Did you choose climbing over a better career?

I live in a van, because I cannot save any money.

There are many places to live within an hour or so of great climbing. In Colorado from the Springs up to Fort Collins. Albuquerque, Tucson, Vegas, Reno, New Paltz, Chattanooga, and the list goes on. A balance between work, friends/family, and personal pursuits, e.g. climbing has been achieved by many, many people. Living within a hour or some makes all that much easier.

Yes, and all my doctor/lawyer/scientist friends are jealous of what I do for 1/5 of the year. Poor life choices for the top earners of the muddle class I guess. Have a nice time with your square footage and horsepower, we will both be eating cat food and fighting over water later in the future. Maybe they will get the good stuff and I will be drinking my own piss like a happy Asian.

Again, no easy answer to this conundrum. I graduated from school a couple years ago with high hopes of working a job I love with great hours and benifits. At first I struggled with even finding a job outside of restaurants after submitting my resume more than I'd like to admit. I finally moved to a city with a better economy (during the most inopportune and trying time in my life) to find work. While bouldering at a spot near my house I was told of the high need for electricians from one of the multiple people I bugged for any leads on jobs. I've been working in the trade since and I'm learning some stuff that will serve me well in my career goals, but holy crap does it kick my butt most days. Working a day job is almost a nail in the coffin for the avid outdoorsman, but hard, physical work on top of that is a very trying ordeal. Sorry, just rambling. I have no real advice for you other than my story.

Having money problems is NO FUN

The people I know who climb the most, while still holding a job, have been nurses or physician's assistants. They seemed to have a good balance: never hurting for money but also able to string together 3-4 days off in a row for trips.

I've also seen some lawyers who, later in their career, are able to take quite a bit of time off. I worked for some guys who went to Everest and who would take long skiing/hiking trips.

For what it's worth, I've always been jealous of people who could live in their van and climb all the time. When I was at Hueco, I ran into some guys who had just started the van life and they were having a great time with it. Later that night there was a big pallet bon fire and I talked with some other guys who had been living the van life for a few years and I wondered if I should do that. Two veteran van guys told me that they were sick of it, that they wished they could get off the road, but they were now stuck as climbing coaches and route setters who wished they could do something else. I think part of being human is living with a mind that will naturally think the grass is greener on the other side.

BJB wrote:I think part of being human is living with a mind that will naturally think the grass is greener on the other side.

Good stuff.

Jorge Gonzalez wrote:OP, believe me, when I was young(er) the climbing bug jerked me around and tried to dominate me. I resisted, and went on to become a civil rights lawyer in L.A. (almost 35 years). There were times I hated it, but looking back, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I found my career over time to have been very satisfying. Nevertheless, I climbed more than most people over the years. There were years I climbed a lot and pulled down hard, other years I didn't and got fat and lazy. But, the bug never left me and I tried to continue climbing whenever I got a chance. I still climb in my early 60's. Pulled an on-sight 5.9 the other day after several months off. Planning for a heavy schedule during the fall into the winter. So my job, from time to time, interfered with my climbing, but I always knew I had set my priorities straight. The trick is to learn how to do both. The rock is always going to be there. Will your job opportunities?

Very nice story, Jorge! While I have what most people would find the most desirable situation (decent paying for the area job that I enjoy, year around climbing within walking distance, 3-day weekends), I'm a little bit jealous of your situation as nothing beats the satisfaction of knowing that your job makes a difference in other people's lives.

Dylan Grabowski thanks for understanding haha, and yes Nick at this point it is what I want to do. I have a passion for climbing and find joy doing it. I have not disregarded the option to attend college in fact I would love to study Environmental science I simply don't think it is what I should do now. In response to Mediocre...
No I wish I didn't have to live out of my van. My parents are not supporting me, I have very little money to my name, and my conservative family members only tell me how what I'm doing is wrong. It's scary to be honest but I love to climb and I hope to someday be a professional climber.
I don't know why someone who graduates and chooses to strive to be a pro football player is heavily accepted or to spend your life traveling but spending your life rock climbing is wrong.