5 Signs You Should Be A Ski Bum
If you find yourself fantasizing about quitting the life you know, moving to a mountain town, and fulfilling your desire to ride, or ski, as much as you want – consider becoming a ski bum.
I think most people want something new in life. Be it new items, new experiences, or new beginnings. Contrary to popular belief, there’s not one way to bum. There’s those with no job and those with three. Some strictly couch surf while others are decked out in a sprinter van. The possibilities lie somewhere in between and the freedom is yours to discover what type of ski bum you want to be. It’s important to keep in mind that any decision you make will have a compromise. As an upper-middle class, suburban African-American who relied on her mother’s insurance for four years, I understand this lifestyle is a privilege not everyone can afford. While I have it easier than some, that doesn’t change my advice to go for it.
I compromised comfort seven years ago as a burnt out college student, living in an Astro van, working as a rental technician. Often I’d wake up to frigid 10 degree weather and pee in a water bottle. Since my van had no insulation, or heat, I had to increase my calorie intake so my body had fuel to burn for warmth. These events helped build my mental resilience – I began applying these newly learned principles to other areas of my life like living with depression, working out, and building community. By matching mind (thoughts) to body, I now have my own tech company, upgraded to a warm truck camper, and my life still revolves around snowboarding. This lifestyle changed my life, what will it do to yours when you take the leap?
Here are 5 signs you should change gears and become a counterculture ski bum.
1. You’re broke
If you’re already living paycheck to paycheck, might as well do it in a place you get to ride for free. Pay starts around $20/hour at most resorts, but you get to work in a beautiful place. Your riding days will soar from single digits to as many as you’d like. Also, if you like snowboarding/skiing but you can’t afford it, being a working ski resort bum is a great way to afford the lifestyle. Everything about this lifestyle comes with sacrifices and this is a financial sacrifice for happiness.
2. It’s on your mind
The desire to quit everything and go riding keeps popping up in your head. You can’t watch enough snowboard videos to fill that burning desire to be on snow. News flash – that’s your heart sending a message to your brain to go be happy. To follow joy as your guide right now. Listen to it!
3. You’re burnt out or need a new perspective
Burnout is real, I’ve experienced it firsthand. Taking a winter to ski before getting back into your career isn’t becoming a loser ski bum. It’s self-care. It stimulates the senses from a new perspective. It’s something new to feed your soul instead of suck the ever living day out of it. There’s a fine balance between giving a piece of yourself and filling your own cup to have something to give.
4. You want to try being a seasonal worker
Instead of the year round, full-time job pattern there are seasonal jobs all across the U.S. From snowboard instructing to being a park ranger you get to pick your own adventure. There’s also no one way to be a seasonal worker. You can work hard in the summer and no job bum it in the winter. And, of course, you can work full-time or part-time every season.
5. You don’t want to live with regrets
There’s a saying, “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” Think about the future for a moment and see how it feels to not pursue this dream? If there is regret or sadness then that feeling may not go away. Instead, take a break from whatever you’re doing and go live life to its fullest potential.
The Final Word
Eventually, it doesn’t have to be your career or skiing – it can be both! But for now, be a bum. Stop caring what other people think and don’t spend more than you earn. Remember sacrifices have to be made for this lifestyle like financial security and a lower standard of living. Taking care of dependents or living with physical disabilities can make this lifestyle hard but not impossible. With the climate becoming unpredictable the ski industry will soon not operate in a similar manner. Hear more about that in my article: Adjusting To a Warmer World – The Future of The Ski and Snowboard Industry. So get it while you still can. Yeah, the unknown can be scary at first, and anything could go wrong or sideways at any time, but THAT’S LIFE and when the moment goes wrong is when you will find yourself most alive. Do it! Go see and meet people unlike yourself and form new opinions about the world that you wouldn’t have developed if you stayed in your comfort zone. There are many different ways to be a ski bum, but however you do it, there is no better time than right now.
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