The Illusion of the American Dream
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By Bohemian
"It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." George Carlin
September 28, 2011 "Bohemian Travelers" -- Once upon a time, I woke up and realized the American Dream was an illusion; a myth, a shiny-but-inedible carrot used to trap us into a narrow range of experiences, often referred to as the rat race.
The American dream philosophy started at the inception of the country -- that all people were created equal in the pursuit of happiness. The basic idea became that if you study, work hard, and play by the rules you will have prosperity and success. This idea brought, and still brings, many immigrants to the US. I have no doubt that if someone is dedicated, smart, and talented, this is still the case despite increased challenges.
The illusion is that the American Dream can be conventionally defined for everyone. Is it having a good job with health benefits for the accumulation of material things? Or, is it the freedom to pursue passions and have amazing experiences? Perhaps true success is a balance of all those things.
We've been lucky enough to have already lived both extremes of this paradigm, but are still in pursuit of the perfect balance part. At one point we were rat-racers through and through; with the big house, two cars, bills and debt, two full-time jobs, toys, etc. It was all well and good, and certainly we found much joy in that life, but it made us feel trapped. The notion of doing the same routine for the next forty to fifty years just to pay off our stuff and retire modestly really started to bum us out.
We began to wonder if this was the best way to experience our precious time on this planet. Was it the experience we wanted for our kids? What if there was another way to live that didn't include meaningless tasks and obligations? Would we be able to sustain ourselves if we quit the traditional version of the American Dream? The answer lies in our blog's tagline: Exit Rat Race, Enter Adventure.
Somewhere during this transition we realized that we never truly "own" anything, we just use it. This was made clear when we calculated that even if our home was paid off, we would still have to pay nearly $800 in monthly taxes, insurance etc. That's not ownership, especially when you can rent a home with 4 acres in Costa Rica or a villa in Thailand for half of that, it is a trap. This is when we realized that the carrot was inedible. Sure, it's nice have cool things to "use", but at what cost?
My husband and I decided to change our interpretation of the dream from the accumulation of stuff to the accumulation of experiences. We sold everything except personal items, quit our jobs, and decided on a life of nomadic travel. Many of our loved ones were puzzled by our rejection of the traditional American Dream, yet nearly all of them admired our courage.
As is the challenge for anyone seeking to survive in this world, a balance of work and play still had to be found. First, we realized that in order to make our new dream come true we had to simplify our lives. Unexpectedly, that simplification process became quite rewarding and has rarely felt like we sacrificed anything. We also had to find ways to make money conducive to traveling. This has been a bumpier road but one that has ultimately led to getting paid to do what we love.
Our family has gone through many changes over the past few years. From simplifying our lives to realizing that enjoying the journey is the goal. Perhaps the most important thing we have learned is that we are in control of ourselves and our path. We alone set the tempo for living out our dreams. We can live any illusion we choose, but we must dream it first. For us, the American Dream represents the freedom to choose how to spend our time.
We choose simplicity, independence, and global exploration. What do you CHOOSE?
