Turning my attention to debt

 2/7 - This blog began as a way for me to keep friends and family updated on my adventures in England during my postgraduate studies in 2014-15. During those early days, I wrote about my trepidation for having a student loan in order to survive postgraduate school in a different country for a year. 

I've made a few scattered payments on that loan debt in the six years since then, but never made any progress. It has just been getting pushed back either because I didn't make enough money or I was traveling. As a result, the loan debt ballooned. It accrued several thousand dollars in interest and sat just a shade less than $60,000. 

These days, I'm working a good job in Bishop and can afford to live alone. I can save money. Life is good. Life is comfortable. And after experiencing culture shock in those first few months in Bishop and feeling homesickness, it's fair to say I love living here now. It's stunningly beautiful. It's a photographer's paradise. The tall, jagged peaks of the Eastern Sierra tower over the little mining town of Bishop. After a snowstorm, those peaks are shockingly white. During sunrises and sunsets, this valley seems to light up with color; I have felt a few electric shocks early in the morning after peaking through the blinds in twilight. 

But the loan debt is still there. It's sitting there in the back of my mind, ever-present. Something will have to be done about it eventually. 

That time is now. I'm tired of thinking about it. Granted, the loan is not weighing me down. I've had no trouble saving up money for it. My credit is fine. It's just kind of...there. Regardless, it's time for me to slay it. That debt is about to regret attaching itself to me. And in order to kill it, I have made myself uncomfortable by using the majority of my savings to begin the process of paying it off. 

For about a week now, I've felt flashes of anxiety and discomfort because of this action. I strongly dislike this feeling, but I know that since I'm feeling uncomfortable it was the correct decision to nearly wipe out my savings. 

It's time to make myself more uncomfortable. As of February 3, 2021, I wiped out all of the interest on that loan debt, as well as $15,000 of the principal balance. This leaves me with a little less than $40,000 on the debt. I'd like to eradicate this debt by January 1, 2024 and to do this I'll need self-discipline. 

I am going to attack this debt. 

I am going to take absolute control of my finances. This is the perfect time to do it because interest has been frozen until the end of September. There are rumors of the government forgiving some amount of everyone's student loans. The government is giving out stimulus payments due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If I'm aggressive, this debt will rapidly shrink. If I'm disciplined enough, I will put all of my resources towards this debt. If I hustle enough, I will create other streams of income. Right now is the perfect storm of circumstances. 

The debt could completely disappear in two years. It'll take some serious sacrifice though...

18/7 - The debt is shrinking. I've officially cut it in half! It sits at a shade above $29k right now. In order to attack it, I've been living simply and throwing all resources at it. Any payment helps, no matter how large or small. 

I recently had my first wedding photography gig, which produced a nice payment. In terms of wedding photographers, I was dirt cheap. But, I learned a lot, had fun and produced some (more than 300) photographs that thrilled the bride and groom, as well as myself. 

I've taken on a side job doing yard work at a nice house with an amazing view of Owens Valley. The house sits on a large parcel of land and it's owned by an optometrist and his retired wife from the Central Valley. 

This doesn't produce income, but I've also adopted a highway just north of Bishop. So far I've filled four bags with trash. Sometimes drivers honk at me and give me a thumbs up.  

Another new place to live

 17/10 - Greetings from the desert. 

It's been a long while since I last added to this blog, around the time the Covid-19 pandemic started. Since then, I survived one of the craziest times in San Quentin State Prison's history. At one point there were more than 2,000 inmates infected with the coronavirus, and more than 25 prisoners died from it. I experienced the most toxic of workplaces and observed some eyebrow-raising unprofessionalism, incompetence and rudeness. Outside of Prisneyland, I notched some spurts of personal growth, met some great people and made the Bay Area my home, in particularly San Rafael and Marin County, and watched a spectacular thunderstorm which set California on fire until this day. 

I also left San Quentin. 

After 12 job interviews in 2020, I accepted a job with Caltrans as a Public Information Officer in Bishop. If you don't know where Bishop is, I was the same way two months ago. Bishop is a small, rural, desert town in Inyo County. Though there are more than 8,000 people who live in this area, the town is little more than a Highway 395 rest stop for travelers between Mammoth Lakes, Reno or Los Angeles. 

If you're still unsure about where it is, think of Death Valley National Park. Bishop is on the north end of the area. On my road trip to Death Valley a few years ago, I came within a few hours south of Bishop when I went as far north as Olancha on Highway 395. 

Anyway. 

It's very different here from Marin County and the Bay Area. 

Not only have I moved away from one of my favorite cities in the world in San Francisco, I'm starting over from zero. Again. 

I started over from zero in Porterville, Poole, Cherbourg and San Rafael. In all of those places, I didn't know anyone and I was brand new to the job (or country). In all of those cities, I started with zero knowledge of anything around me. In Poole, I was, frankly, terrified but exhilarated. In Cherbourg, I had the language barrier to battle and wasn't sure about my purpose for being there. 

In Bishop, I'm starting over yet again. I'm brand new to this part of California and I don't know a soul. I'm brand new to the job and am facing a steep learning curve while working from home. Since it's a small town, one can find political signs and flags in front of every other house. Every Friday evening, a convoy of conservatives cruise Main Street, honking their horns and making as much noise as possible in the hopes of getting a rise out of someone. And since I moved here, the Creek Fire has been steadily burning on the west side of the Sierra Nevada, producing a constant blanket of smoke over Owens Valley. 

It's not easy. 

This is yet another challenge. I've done it before, several times in fact, and I'll do it again. 

But, I've noticed that I'm not as excited to start over again. I'm getting tired of it. And last week I realized, for the first time in my life, I was homesick! 

I'm homesick for Marin County. I honestly loved living there; it was paradise. However, it was too expensive for me to live there. I was working too much to truly enjoy and appreciate it. And most of all, the job at San Quentin made me miserable. 

28/10 - The air has been clear of wildfire smoke in Owens Valley the past two days. Surprisingly, my mood is a lot better! When the air is clear, the Eastern Sierra towers over the valley with jagged and rough peaks. To the east, the White Mountains seem to glow orange and red during the day and especially in the evening.