all the great bars, people and Timbers games, I definitely take mornings off. Many Saturdays I find that I can get laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, and a trip to the gym done before 9 am when I don't have a trip planned. And there is always the promise of a glorious midday nap.

A big piece of the puzzle which none of the articles mentioned, was the resource of time. They mentioned it in the course of mapping out your startup, or working on projects with colleagues overseas, but not in terms of it as a general commodity. Time is our most precious resource, its nonrenewable and every second that passes we have no possibility of getting it back. So why would I want to waste hours of my life, while I am healthy and able to do so much, by laying in a bed?

I have never once regretted waking up early. Even if my scheduled plans don't pan out the way I wanted, which has occurred a lot, I am still able to accomplish so much more. Conversely, I can't even remember how many times my days were wasted/ruined by sleeping in. I didn't start the next Amazon or Microsoft like some of those articles suggested, but I definitely have not regretted it one bit.

Lines, Everywhere I Look

I recognize I live in one of, if not the fastest growing city in the US. Portland is about ready to burst. Since I moved here (yes, I realize I am a hypocrite) 18 months ago, eight new apartment buildings have gone up or are being built within a 12 block radius of my apartment. This of course brings some issues when trying to get around the city, especially this one. Portland is not a huge place, and the way the highways are built, there is no room for adding lanes, so traffic is a constant. But that also means there are lines, almost everywhere thats worth going.

I don't mind waiting in lines, when its unavoidable. Airports suck and a big part of that is waiting in lines. Its bad enough waiting in the security line, but if you have to check a bag, it just compounds what a mess the airport already is. However, I don't want to drive to Michigan to see my niece and nephew, so its necessary. But waiting in line 30 minutes to east some tacos? Thats just stupid.

Every time I have read or heard about a new restaurant, food cart or any place that is the new hot spot for food in this city, there is always a line. Its a fact of life in this city. However, I still refuse to wait in line for food, its absurd to me. Its also a colossal waste of time, and to me a symptom of what society has become: instant gratification above all else.

A perfect example is Pine State Biscuits. I heard for months I had to eat there. Everything is made from scratch and the sandwiches are awesome. They have three locations around town, so I figured maybe a quick wait if anything. My first attempt was about 8:30 am on a Saturday, so you have to assume you are going to have the weekend crowd, even though Portland likes to sleep in. I get to one location and the line is halfway down the block. Are you kidding me? Who has that time to lose?

Now this is definitely not an attack on Pine State. I love the way they handle customers: you cannot claim a spot at the counter or a table until you have ordered. Genius move right there, and obviously their food is awesome, or they wouldn't have a line. But I am not spending 45 minutes to get food on a weekend, one of my two free days of the week its insane. I am an hour and a half from the Pacific Ocean and just over an hour from Mt Hood. Maybe if I was still living in Ohio I would because there is nothing else to do there, but I am in Oregon for Lemmy's sake!

The real crime here is when you wait and the food is less than great. I won't name any places like that in Portland, because as I rail on the people who have time to wait in line, they are also the ones that have time to scour the internet looking to delve out what they think is justice. A friend of mine named one place and they went off on him, even telling him they wished the cancer he was fighting would win...OVER A FREAKING RESTAURANT REVIEW. But, I digress. When that situation occurs it amplifies the food, but it also makes average food worse.

People wait in line for 45 minutes, and if the food is not amazing, people get pissed off. The funny part is, its not the restaurant's fault, its yours. I am sure they are flattered that people are willing to wait for their food, its a sign they are doing something right. But if you're pissed at them, my guess is you've never taken responsibility for something in your life. No one coerced you to wait in line. There was no monetary bonus, or even a life or death situation, you choose it. So if you get to the front and the food wasn't to your expectations, why is it anyone else's fault? Barring poor quality ingredients or an errant bandaid its on you.

Don't get me wrong, I have experienced the same thing, and it left me frustrated, but frustrated at myself. Its kind of absurd to wait in line for a great food spot in Portland when there are literally hundreds of choices. There are a few places I have waited and was not disappointed even in the slightest when I got my food, but I also wasted a good amount of time doing it. This is just one of the things that makes me feel like Old Man Marshall yelling at kids to get off his lawn, but I hope I am not alone on this one.

Also, I changed my morning routine on Saturday and hit Pine State Biscuits right as it opened, and its ree-got-damn-diculous. One of my favorite spots in this city and now once a month I make my way to either the Alberta or Schuyler location, and there still is a line, albeit much shorter.

To Yosemite and Back!

*HAVING ISSUES POSTING PICS*

I will get into road trips and my long history of both hating and loving them in a future post, but just to set the table: I have been on a lot of them, and will always support them as a way to make a trip more enjoyable.

My latest road trip was from Portland, Oregon to Yosemite National Park in California in roughly 4.5 days. Normally I would avoid a trip like this because with a round trip of 1,448 miles, 4.5 days is not enough to drive and enjoy the park. However, the goal of this trip was not to camp and hike Yosemite, but my friend Burton's wedding. I was a little skeptical at first but the wedding was great and I was very honored to be a part of the celebration.

I left Portland after work on a Wednesday night with the plan of reaching Redding, California, 422 miles away. While Redding is a decent size town, with plenty of overnight options, my motivation to make this destination my first stop was the fact they had the closest In-And-Out Burger to Oregon. While I got into town later than I normally eat dinner (around 10:45 pm), its In-And-Out, so I pigged out like any rational person would. My typical order of a Double-Double, Animal-style fries, and Neopolitan shake, sat like a cinder block in my stomach, but was so very worth it.

(Lens Flare JJ Abrams style!)

After gorging myself, I quickly set out to find a place to spend the night. Now, as you will find out in future posts, I am ridiculously cheap. Almost to my detriment, but I try to keep my cheapness to a rational level. However, as time for this trip was limited, and I still had 300 miles until Yosemite, this stop was not going to be a long one by any means. With a few solo and two-person road trips under my belt, I was aware that Wal-Mart allows people to camp/sleep in their parking lots, so after finding one I settled into a space that was better fitted for someone half my size. After what can be best described as a long nap I was back on the road, and was able to get into Yosemite around 10 am.

I had only driven through California once before, back in 2012, and had a great experience. This particular time wasn't bad, however, you can see the drought is taking its toll on the land. Everything in the park looked burned or was dying from a lack of water, and it was extremely dusty. A few lakes I passed seemed to be about a year away from being 100% dry.

With the limited time I was only able to get in 1-2 hikes, as Saturday was dedicated to the wedding, and Sunday to driving back. I was able to fight the crowds on Friday morning and hit the Mist Trail that leads up to Half Dome. The incline was incredible, and even though I had done Dog Mountain (Washington) the week before, it was still an arse-kicker. Although the weather was insane (100 back-to-back days), it made for some amazing views.

Sunday's drive back was surprisingly easy. I left later than expected, but was home and had the car unpacked by 7 pm. I only made two stops, Redding to gorge myself again and refuel, and another refuel around Eugene, OR, and the most traffic I hit was around 75 miles south of Portland. Although it was a quick trip, it was a lot of fun and I was honored to be a part of my friend's special day. As for Yosemite itself, it was a great setting for a wedding, but I'm wasn't that impressed with it.

I, jokingly, refer to myself as spoiled when it comes to National Parks as I have been to a decent amount thus far. As great as the views and trails were, I much more enjoyed the new friends I met and the old friends I reconnected with. The park itself was very crowded and their ability to gouge visitors on price was second to none (ex. gas $4.69/gallon). For example, I spent five days in Olympic National Park (future post) on Memorial Day and much preferred the trails, views and overall outdoor experience.


*This is my first post, so please be kind if you choose to comment. Hoping to clear more time in the future so I can enter posts in one sitting rather than writing one over the course of two days. Thanks for reading.