If you could drop your current life and just take off...

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Where would you go and what would you be doing? Don't say I wouldn't change a goddamn thing. This is a thread for regrets and unfulfilled dreams.

I'd be in search of that salty-smelling brunette with green eyes. And we would be like juxtaposed angels of mercy and death steady as the Detroit lean in a white T-Top Trans-Am gliding mercilessly... as mercilessly as we could be.

― Cub, Monday, 24 March 2003 07:36 (twenty-three years ago)

well my dream is to live by myself in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do but record and listen to music all day: no phone, no internet, no neighbours, no tv. if i could drop out of uni right now and do that, i would. i'd really like to do that next year, but reality is that the longer i stay where i am now, the more i will be sucked into the big ole academic vortex. ah well. we'll see.

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 24 March 2003 07:55 (twenty-three years ago)

travel round america.

travel round chile.

move to brussels/berlin/los angeles/madrid/lisbon/helsinki/santiago/strasbourg/seattle/new york city*

go live in a caravan by the sea

*well, lets see!

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 24 March 2003 08:01 (twenty-three years ago)

driving cross-country (assuming I knew how to drive, of course) by myself, listening to music

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 24 March 2003 08:19 (twenty-three years ago)

an endless rock and roll tour

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 24 March 2003 08:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Become celibate. Heh, I could do that now, come to think of it.

Yeah, I so would. There's very little keeping me here right now. I think I'd go live in a house by a beautiful fjord in Norway or Sweden or somewhere. And go mad within three weeks... madder, maybe...

― kate (suzy), Monday, 24 March 2003 08:41 (twenty-three years ago)

di - i've tried it, it doesn't work.

kate, don't forget to let me know when you want to meet up for drinks - either tonight or Wednesday would be fine by me :-)

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 24 March 2003 08:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I want to live in New Mexico or Arizona for a while. I'd eat lots of food, write, and make movies. Maybe draw one or two of my famous "shit cartoons"...

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 24 March 2003 09:42 (twenty-three years ago)

No, I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere. But I wouldn't mind dropping out and going and living in some boho freakshow enclave like PDX or Woodstock or something for a while. Enough to do and enough cultural stimulation to keep me from going mad, but far enough out of the Rat Race that I didn't have to worry about having a Real Job or anything. But gah, my hatred for the Real World is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going.

― kate, Monday, 24 March 2003 09:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Small house by the sea/a lake/ a river, middle of nowhere other than that. Almost any country would do. Cellar full of wine, field full of animals, sunshine. If I could, I would gladly spend every day for the rest of my life sitting in sunshine watching light play off the ripples in moving water.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Monday, 24 March 2003 09:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Hmmmmm. Honestly? I'd follow Radiohead wherever they go, and explore the countries in between sets of dates. I like travelling, but it's hard to do well without the certain sense of impetus that following around something provides. Also, it's really nice meeting up with the same people over and over again. After that, well, I'm craving city life right now. I'd move to London. Start to write a book. Take walks around town during the day. I really like cities, I think I'd like to visit all of the major ones at some point. Especially Tokyo, Paris, Stockholm, etc. Then I think I'd move on to quieter things... More seeing the countryside, the mountains, isolated places... But I'm alone right now, so what I really crave is being among people.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Monday, 24 March 2003 09:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Kinda like Di's, bt with all mod-cons and friends/family within easy reach. I like the idea of living somewhere beautiful and remote, but doubt if I'd enjoy it long term.

I'd like to live in a lighthouse. Or maybe I'd go into outerspace.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 24 March 2003 10:03 (twenty-three years ago)

No place specific. Sometimes, when the weather's changing, first spring sunshine, smell of snow, high winds, baking city heat starting to rise, I want to take off and just go. At the moment i have more to stay for, but I wouldn't rule it out. I'm too young to have lost dreams.

― Anna (Anna), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

i'd be like Forrest Gump - fishing for shrimp all day on a big dirty boat, then running around America before finally investing in the next enormous technological boom and making millions

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:35 (twenty-three years ago)

fishing for shrimp

why did i just misread this as "fisting for shrimp"?

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:36 (twenty-three years ago)

well either way works for me

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:39 (twenty-three years ago)

just gimme da shrimp

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:39 (twenty-three years ago)

inspired by another ILXer, I think I would become a WEREWOLF! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!

― DG (D_To_The_G), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Pretty much as now but w/a lot more money, for doing NOTHING.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 24 March 2003 11:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd lock myself at home and read books and listen to records.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Somewhere in Scotland with really cool views and nice places for my boyf to climb/explore while I read all day. (close to friends & family and with all mod cons obv)

― smee (smee), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Hooray! Smee's back!

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Aww, thanx. I'm blushing now.... Can't log on that often now I've got my new high flying job, they actually make you work in this place - can you believe it?

― smee (smee), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Hello Smee! Yeah Julio has it, but w/like HEAPS of money for occasional travel, and no study. Or work.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Railpass around Europe (I'm so sorry that I didn't do this after college).

Move up to NYC.

― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:00 (twenty-three years ago)

shrimp gumbo, shrimp scampi, fried shrimp, stuffed shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp kabob, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp burger, creole shrimp...

― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:11 (twenty-three years ago)

opt out of comercialism and stay at home inventing things to earn me money whilst i do nothing.

In the real world though i would love to do the bare minimum to live - basically work approx 20 hrs a week use the money for rent and food and then get some hobbies.

― james (james), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Maintain a place here, a place in the UK and a place in NZ. Rotate as needed. Now, to win that lottery...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd move to Spain, prolly Seville or Grenada, buy a big ol' house, run a b&b for tourists, and get drunk A LOT.

― hstencil, Monday, 24 March 2003 14:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd become nomadic and spend some time in every place I've ever wanted to visit, so that I could really get a sense of place and not feel like a tourist who's just dropping in. The list of countries is probably to numerous to mention here without becoming tiresome.

― Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:45 (twenty-three years ago)

scarily, i think i'm actually going to be dropping my current life and taking off soon.

if i don't get a certain job (and i'll know within a week or so), the plan is to put all my stuff in storage and eff off to europe for the better part of six months. i'll live on savings and severance and book money until i have none left. truth be told, i'm terrified.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Go for it! I'm so jealous...

― smee (smee), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

sounds very scary but very exciting.

the title of this thread is.my.dream.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Monday, 24 March 2003 18:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm too low at late to even start thinking about this - the difficulty is that objectively there isn't so much badly wrong with my life, but I'm still feeling more suicidal every day.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 24 March 2003 18:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm too low at late to even start thinking about this - the difficulty is that objectively there isn't so much badly wrong with my life, but I'm still feeling more suicidal every day.

Martin, it's sad that you feel like this, but I'll try to help as I can (look for my email....)

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Monday, 24 March 2003 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Thank you for the mail, Nichole - appreciated, and replied to.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 24 March 2003 20:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd buy an ugly prefab McMansion in the burbs and an H2 and some plasma TVs.

― Aaron A., Monday, 24 March 2003 20:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I've done it. It was incredible and exhilirating. I walked off a job, ended a relationship that had been slowly dying for sometime, got in my car and took off. All within a 24 hour period. I drove around the country for a couple of weeks and ended up settling in a city on the other side of the country where I didn't know anyone and had no job prospects.

It was fucking fantastic.

― That Girl (thatgirl), Monday, 24 March 2003 22:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not sure where I'd go, but I'd be known as Tony Mitch.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 00:07 (twenty-three years ago)

i'd drop out of fucking high school where they treat me like i'm TWO. (bad day...only 3 more months...3 more months *cries*) then i'd hike the appalachian trail or the pyrenees or something with my dad. then i'd come home and study some languages and take lots of music lessons. and then i'd go to college, probably.

― Maria (Maria), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd be ridiculously boring & move to Michigan.

― lyra (lyra), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 03:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I would probably just live in Astoria and get drunk til the money ran out.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 14:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Ally, my room's only $650 a month. I'm moving out prolly April 5.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 25 March 2003 14:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't really do roomshare but thank you anyway.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought not. I wasn't really serious.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 25 March 2003 15:26 (twenty-three years ago)

I have an entire 1bdrm apartment for $650! Roomshares are for fools! Etc. Actually if I was to do this I already know exactly where I would live but really it's not much of a life is it.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 16:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd run off to hang out with the New York ILXers. Sounds like you guys have all the fun.

― Bryan (Bryan), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 16:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd steal my boyfriend away with me to Portugal where we'd live out our lives as Portugese fishermen

― Mandee, Tuesday, 25 March 2003 16:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Thank you for the mail, Nichole - appreciated, and replied to.

Well and welcome. Give me half an hour, then look for a followup response in your email.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

four weeks pass...

Well I've been thinking and (literally) dreaming of dropping out for the past 6 months, but I'm torn between
-moving to the anonymous urban jungle, pref. L.A., NYC or (for the past 3 weeks) Berlin
-going to the middle of nowehere, a house on the sea in a small town in New England or some kind of Generation X scenario, hanging out in bungalows and working in a bar in suburban Palm Springs..

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 08:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I am about to do what the thread title suggests, actually. It's a little nerve-wracking.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 08:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Berlin

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 08:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Berlin definitely looks like a cool place to drop out in, but the feedback i'm getting is that now is really not the time to move there (record unemployment, collapse of the 'capital of Europe' 90's dream..).
Also, the language would be a problem..

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 08:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm going to drop everything and move to Elizabeth! I'll wear white capris and ridiculous platform Candies all the time. Also ashy blonde huge hair.

― Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 12:45 (twenty-three years ago)

berlin!! (the one in germany, not the one in massachusetts)

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh my god, it'd be so much more rawk if it was Berlin, Massachusetts. I mean, why there? It'd be mysterious.

I'd move somewhere where I could go back to sleep.

― Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 12:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I have images from 'Tangled up in Blue' dancing in my head...

One sunny October day in Berlin, MA:
"early one morning the sun was shining,
I was laying in bed.
Wondering if she'd changed at all,
if her house was still red"
...

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 12:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Berlin
-- Ed (dal...), April 23rd, 2003.
Berlin definitely looks like a cool place to drop out in

berlin!! (the one in germany

You know, I've been here for two and a half months, and I'm damned if I can find the downside. The sun seems to shine every day, there are lots of cool people (who speak English) and cool things to do all the time, and it's about half the price of rival cities.

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:02 (twenty-three years ago)

(Continues to search for the downside.)

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I hear it attracts all kinds of undesirables you know!!

― Sarah (starry), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I found a dowanside to glasgow.

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:06 (twenty-three years ago)

(how many people speak Japanese in Berlin?)

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah yes, it's true there are few Japanese here. And no big airports. Which in these SARS times is quite reassuring.

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 13:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Montana or Wyoming

― bnw (bnw), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 14:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Six weeks until departure...

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 14:26 (twenty-three years ago)

5 months for me...

― martin mushrush (mushrush), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 14:32 (twenty-three years ago)

First, I would buy an old cadillac. big ass one. Load it up with beer, and head cross country. I would play Love "Maybe the People Would Be The Times Between Clark and Hilldale" the whole way. hopped up on Coors light. Once I got to California, I would change my name to Johnny Utah, maybe hook up with some cool surfer dudes. Someone named Bodi. Then I would develop a crush on a surfer girl who works at a clam shack. I'd make love to her on the beach and say whoa a lot. Eventually I would find out that Bodi is a bank robber and I would duel with him in a free fall from an airplane. When i landed I would scream in pain because my knee hurt. I'd also eat a lot of meatball sandwiches with my new friend Angelo.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 15:08 (twenty-three years ago)

London, Berlin, New York, wherever, anywhere if it meant I got to drop my current life and take off, presuming that scenario means I get to somehow earn money for nothing.

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 15:18 (twenty-three years ago)

MOOMINLAND! (the theme park in Finland)

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 16:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd buy a big old convertible, pack up the kid and the dog and go on a cross country stop-where-I-want-to-stop-for-as-long-as-I-want-and-stop-to-pee-when-I-need-to-pee* roadtrip. I would, of course, also have unlimited funds.

*this part is key

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 16:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Southern Utah, a houseboat on Lake Powell. Or Buenos Aires.

― Arthur (Arthur), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 16:48 (twenty-three years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.