My Year of the Life of Leisure

I left my job, left my apartment, sold most everything in that apartment and embarked on a year of travelling and leisure. I am working on writing a couple of books. This might be one of them... But then, my chief pursuit is leisure, so who knows exactly what will happen.

Monday, September 13, 2004

Rant #1. aka tacky things to ask

So. An increasingly common question I hear from people I meet, after they hear about my trip (I'm now frequently introduced with the qualifier that I'm leaving the country), is either "how much does this trip cost", "wow, you must have some money" or "how can you afford this?"

Answers:

1. None of your business (although, I give a very vague, generally uninformitive answer to those who press me)
2. Duh
3. see #1, minus the vague, uninformative answer

[Note: while it would be totally possible for me to do this trip entirely on one of my two credit cards, because they both have given me obscene credit lines, I am not stupid. I may act foolishly now and then, and have moments of blonde-ness and create stupid metaphors referencing an army and macaroni. Still, I am an intelligent woman and have no desire to witness a four- or five-digit credit card bill.]

If I were to announce I was buying a co-op or a house, would these people still ask these questions? The answer, I fear, is yes.

These questions are related to my time at my 5.5 year job. Amazon.com. OK, before you get all excited and insist I buy the next round of drinks: Do The Math. I started in January, 99, and was not hired permanently until April, 99. Think back. I know it's hard. Early 99 was that time also known as Yon When the Internet Bubble Burst/Popped/Exploded/Crashed/Went Kerplooey/Bombed/[fill in the blank]. Yes, some of my trip is funded by stock options. However, I am not rolling in cash, nor am I one of the early employees that are permanently living a life of leisure. Unless something remarkable happens, I will be applying for jobs in about a year. Yes, people I worked with bought houses at 25, sailboats, moved to Bali, or taken elaborate and very long vacations. For the record: I am not one of them. There is other money involved in the financing of my trip and I have a pretty strict budget -- if I go through the money on schedule, I travel a year; go through the money too quickly, destinations and length are cut; go through the money slower than expected (pleasepleaseplease), I travel longer and further.

No, you still cannot ask the above questions. I've only honestly answered those questions to maybe 2 of my closest friends.

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