Best Life Plan

Cool!  Hope it works out.

I’m pulling for you too RA. JTG, I think your mind is in the right place regarding your kids. That’s pretty much how I feel too. Some how I got through my brief career as a ski bum/bum bum and ended up doing ok. It’s actually kind of funny. I’m from a large family and even though I’m not the most successful of the whole bunch I’ve done somewhat better then some siblings who on paper should have had better earning power. Of course the race isn’t over yet.

There is a price for everything of value.

Society seems to place a premium on the end of life. Suck it up and work hard (for many at a job you don't like) so you can be "secure" at the end of your life.

The thing is, at the end, your body breaks down, maybe you are alone, maybe you have some money but not the means to enjoy it.

All I am saying is that society has some built in assumptions, that don't necessarily work for everyone.

raisingarizona wrote

There is hope though......things might be coming together soon and I might be scoring my dream job with a livable income. Fingers crossed.

President of the AZMTB Trail Builders Association!

Please share when you can!

Harvey wrote

raisingarizona wrote

There is hope though......things might be coming together soon and I might be scoring my dream job with a livable income. Fingers crossed.

President of the AZMTB Trail Builders Association!

Please share when you can!

Hey thanks you guys!

I certainly will. This isn't THE dream gig (close enough tho for now) but next month I'm hopefully going to get hired on with ACE to help lead on the Heart Trail project. That's the big descent alignment I've been working on for 3 years. That should last about two months, maybe a tad longer but it will help with the resume. Our group is working towards something else though and I'll let ya know if we get there but for now it's all just a concept and it's going to take some time to figure things out.

Our group is getting pretty darn good at this and it sure is fun. It's all I want to do and it's all I could think about while in nursing school this past fall. It was a sign I tell ya.

On that living for the end BS, I worked in a long term care/hospice facility for a while as some of you know and no one looking at their last days wishes that they worked more. It's not a time worth worrying about imho. Sure, it might suck a little more to not have the best care or be in the most comfortable place but it's going to kind of suck no matter what. Don't put anything off worrying about that crap. That's my 2 cents.

The downside to letting my kid see Endgame at 11:00.....waiting for him in the f@#%ing parking lot at 2am.

I’ve said it a bunch of times, but college, even young adulthood, is about more than any pure subject matter knowledge you learn.  It’s about experiences, and challenges, and perspectives, and relating to people.  Taking a few years to give yourself experiences and perspectives someone else doesn’t have, especially if you find a way to relate it to others and a job/career...I agree there can be merits.  I’m sure it creates some challenges along the way, too.

It’s gotta be hard as hell going back to school full time after taking a few years off, I’d think.

JTG4eva! wrote

I’ll have supported my kids for some 21 years each and will have put them through college and will do my best to provide assistance should they struggle in their good faith efforts to be what I consider to be employed, productive members of society when they start their adult lives.....but I’m glad none of them (so far) seem to want me to support them whilst they go dick around, have fun, and “find themselves”.  

Seriously, I’m sure some kids “need” that.  For them it’s probably better to do that and figure themselves out before they or their parents waste anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000 on college.  I’m just glad my kids don’t seem to fall into that category.....

We made our last college/Grad School payment this spring..My youngest graduates in 3 weeks.. But for some reason we are still paying car insurance and cell phone bills..

One of my best friends took off a couple of years after college to ski and windsurf. Then went to law school and is now a successful attorney. He says he would do it again in heart beat. If you have a good kid, it will all work out

JasonWx wrote

One of my best friends took off a couple of years after college to ski and windsurf. Then went to law school and is now a successful attorney. He says he would do it again in heart beat. If you have a good kid, it will all work out

Have two nieces (different families) who worked for a few years after college before settling down for grad school.  One took a year working for a law professor to decide whether or not to apply to law school, then applied, got in, and deferred for another year.  Spent the second year being a research assistant in Africa and then a summer doing intensive language study in Asia.  Flew home and started law school after about a week.  The other niece worked in a technical computer analyst job unrelated to her college major or grad school interest for about five years.  Last couple years she and BF were living in Manhattan and enjoying what the city had to offer.  He also waited to start grad school.  Now they are in MN until both get done with Ph.D. degrees.

On the other hand, I knew that if I ever stopped school completely then I'd never go back.  Kept going doing the grad school course work and took the grad exams a year early.  Worked part-time all during grad school, sometimes spending much more time working than doing my own research because the work was more fun.  Haven't ever wanted to take a formal class since finishing the required courses.

I want my daughter to finish college before going to explore whatever she wants to do.  She seems to have bought into the idea.  Got into her first choice and only applied in-state (UNC System).  However, she has had the idea of working at Alta Lodge for a season or two after college for quite a while.  That works for me. :-)

I'd add another option in finishing school, getting a top job in San Fran/Sili Valley and then a winter share in Tahoe. Weekend warrior and use all your vacation in Kirkwood & Squaw. Plus you can also get out to Yosemite in the summer.  

In your 20s, you can get away living in a high priced city cheaply with roommates. Even if city living not your thing, it is invaluable life experience to live & work in a higher pressure environment while also being exposed to it's cultural / social scene. You can always move after 2-3 years and leverage that big city/career experience to find an even better gig in a place like SLC (and have more appreciation for the work life balance)

Re: Denver. My company acquired a firm out there and I was shocked how many of new colleagues skied less than I did. I suppose a 2 hour drive is a 2 hour drive...no matter if that puts in Summit County or the Catskills.

Nova Ski wrote

 company acquired a firm out there and I was shocked how many of new colleagues skied less than I did. I suppose a 2 hour drive is a 2 hour drive...no matter if that puts in Summit County or the Catskills.

A few guys on my team at work live out in Denver and they hardly ever ski.  They are there cause they are either from Colorado, or they moved for work.  In my experience people in Denver don't appreciate what they have.  They don't want to use any vacation days on skiing, and they don't want to pay to stay overnight, so they go on day trips and then complain about the traffic on I-70.  Kind of like how I live in NYC but haven't been to a museum in 8 years.  

If one of the reasons you move to Denver is for the skiing you'll make it happen

I’m all about getting the finest education you can, which will then hopefully open the doors to enable you to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

First off, if I had my “to do it all over” dream, I wouldn’t do much differently at all.  I’d definitely have saved more in my 20s.  Maybe I’d have skied more (heavier on the weekend warrior) and played soccer more in my 30s.  Of course, doing so with young children was not all that practical, and I wouldn’t change anything about my kids.

So, if I hadn’t met the love of my life, the swear heart I’ve been with since high school?

I’d say....straight from HS into college, major in expeditionary studies (backcountry skiing track), minor or focus electives in hospitality management, graduate and move to SLC.  Guide in the Wasatch in the winter, work a summer resort somewhere, either mountains or beach.  Alternatively get a sweet gig at one of the lodges at Alta during the winter in lieu of guiding.

Lots of skiing, no bumming inlolved!

 

JTG4eva! wrote

.  Guide in the Wasatch in the winter, work a summer resort somewhere, either mountains or beach.  Alternatively get a sweet gig at one of the lodges at Alta during the winter in lieu of guiding.

Lots of skiing, no bumming inlolved!

Do you know what kinds of salaries you'd make at these jobs? Seems like bumming to me.

Some more than others, no doubt....and I’m not saying I think it would be easy.  Not that it wouldn’t be without it’s challenges, sacrifices, and struggles, but I’d imagine it would be better than graduating HS, heading off to skiing parts unknown with not much of a plan, and slinging burritos or washing dishes at some Taco Loco somewhere.  It would surely require some good, smart choices, some good luck, a lot of dues paying, and lots of good old fashioned hard work.  Like most professional careers.  I’ve met an awful lot of people in my travels who have done a lot better for themselves than bumming.  Are you saying that a degreed, professional, AMGA certified mountain guide or someone in a management or back office position at an established Lodge can’t make a career of it beyond bumming around?

If you have some of those positions jtg then you aren’t skiing very much. A management position in hospitality or in a restaurant is like slavery. I know Ive said this before but the best time of my life was while being a dishwasher or a bellman or a busboy. I didn’t own a car but I got by and skied six days a week and god I F-d a lot of waitresses.

You guys make it sound like to be a ski bum you gotta make sacrifices but a real ski bum sees it completely opposite.

JTG4eva! wrote

Some more than others, no doubt....and I’m not saying I think it would be easy.  Not that it wouldn’t be without it’s challenges, sacrifices, and struggles, but I’d imagine it would be better than graduating HS, heading off to skiing parts unknown with not much of a plan, and slinging burritos or washing dishes at some Taco Loco somewhere.  It would surely require some good, smart choices, some good luck, a lot of dues paying, and lots of good old fashioned hard work.  Like most professional careers.  I’ve met an awful lot of people in my travels who have done a lot better for themselves than bumming.  Are you saying that a degreed, professional, AMGA certified mountain guide or someone in a management or back office position at an established Lodge can’t make a career of it beyond bumming around?

The current CEO of Alta Lodge started at the bottom there decades ago.  He'd finished college before going to Alta.  He planned to stay at Alta/SLC for a year or two.  I'd say he did plenty of skiing in the first decade.

I know a couple people who tried to handle college courses during the off-season while working at a lodge at Alta.  Both decided after two seasons that it made more sense to focus on college full-time to get that part of their life over and done.  The general advice my daughter when she was in elementary school from more than one young adult working at Alta Lodge was to finish college first.

I hear you.  You and MC have been way more in the skiing life than I have, so I respect your opinions.  Of course it’s all relative.  Not skiing that much as someone working full time in a management role at a lodge is likely still skiing a lot more than a professional working in NYC or someplace else and doing the weekend warrior thing, I’d imagine.  

Like we talked about, there are all different types and different ways to approach life, and skiing life.  Personally, I’d never advocate for the life path, even short term, that allows six days a week skiing.  If I was going to do it, I’d go for the longer term, more responsibility path to try and turn it into a real career.  It’s been done.  Even though you wouldn’t ski as much, you’d still ski more than most weekend warriors, and you’d maybe eat less Ramen Noodles than the transient dishwashers??

As to sacrifices, ski bums no doubt love the skiing, but can you really argue they aren’t making sacrifices, even if the don't think or realize they are?

I don’t think any of it would be easy, I was just pointing out an alternative approach that could allow for finishing a degree first, taking on more responsibility and a professional career path, while still skiing a lot more than most people, even though it’s not as much as some who choose to take a career detour to do the six day a week thing.

raisingarizona wrote

If you have some of those positions jtg then you aren’t skiing very much. A management position in hospitality or in a restaurant is like slavery. I know Ive said this before but the best time of my life was while being a dishwasher or a bellman or a busboy. I didn’t own a car but I got by and skied six days a week and god I F-d a lot of waitresses.

You guys make it sound like to be a ski bum you gotta make sacrifices but a real ski bum sees it completely opposite.

spot on Bro
I have been in the food biz for since 96.. The food and hotel are the same types of biz..You are a f'n slave.

In hind sight, the most enjoyable jobs I had were lift-op and horse wrangler but I understand why I made no money at those jobs. Would I, with the benefit of hindsight, have headed out west earlier in my life, gone to a different college and/or continued enjoying that life a little longer? Maybe. Nobody gets the benefit of hindsight. You make decisions and do your best.

raisingarizona wrote

If you have some of those positions jtg then you aren’t skiing very much. A management position in hospitality or in a restaurant is like slavery. I know Ive said this before but the best time of my life was while being a dishwasher or a bellman or a busboy. I didn’t own a car but I got by and skied six days a week and god I F-d a lot of waitresses.

You guys make it sound like to be a ski bum you gotta make sacrifices but a real ski bum sees it completely opposite.

QFT

No waitresses here....UVM chicks and nurses from Quebec. There's no need for a girlfriend.
We took who's ever car/truck started that day. If nothing started we skied to work and hitchhiked home.