Preparation: 6 More Weeks To Go

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Writer in On Living

I believe that I am in quite a state of denial about the upcoming events. In a mere 6 weeks I will enter the land of the unknown and the slightly unemployed. In contrast to what I had expected, I haven’t had many “What am I doing?” freak outs. Either that means that I am truly doing the right thing or a big one is going to hit soon. Oh no, now I feel one coming on… I am leaving a wonderful job with incredible benefits, moving 6 hours away from my loving and completely supportive boyfriend, and giving up my bed and a roof for some tent stakes, the wide-open sky, and the beginning of my writing career.

With 6 weeks to go I have barely started tackling my massive to-do list. Here is just a sample.

Start this Blog (and that other one too)

Preparation is a vital part of the journey – so start documenting now. This blog will hopefully help me get organized and plan out all the steps I need to make this journey a success. There is so much to learn about blogging and widgets and plugins and tweets – good thing I got started now because this stuff could take years to figure out.

Also check out my other project Dirtbagger Guide. Dirtbagger is a blog that is focused on finding the most adventure-laden, experience-driven, sustainable, community-oriented, and CHEAP ways to travel the US.

Need to Find Some Health Insurance

I think the biggest disadvantage of self-employment has to be the health insurance. Although I am young and relatively healthy I do seem to be injury prone and going without health insurance coverage is something I simply do not want to do. I am looking into some short-term high deductible plans, which are basically catastrophic plans. They will not cover anything preventive or any pre-existing conditions and have a $1000 deductible or higher. The plans I have found cost around $60/month. I think this may be a good place to start and bide me some time to figure out what else is out there. Finding an affordable health insurance plan is definitely going to take a lot of research and I will definitely share as I go.

Finally Going to Get That Root Canal

My mouth will probably be numb for the next month while I get some dental work I have been putting off while I still have excellent dental coverage. I should probably add looking into private dental coverage onto my ever expanding to-do list.

Keep an Eye Out for Sales on Instant Meals

Start stock piling just-add-water meals for life on the road. Need to find someone with a Costco membership to stock up on bulk necessities (beans, rice, etc). Also need to order bulk vegetarian “beef” jerky – try Stonewall it is superb.

Live It Up or Start Conserving?

I have been a bit torn over starting my frugal, stingy existence now or living it up big time while I am still receiving a paycheck. Well I have been on an extreme budget for the last year while preparing to take this leap… and it is summertime – well maybe I can afford to turn the fun up just one notch and really get out and enjoy my last 6 weeks in Salt Lake City.

Tags: Preparation

Dirtbag Writer