![\"How](\"https://thinksaveretire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/pinterest-downsize.jpg\")
On our way to the pool one evening with towels in hand, he grabbed our attention and motioned us over. He is a man in his 30s - a traveling nurse. \"Is that your Airstream down there?\", he asked. Indeed it was, and we answered in the affirmative. He expressed his interest in getting one in the future and revealed how much of a lifestyle change he just went through.
He is a traveling nurse and can work from anywhere in the country. He chose Tucson Arizona due to the extremely low cost of living, wonderful springtime weather and lots and lots of outdoor space. He certainly didn't get that in his downtown Atlanta condo.
Especially outdoor space. He \"outgrew\" his condo, he said. He was used to a relatively normal life in the big city, a condo full of stuff and a daily routine of work.
Now, he lives in a very small camper with his dog and can be found reading an Arizona travel book poolside in the middle of the day.
![\"This](\"https://thinksaveretire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rv-1024x618.jpg\")
A green tarp covers the space behind his camper. Surrounding the perimeter of the tarp is a string of small lights that helps to illuminate the little outdoor kitchen he built for himself, which consists of simple items acquired cheaply from estate sales. He always wanted an outdoor kitchen.
This guy represents perfectly the freedom of choice in this country. He left his cushy surroundings in a comfortable downtown condo and now calls a small camper - without even a bathroom - home.
Amid huge million dollar motorhomes with marble floors and granite countertops, king-size beds and full refrigerators, outdoor televisions and motorcycles, ATVs and other pricey toys parked alongside these huge rigs in this campground, here's a guy living in a 50 sqft camper worth all of a couple grand. The green tarp out back probably doubles his personal space.
It's question time: Could you leave your cushy downtown condo or home in the suburbs to adopt a simple-living lifestyle, traveling the country in a small camper? Or perhaps a better question - what would need to happen before you commit to such a radical change in your lifestyle?
Could you do this? What would make you do this?
","tags":[{"name":"Lifestyles","slug":"lifestyles"},{"name":"Lifestyle","slug":"lifestyle"},{"name":"Question time","slug":"question-time"},{"name":"Change Your Life","slug":"change-your-life"},{"name":"Travel and Lifestyle","slug":"travel-and-lifestyle"}]}},{"node":{"slug":"question-time-do-you-want-respect-or-pay","feature_image":null,"title":"Question time: Do you want respect or pay?","published_at":"2015-05-06T12:00:49.000+00:00","primary_author":{"name":"Steve Adcock","profile_image":"https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ae0b2f8d459bad06e6d287fa4a74b1ea"},"html":"Picture yourself in this scenario: You are at work sitting around a conference table with the CEO (or some other high level manager) and a few of your coworkers. You are discussing something that will literally make or break the company. Make the right decision and your company flourishes. Make the wrong one and, well, you might be passing around your resume.
Aside from the CEO/manager, there is one person in that room that makes the most money - let's say around $20,000 MORE than the others in the room.
![\"Question](\"https://thinksaveretire.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/question-mark-270x300.jpg\")
After two hours discussing ideas, the CEO/manager pulls one of you into his office. He says, \"Bill/Sally, I respect your opinion more than any other in this office. You heard all the ideas. You know what is at stake. What do we do?\"
Understand that the person who was pulled into that office was NOT the person who makes the most money from that meeting.
Now, it's question time: Who would you rather be? Would you rather be the person who makes the most money, but may not be as highly respected, or would you rather be that person whom the CEO/Manager respects and values more than anyone else in your office?
According to several studies, like this one, most people value respect more than pay. That is, in this scenario, most would rather be that person who gets pulled into that office and asked to help make a decision with profound consequences for the company.
To me, this is a double-edged sword. I, like many of my readers, have prioritized retirement. In five to seven years, you and I will probably be retired. Long careers are no longer desired. If early retirement is your game, then maximizing your income and saving as much as possible during your working years is critical to meet your goals.
If I dreamed of retiring at 60 - like most Americans, I think this question would be quite easy to answer - I want respect. I want to be the person who helps make critical decisions because I know what that experience is preparing me for (like that Director-level job that I quit last year). That could turn out to be the single best (and most lucrative) opportunity that you may ever get at the office.
But then again, retiring in five years also means that I need to save as much as possible while I am still working, and the more I make, the more I save. Maybe that highly paid person in that meeting is years closer to financial independence than the highly respected person. Is that more beneficial?
What say you? If you were in that meeting, would you rather be the highly paid, or more highly respected, person?
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