Happiness?

[ak_powder_monkey]

Whats the point of living if you can't feel alive?

[Mulletizer]

Hehe, I just finished (an hour ago) a book that dealt with exactly the type of question you asked. Not my normal type of reading material but I strongly recommend it to you. Might not have all the answers but a load of casestudys of people who posed similar questions and addressed them. Read it. What should I do with my life? by Po Bronson.

Personally I do not have the life experience to help much - I am just finishing university (well, I will if I ever stop posting here... ) . Anyway, I do have an observation:

When I was 18 I worked as a chalet host in Switzerland (managing a ski property for 12 clients, cooking for them, cleaning and hosting them - on my own) for an expensive UK tour operator. I noticed a pretty regular pattern. Out of 15 groups of clients (of which 70% were Brits, 30% Americans) that were families, almost all the married men had shitty lives.

They were rich but they worked for it - mainly at banks, law firms, startups and oil companies - sometimes at the top of the firm, sometimes lower down. Result: nice houses, cars, expensive holidays, expensive schools but shitty family lives. They didn't know their children well enough. They couldn't relax around their families. They drank too much to deal with it. Some of their wives were looking for a ski instructor (or chalet host ) to sleep with - and they were on holiday with their husbands...

These men worked for a high standard of life but this resulted in a low quality of life. And out of 15 groups there was only 1 exception to this.

Contrast this to the ski bums I mixed with. They mostly lived off <$10k pa but there was no doubt they were happier and more fulfilled. And some were old and had done this a long time.

Seeing this heavily affects my outlook on work/careers. I don't know what my parents will think when they finally accept that a career is not what I want. Hehe.

[truth]

Fuck it all.

[Aldo]

"So I am facing a bit of dilemma in my life right now, I recently moved to L.A. to take a job in a career that will probably let me retire a millionare a couple times over in 15 years. I am almost 24."

I'd like to introduce you to a buddy of mine who just retired at the ripe old age of 38. Unfortunately he'll be in Bali for the next couple months... But when he comes back through, I'll try to hook you up with him, that is before he sets off again. 15 years is easy time dingleb. I'd imagine with a job like the one you describe you'll get some time off to get your fixes along the way. If you pass, let me know, I'm sure I could find a replacement for you! In 15 years, you'll be 2 years older than me. And trust me, I'm just getting warmed up.

Line it up and drive it home!

[Tippster]

Here's my story, FWIW:

I lived in the High country after school, bumming and "living the life" that I had dreamed of since I was 7 - I was a ski bum. I got to ski an average of 100 days a year, and honestly, the summers were almost as fun as the winters. Hiking, biking, climbing, and fishing are great ways to pass the time!

I was also living in one of the most expensive places on earth (Vail) so I worked at least 2 jobs at a time to make ends meet. Those ends BARELY met, BTW, considering the high rent and high cost of the toys I chose to play with. Shop forms only help so much. Many Ramen noodles were cooked - few nice dinnerdates were had, much cheap beer was consumed. Kind Bud? No. Shake? Yes.

Every summer my parents would fly me back to the EC to go to the beach with them for a week. The "Pro Quo" for this was I was expected to hand out resumes and hopefully get some interviews the week prior. I would shoot high, mainly to get my folks off my back, but also harboring a little spark of hope that somebody might bite. You see, for what I do DC is the cream of the crop. It IS the world capital of TV News Production.

Well - somebody took a chance on me - I left Vail the following April (they DID let me finish the Season! ) and started my career. Three years prior I had arrived in Colorado with $500 and a '73 Ford Bronco. I left w/no car and about $200 in debt to my landlord. I left him a pair of my skis as payment.

The way I look at it - and the IMO crucial point you need to ask yourself, is will you like your job? I love mine, and since I spend about 1/2 of my waking life at it - I better. If you're only going for the brass ring, so be it, but as Mulletizer said that doesn't guarantee happiness. I'm not rich, and no, I don't get to ski much - BUT I do look forward to work every day, I can afford a nice house, fun car, motorcycle, 2 trips out west/year, school for my kids, yummy wine, etc.... basically a great life. Do I miss skiing 100 days? Sure, but life changes, and so did my priorities.

Don't let the Bro-Brahs on this board mislead you. When you're 20something and poor that can be fun. The older you get, the older IT gets.

[Buster Highmen]

While I threw myself to the wild winds before I was 30 (and squandered a lot of opportunity) I have no regrets about digging in for my 30's to be able to have the family I've got.

[hev]

it's actually pretty unrealistic these days to assume 15-20 years of job security. you will likely have many jobs in this time frame

i think it has more to do with liking the job than the money. if its an interesting job with cool people, take it and learn from your experience. (experience not money is the important gain in this oppurtunity)

your not even 24, there will be more crossroads in your life.

[jdabasin]

Originally posted by truth
Fuck it all.

exactly.
go get some turns, try to get laid, don't get divorced, love yer Mom and Pops, be true to your friends who will always (typically) be there to go rip with you, and get yerself a dog cause they provide lots of comfort when you're a bottle deep trying to figure out what this life is all about.

[DB]

If you don't take the job you will probably be left wondering what would of happened if you did. I would say go for it, give it a try see if it keeps you happy, but be honest with yourself - you can't put a price on a life of misery or sh!t faced fun for that matter. 15 years hard labour does a lot to a person and your circle of friends will change, you will change along with your priorities. Always try to keep in touch with your longtime (ski) friends it will make going back easier/better.

Agree with others here in that people with a lot of money are generally not really that happy (certainly not as happy as those without much money think). We never truely own anything, just pay for the privilege until it breaks or the next owner comes along.

Another consideration is do you want a family in the long run? Can ski bums afford to support kids? In a study of terminally ill patients the most common regrets were spending too much time at the office and not leaving more children behind in the world.

I don't know what will make you happy, you have tried one side of the equation. If it doesn't work out there's no shame in going back to happiness.

Best of luck.

[Chronic]

To me, the key question is whether you like (love) your new job. If you do, then go for it. You love skiing and you'll still find a way to get some great days in. And if you retire at 40 with a few mil in the bank - well, that will pretty much fund unlimited ski days. If you find yourself becoming unhappy with your new job you can always ditch it and go back to bumming.

[tonghands]

Take the job, avoid debt like the fricken plague, be ruthless with your time off ( ie. take every vacation, sick day, etc.). As long as you don't have debt you've got a thousand choices, once you're in debt you're locked into the paying for the new car lifestyle. Being debt free might suck a bit at first since you don't get to tool around in a new Audi, but once you hit 30 or so and have a bit of money in the bank and the ability to do what you want you'll be glad you did.

[CaddyDaddy77]

I'm moving in the next coming weeks to a locale, that will not support my current skiing habit, but will help to erradicate the debt I have incurred by living as a ski-bum for previous years. After reading throught these posts, I feel I have made the right decision.

I'm moving to make myself an opportunity to get out of debt, get married, and get a house. All goals that are attainable where I'm at currently, just at a much delayed pace.
Both my GF and I will make a significant, poitive change in our incomes, for the same jobs we are doing currently. We also will pay about half as much for the same size or larger house, than we would here. It's hard to justify staying where I'm at when the ends don't meet on a regular basis.

I have skied about 85-100+ days a year for the last ten years, I have meet lots of folks who do the same, some situated in their life with kids, homes, and living comfortably. I have also encountered the 30 somethng crowd who isn't quite making it, and realizing that some opportunities may have been passed.
I'm not saying that you can't start a "professional" carreer whenever you should please, it may as Lumpy mentioned, be a hard road to travel.

There's some solid advice in this thread and some which I hope to abide, people are on average not retiring earlier, they are working longer and with less to look to for retirement. As mentioned, save it, and protect it.

I think you can be happy with or without, it's just how you use what you have.
I really haven't ever been well-to-do, or rich, in a monetary sense but have a lot of wealth in experience and friendship in my ten years ski-bumming, weather it be my winter jobs or whatever I did in the summer to get by, I wouldn't give up my friends and the history that we've had.

I hope that I will ski 30+ days next year, they may not be at the frequency of years past but I'm sure I will appreciate them a little more as they won't be as easy to come by.

Great thread BTW.

[365wp]

I'm leaving a great job and Colorado skiing to be back in the EC. I moved to CO for the skiing and ended up getting a great gig. There was some serious effort involved and I cleared thirty days for the first time this season, but it's been a great balance for me.

This was the first season where powder days didn't in any way make me think about staying in CO. My fiance and I spent last summer here simply because of our jobs and while that enabled us to buy a place in Boston, the fact that we were just counting the days combined with my 12hr work days (worked at least one day of every weekend this summer, sometimes both) made it hard.

[Pinner]

Vaya con dios CaddyDaddy!

Good luck to you and the missus. Where ya goin?

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by Pinner
Vaya con dios CaddyDaddy!

Good luck to you and the missus. Where ya goin?

Hunter Thompson described it as hell.

I'm working on my base "burn" so my Irish, no sunlight lovin' ass doesn't go up in flames.

Thanks!

[Dexter Rutecki]

Gotta wonder what the job is...

[CaddyDaddy77]

I give people money, they seem to like it.

[yogachik]

I read through these posts and feel I should clarify: to me, lots of days riding is anything over 35 (when you are devoted to your career, or comitted to building one).

So, yes, you lose the 100+ but remember, you're in LA which is close enough to Mammoth, which is open from early November until mid-June EVERY year (sometimes til July4). There's lots of opportunity to get at least 50 days over that EIGHT month season. Buy a season pass next week for $425 and be a weekend warrior. I've lived this way for 9 years now, I work hard and play hard. There's no either/or.

This is why I say... you CAN have it all.

[FreakofSnow]

Originally posted by Pinner




Skiing is life, but life is so much more than skiing.

phUnk, what say you?

[Telenater]

Or, you can make the choice I've made.

I work as a researcher at a university, making far less than I could have made doing consulting work, but I work fewer hours, have much more freedom about what hours I work, am not asked to compromise my morals, and am doing work that benefits the world as a whole.

Sure, I'd like to make more money (yes, I occasionally whine about it), but with a little random penny pinching, I can generally afford to do what I want with a little advanced planning.

I'm getting my ducks in a line to take that next educational leap in the next two years (still debating MS vs. PhD but leaning towards the MS). And, I should be able to take that leap without putting myself into significant debt while studying things that really interest me.

All in all, I'm quite happy. I ski enough that I need more than my fingers, toes, and other body appendages to count the days. I have freedom in the summer to hike, backpack, mountain bike and kayak. I get a good benefits package, will be vested in the retirement system in about a year.

And, I work on a university campus, you wouldn't believe how nice the spring is when the temps go up and the tank tops come out of storage... (Hello Nurse).

[snowsprite]

Always look on the bright side of life

Insert melodic whistling here


Sprite

[Karl Stall]

Originally posted by Buster Highmen
While I threw myself to the wild winds before I was 30 (and squandered a lot of opportunity) I have no regrets about digging in for my 30's to be able to have the family I've got.

Damn - well said, man. The family is actually better than any powder day in history, as hard as that is to believe for some.

Pinner - also well put, bud.

Balance is key, as well as the ability to use the internet to track and exploit storms. Powder days are what matter most for me at least. Getting nearly 20 POWDER days a year makes up for the overall number.

[snorkeldeep]

For some additional reinforcement, I'll reiterate what most have said already.. though i suppose I have a somewhat extreme circumstance, partially via luck, and partially via hard work.

I've skiied most of my life, but didnt really catch the bug until i moved back out to seattle during high school.. ended up skiing 150 days a season for two years in a row and i was hooked. i moved back to ny after high school to take a year off and work, and see what happened.. ended up finding a job i absolutely loved, kept skiing as much as possible, and now i find myself in the awesome position of being able to chase storms around at my leisure, while still living in nyc (best city on earth), getting outdoors every weekend rain or shine, and managing to ski 50+ days a season (most of those choking on powder, i might add). in my opinion, its not a bad deal at all. All of this however, stems from doing what i love.. i really enjoy my work, and that made the three years of 80 hour weeks worth it.. in fact, ill venture that I enjoy it as much as I enjoy skiing. Sure, corporate politics etc. can be frustrating, but my job gets me out of bed in the morning, and makes my day more interesting and thats how it should be. so... if you've found that, then go for it. Just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

[TheDingleberry]

The job, which I have already been working for the last six months, is for one of the largest privately held commecial real estate companies in the US. We concentrate our portfolio around industrial warehousing of buildings 500,000 sq. feet and larger. I am currently working on a brokers license. The plate has been very full for the last few months...I think I am just a little fried.

...and I had a week long trip planned to go to MT next week that recently fell through cause my buddy who works at the Yellowstone Club booked one of his clients...so that bummed me out too!

...but the advice you all have given is quite astounding. I appreciate it very much. I think I'll figure it out.

[EPSkis]

Tippster said:

"Don't let the Bro-Brahs on this board mislead you. When you're 20something and poor that can be fun. The older you get, the older IT gets."

Damn straight.

What *I* got from your post is that you're looking at the possibility of retirement by the time you're 40. I don't care WHOSE model of success you're judging yourself by, but if you stand even a REMOTE possibility of being a multi-millionaire at 40, I'd say you found it.

Go get that money. I consider myself to be fairly successful in life, both personally & professionally, but I sure as hell won't be retiring at 40, 45, or - unless I win the lottery, 50.

Invest the 15 years of your life NOW & you'll be much happier for it later. Then do whatever the hell you want. Nothing sucks the spirit out of a man more than having to start over again in life - at a time when you SHOULD be enjoying not only your OWN life, but those of your kids & family.

That's my .02 - and Good luck. Not a lot of dreams come true, but if I had the same shot you've been given, that's the way I'd do it. Of course, hindsight's always 20/20, but in time you'll figure that out. Go for it, mang.