Who the hell writes this crap

What’s up?! My name’s Caroline. I’m 26 years old, and I just quit my job to travel the country in my van. Now, I know what you’re thinking. But this isn’t going to be a van life blog. This isn’t a travel blog. I’m not going to post pictures of fancy dinners in exotic locations, or filtered photos of my ass while I sit in the back door of the van. No one wants to see that, I’m not that hot. But what I am going to be writing about- the reason why I’m starting this blog- is that for the first time in my life, I have no idea what I’m doing- and I’m absolutely loving it. And I figure that there must be at lest one other person out there who is loving their screwed-up experiences just as much as I am. And ok, there will be a little travel thrown in there.. I mean hey, I do live in a vehicle. 

I won’t dwell on it, but to give you a quick background I was born and raised in Maine. I was- and still am- a huge nerd. A self-proclaimed loner. My social skills are comparable to those of a 3-year-old. So naturally I chose a career that was equally as isolating. I went to Maine Maritime Academy immediately after high school, graduated in 4 years and have been working as a merchant marine on an oil tanker ever since. I’ve always been responsible- studied my ass off, never did drugs, never defied my parents, never broke the rules- a regular old square. And so naturally following the typical path in life made sense- I graduated college, got a great job, set up a 401K, and was cruising along the road of success and responsibility. Until a few moths ago. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to follow this path in life. And I certainly wasn’t handed anything on a silver platter. I’ve had a job since I was 15 years old, bought my own (very shitty) vehicle, took out student loans for all of my college tuition not covered by financial aid, and have paid for it all myself. I’ve earned everything that I’ve gotten. But I’ve always felt that something in my life was missing. And a few months ago, I finally realized what that was- I haven’t had any damn fun! 

I knew I had two options in front of me. Option one- take the risk. Leave my stable job, put everything I own in storage, cut my shoe collection in half, buy a camper, spend time outdoors doing the things I truly love, and just go for it. Or option two- stay comfortable, and probably end up with regrets. Well, no time like the present. So here I am, going for it. I’m 26, homeless, unemployed, single- and I’ve never felt happier or more free. Actually I’d say the right word is “hopeful.” 

Alright, enough with the serious shit. I started this blog as a place to laugh at myself- and hopefully for other people to laugh at me too. Because life is way too dark and serious- sometimes we all need to remember to make fun of ourselves. Nobody’s perfect- and I am more than willing to sacrifice my own dignity to prove that point. 

I should warn you, there’s going to be some real talk. I’m a sailor so there’ll definitely be profanity. But mainly there will be a shit-ton of my unfiltered thoughts and experiences- on life, on sleeping in a vehicle, on traveling to random places I just decided to visit the previous day, on staying in creepy parking lots and eating ramen noodles, on bad dates with random guys I meet online, on hiking and camping (because what else do loners do for fun), and mostly on finding myself- in the most fucked up (and most exciting) way. 

A little inspiration to round out this terribly boring intro:

In life, it’s the mistakes we make that teach us the most about who we are and who we want to become. 

Yes, I just made that up.

So with that, welcome to my new life. Time to start screwing up.