Just for a quick update, it's been a week now and things have gone suprisingly well. For the first time in a while I'm following a very active, early riser schedule. I get up around 6 and go to bed by 11 (sleeping quite well) with a brief nap or two in between, usually on a bench somewhere, with the day starting and ending with an hour or two of simply reading for fun. Spending less time online now, I'm actually driven to study a bit
For some reason I actually find myself wanting to do a bit of work.
So far this has been a test to reset and see what I really need in order to enjoy my life, trimming away whatever is costing me in time or money without adding much to my quality of life. For the moment, my expenses have effectively been cut in half, while my enjoyment has actually increased
I find myself even contemplating the idea of switching over to moving around mostly by foot and/or bicycle, with a tent hammock instead of a car. This will likely wait until after I've finished house sitting.
After I graduate in about 7 months, I'll be able to fit all my essentials except perhaps a quilt into carry on luggage (on a plane, train, bus, or maybe my bike or back), making it feasible to simply move around to wherever the weather and mood fits me at the time. Right now I could amply support my expenses working 20 hours per week for minimum wage if necessary. Drop the car and it's closer to 12 hours per week. And that's when I'm eating at restaurants most of the time instead of going by the grocery store or soup kitchen.
I don't plan on simply lazing about though. Not always at least. I find myself more full energy to actually be doing something than before, for profit or otherwise. Also, I'm not committing to this long term yet. I'm simply overjoyed at knowing this can work for me, at least as a young, single white guy in a nice walkable college town (one of my favorite environments) with currently great weather.