I Live in a Van Down by Duke University
December 8th, 2009I have a good friend who did something like this for a year as he finished his PhD. He slept under his desk in his lab and “bathed” in the women’s bathroom during early AM hours. (Men, in case you don’t know, the women’s bathroom is usually much cleaner than the men’s.) He bought an AC/DC mini fridge and cooked in the lunch room where his lab was at the university.
Facing the prospect of being (really, no joke) homeless after he finished, he briefly considered enrolling in another PhD program at a different university.
It worked out in the end. He managed to maintain appearances at some hell hole senior software engineering job for a couple of years and now he’s married. He and his wife bought a 15 acre farm. Their strategic exit from the rat race is nearly at hand.
Via: Salon:
Living in a van was my grand social experiment. I wanted to see if I could — in an age of rampant consumerism and fiscal irresponsibility — afford the unaffordable: an education.
