Odd Jobs - A Vagabond's Bread and Butter

“I’ll wash dishes for a quick cash binge, ’til April comes and its into the wilderness again.” - Nahko Bear

Was my job to teach Trevor Hall how to slackline? Nope, but it was a perk.

When it comes to being a vagabond, one has to be creative to continue down the dusty, often times abusive, road. While other walks of life offer things like savings, health insurance, and a consistent bed, travelers and nomads aren't always proud owners of these luxuries. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a complaint, as the majority of us chose this life because we love it. This is just the nature of trying to live unyoked in an age where everyone and everything seem to want to clip your wings. While navigating foreign streets and finding adventure are the tumbleweed’s fortay, one of their often undervalued skills is straight hustling. 

Being from the states, the number one question I get about traveling is not what I’ve seen, where I’ve been, or where I will go next, it is always a question about money. How do you afford this? Where does this money come from? Who funds you? While I’ve gone into detail about this before, this past week I was reminded of another tool in the transient shed of travelers; odd jobs.

The thing about odd jobs is that, starting down this path is sort of like joining a gang. Once you begin, it almost seems as if you are sucked it. Maybe it’s not for life, but it also isn’t something you necessarily dabble in. This, though, is a good thing for those ready to make the leap. Odd jobs don’t offer job security, since most of them are time-sensitive, seasonal, under the table, or one-time gigs. Scary, yes, but once you open that door, it will always remain ajar. After working one job, you will see a flood of these potent positions that are always searching for someone just like you to fill it at the perfect time. It’s as if there is a meta-physical Linkedin that knows when you are getting low on cash, and delivers a high-paying, short-term gig directly to your doorstep. I can’t scientifically explain it, but my growing belly should be proof enough I’ve been eating well while living this life. 

In the last year two years alone I’ve worked as a freelance writer, a sports coach for youth, a travel guide for affluent high schoolers, an urban taxi driver, an “environmental” educator, and a specialist of nutritional and dietary delivery, aka a server. Have all these jobs been great? Nope, not at all. But what they have done is offered the means necessary to live, while also offering the great benefit of flexibility and a free-schedule. While many of us grew up being told following our passion would lead us to financial prosperity, how this would come about wasn’t specified. It would be oh so grand if we literally got to do our favorite thing all day, everyday and get paid for it, but it doesn't always happen that way. Some of us are quite content finding jobs that fit a schedule of our own creation which maximize free time, yet still let us not only survive, but thrive. 

 

A typical day on the job as a tour guide

While odd jobs are appealing to travelers for obvious reasons (quick cash flow, no strings attached, work when you want) the truth is that they also offer many aspects of travel that we consciously or subconsciously need to make it through the day. Odd jobs normally occur during times outside regular work hours. On top of that, they are also often in fields that introduce you to places, people, and ways of life that are far from the mainstream. These (occasionally somewhat shady) posts grant an opportunity to see the inner or under-workings of places you may have thought you’ve known, blossoming a new interest in a place you may have written off. 

This past week I worked for a transportation company at the largest convention in the United States, CES, hosted in Las Vegas. While I know full well I don’t particularly like Vegas, this job offered me a few things. First things first, I got paid quite a bit to work my butt off for a week. Second, it offered comped meals. Even though I’m not into gambling or clubs, I do love eating, and being able to check out some interesting restaurants was a nice treat. It also showed me a glimpse of both the Tech World and the inner-workings of Vegas. Most days we were waking up at 4:30 am and working about 15 hours. Being able to see what Vegas looks like in the wee hours of the morning, not under the influence, was a very telling experience. Seeing folks stumbling back to their temporary residence, trying to express their need for something to a poor cashier or their spouse, even though their ability to fluently communicate had dissolved with the last drink that hit their lips, was a spectacle to say the least. This, as well as getting to know some of the folks working in the hotels and restaurants, was an intimate view of what makes up vegas, that most weekend bingers don't see. Matched with getting to spend my lunch hour walking around a gaudy show of all the latest electronics the world has to offer, this odd job was a previously unknown experience I'm happy to have lived. 

Odd jobs offer views of the world those in set positions may never see. Though it’s true this lifestyle isn’t for everyone, those who are curious, I implore you to take the leap. It may be scary not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from, but if you take the plunge and get your feet wet, it will come. For this Tumbleweed, I can only dream of what my next short-term, hopefully high paying gig will have me doing, and what sub-culture it will introduce me to.  

It took 28 years to get backstage at Red Rocks...and the only reason I did was due to odd jobs

Photos courtesy of author - First photo taken by a friend on my camera 

Does a home base make you less of a traveler?

The image of a vagabond is pretty straight forward; disheveled, full backpack, tattered clothes, sun kissed, wandering. While all these descriptives do justice to a portrait many long-term travelers like to identify with, does this small paradigm truly describe what traveling should look like? Does one have to adopt a minimalist approach, living out of what fits in a backpack, and never staying in one place too long, to really be a “traveler?” Do drifters and tumbleweeds have to renounce the idea of a base or bed to be drifters and tumbleweeds? Maybe it’s just me, but I think that trying to encapsulate the idea of exploration in a simple checklist may be a misguided approach.

I’m sitting now at a desk a friend gave me. The black, functional, yet tried and tired office item is in a townhouse I own, in the state where I was born. Today marks the one week anniversary of me being stagnant in said state and townhouse. After about a year and a half out of the country, followed by another 4 months on the road within my land of origin, the idea of sleeping in the same bed every night doesn’t sound abrasive. actually, clean sheets and a kitchen to cook in nearly brings me to tears. While I am back in the good ole USA, does that mean I’ve sold my backpack and told the whispering wind to shove it? No, it doesn’t. In fact, this little side trip is a way to create a travel lifestyle that fits my needs.

What most of us travelers know, yet hate to admit, is that cash flow is an important part of life. Whether you are deep in the jungle in southeast Asia, or sipping some of the finest caffeinated beverages in Melbourne, money is important. The amount to which one needs and how one allocates funds is relative. On the same note, the way one finds these funds is also up for interpretation. For me, having a place that I can pay off with roommates, and also profit off of through sublets, enables me to have a small disposable income. It gives me storage space, a place to rest my head, but doesn’t nearly tie me down in a way I initially assumed. What this place does is allow me to travel and retreat based around my own terms.

One of my favorite traveler writers, Wandering Earl, wrote a wonderful piece about forgoing worry of other’s judgements. For me, I’ve come to the conclusion that as much as a dig sleeping in the cheapest guest houses, bumming on couches, and frolicking in the breeze’s navigation, I do like the idea of a safety net. I like being able to have a savings account, as well as a place to rest my head when I come home to the place and people I love. Don’t get me wrong, being 27 and shackin’ up with the parents is swell, but as time progresses, and I do in accordance, there are certain things I’ve realized are important to me. The idea of investment and multiple sources of income has become an important fixture in my vocabulary. While this new person emerging scares me, he seems to have some interesting points. I also really dig the sources he cites. I think he may be on to something…


What it all boils down to is life is about finding your purpose. For some, that purpose is to drift in the wind. For others, it is to find a career, a spouse, and a house, and live that way until the rapture.  For those of us in between, life is about creating the balance that allows you to flow, permeate, and hustle to your hearts content. I realize the people I respect most are those who love to travel, yet keep progressing. It’s the people who create a lifestyle where they move about freely, yet still delve into any culture that crosses their path. It’s those who can absolutely love slumming it in backpacker haven, then take a trip to the unknown, and still return to their home and loved ones for a jaunt in the frightening western world. Those people are the travelers whom I believe in.

For me, my current domicile in Colorado does just fine (that is until ski season comes and goes!) While I may be back in Colorado for the time being, I adore the fact I see this place as home. Travel is what one makes of it. If through your journeys you realize a home base is what you need, or at least a trip outside of your current trip, you are the only person capable of making that decision. The funny thing is, once you stop caring and actually follow that intuition, the more balanced you will feel, and the more opportunities to create this desired lifestyle will arrive.


Photos courtesy of Getty Images, Listability, and Vagabond Journey