Gordon Groff said:
I'm still relatively young (56) and healthy and have always enjoyed hard physical work, but as an overweight desk-jockey, don't do that anymore and am too lazy to hit the gym as much as I should. A job that requires physical activity and a team effort to set up/tear down/do what needs done to make the show work actually sounds good to me right now. Of course, the reality could change that in a hurry.
At this point, it's speculation on my part. Some days here at work I'm ready to pull the trigger right NOW, other days, I figure I should keep my job for another year or so as my financial advisors recommend.
Gordon
Running away to join the circus dos indeed sound like fun. My thinking is that they do not go year round, so it's a seasonal thing. Also, if you're busy working the circus, you don't have time to run blow all your money, hence you could save up a tidy sum for traveling/relaxing afterwards.
I have a friend who is slightly deformed, giving him a very unique look. He was so sick and tired of discrimination that he joined clown school so he could run away with the circus. He ended up marrying a contortionist. That was over 25 years ago and they are still running around with the circus. He is super happy even when not in clown costume.
If you listen your financial advisers, you probably won't get to go RVing until you're 84 and the circus will be out of the question at any time.
Life is a gift, waking up alive each day is precious.
Think about laying on your death bed... would you be happy that you stuck to your desk job and financial security or that you ran off in an RV to join the circus?
While money is certainly handy, happiness is worth A LOT more. Sometimes living on less brings a great deal more happiness than slaving away to keep the financial advisers happy.
There are other fun seasonal jobs such as Dollywood in Tennessee hires older RV-ers every year to work their amusement park.
It is a great way to top up the traveling kitty while doing a job that might have more fun and less stress.
I served my time as an executive chained to my desk, in my first career. But then I decided to make a life at sea. Everyone was totally against the idea except the new friends I made who were living/working on sailboats. The first year I made about 10% of my prior income, but I was 100 times happier. I could go on and on about all the wonderful places I sailed to and the unique opportunities that landed in my lap because I was messing about boats.
22 years later, when I landed back in America, I bought my little old motorhome while I figured out what to do next... Again, my USA relatives and friends were all against me. But I pushed forward all alone with my crazy idea. For some reason everyone thought I came back to America to work in an office and slave away to have corporate perks.
Turns out I love the RV lifestyle but had no steady income, just royalties. I discovered workamping, so now I am juggling both. I workamp awhile socking away my erratic income, then I run off to travel and sightsee. Even now where I am workamping, I take time to do some daytrips, often combined with grocery shopping.
I have no car, so I leave early in the morning, load up on supplies then go sightseeing the rest of the day in my RV with my dog and sometimes a friend sometimes not. I come back to my free camping at ngiht, plug in and go back to workamping. I love it!
Be prepared for many people to be against your ideas and dreams, but it's your life and there is nothing wrong with putting the fun back in your daily existence.