I built a camper van a few years back and used to travel in it between oil and gas projects. It’s super comfortable and when I book gigs outside of Atlanta, I use it get to them and sometimes stay overnight for ‘local only’ projects. The build was on an old FedEx van; A 2006 Dodge Sprinter 2500 and has a double bed, a full kitchen with stove, oven, fridge and sink.
Yesterday, I had a conversation with my landlord and he needs his house back. There was some miscommunication and the Airbnb listing was never taken down. He has some upcoming bookings, so I have until the end of the month to move out. I am considering this a blessing in disguise as I needed to find a cheaper place to live.
After the conversation, I came up with 3 options for a place to live:
- I could park my van at my buddy’s house and stay with him, only using my van as a bedroom. He doesn’t have an extra bedroom, but I would have full access to the common areas of his house.
- I could move to Iowa and stay with mom. She’s older and needs help with things.
- I have a friend back in Texas that has asked me to move back. I lived with them when I worked in Corpus Christi.
After some thought, I decided on a combination of all three. Since I just started my new job at Girl Diver and was just promoted, I would have felt shitty to quit. Plus with my reduced living expenses, I could not only live on what I was making, but could save quite a bit of money. So my plan is to stay in Atlanta until the end of the year, save as much money as possible, go to Iowa to visit mom for a couple weeks over the holidays and then move to Corpus Christi.
Since I established myself in Atlanta with representation in the SE area, I can live anywhere now. All my auditions are self tapes or zoom and to be honest, most of the work isn’t even in Atlanta. My manager is based out of LA and she submits me and pitches me to projects all over the world. The only negative is that if I do book anything in Atlanta, I will have to work as a local; with no travel and lodging, but again, I have the van.
Lots can happen between now and the end of the year, so this is my plan as of right now.
Simon Shih 