I posted an ad on Craigslist right away for November. At the same time, I posted on my FB page. Remembering how much effort it was to find Lina, I was dreading the search for a new roommate.
Lucky for me, a climbing dirtbag came along. He was ready to move in ASAP.
I had promised him a few months back that I was going to feature his dirtbag life on my blog. It took me a while, but here it is.
According to the Urban Dictionary, typically more useful for us foreign folks than Miriam-Webster, a dirtbag is defined as follows:
| 1. | dirtbag | 266 up, 105 down |
a white trash, wife beating, beer guzzling bastard. Often associated with cut-off shorts and mullets and incest
you can take a dirtbag out of the country but you can't take the country out of a dirtbag!
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| 2. | dirtbag | 112 up, 28 down |
A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle. Dirtbags can be distinguished from hippies by the fact that dirtbags have a specific reason for their living communaly and generally non-hygenically; dirtbags are seeking to spend all of their moments pursuing their lifestyle
The best examles of dirtbags and dirtbagging are the communities of climbers that can be found in any of the major climbing areas of North America--Squamish, BC; Yosemite, CA; Joshua Tree, CA; etc.
hippy bum climber surfer backpacker hitch hiker
by Shay (dirtbag wannabe) Aug 17, 2007 share this add a video | ||
| 3. | Dirtbag | 119 up, 67 down |
1:A dirty person. Someone who doesn't clean often, or lacks a certain hygiene level.Usually assocated with white trash, or trailer park trash.
2:Used as a insult to intimidate someone
Greg Marvin is such a dirtbag.
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My roommate Brian (now ex-roomie) is a true dirtbag. I do not know the whole story, but this is what I know. A few years back, after working for a large defense contractor in Philly, he decided to leave everything behind to climb around the world. According to his blog (which I highly recommend), he went around the following countries in Asia:
- India – 3 months
- Pakistan – 1 month
- China – 2 months
- Vietnam – 2 months
- Cambodia
- Thailand – 2 months
- Laos – 1 month
- Back to China, including Tibet – 5 months
- Nepal – 1 month
Now I have heard many people leave for a few months at a time to go on climbing trips. But to leave for a few years takes courage. I admire the willingness to give up on the comfort of everyday life to focus on the few things that are important to you. For him, that was climbing outside. And there are many people like Brian, in this sub-culture lifestyle traveling around the world. Dirtbags know their own kind too, since they would run into each other at different climbing areas.
He said that he eventually ran out of money, and had to come back to work. That was last summer. Now, Boston is his temporary home base. He tries to work long hours to rack up the hours.
The day that he moved into my apartment, he had two duffel bags and a smaller bag. It took him 5 minutes.
I was extremely impressed. He had a whole bag of climbing gear, and the other bags had his clothes, including a few nice shirts and ties. A laptop. He did not look like a dirty hippy, although being a dirtbag he was used to not showering everyday. I mean, why shower if you don't smell yet, right?
I studied him as him he was a different species. I was curious what this lifestyle entailed.
Based on my observation, there are a few things he cannot live without:
- His Cafe Americano. Before he even turns on his laptop, he turns on the espresso machine. Don't even try to talk to him until he makes his coffee.
- His laptop. He found his preferred chair in the living room, and every morning, he would sit at that chair and get on his laptop. He would say things like, "the internet weather is crappy today" or "did you hear about so and so climbing report?*"
- Climbing, of course. Indoors, outdoors, wherever. Climbing is part of this dirtbag's life, and he is good at it too.
- His bike. We have argued over why it is better to bike instead of to walk to Market Basket. He is stubborn and wins. I continue to walk.
- His friends. The man is not without attachments, as much as he want so avoid attachments to objects. He has friends all over the world that care about him. However, they know that if they are too friendly to him, he might just show up at their door and stay on their couch for weeks if not months.
*I have to say that this was the first time that I lived with a serious climber. I was definitely not used to waking up and hearing climbing trip reports from my roommates. Later on I would find out that Chris also does the exact same thing. I guess I am just not as dedicated at reading the climbing reports as these guys are.
"So are you just going to keep moving around? Doesn't that make you feel like you are always in transition? Does that make you tired?" I asked him yesterday. I felt that I would not be able to live his lifestyle for a long period of time.
Apparently, Brian is so used to being on the road, that it doesn't bother him at all. His current job takes him to Boston. But when the contract is over, he might be off to somewhere new, like Turkey, or Patagonia. Learning to live off very little and having enough saved up makes him have the flexibility to just disappear for a few months. Or years.
He has decided that he wants to live in a van instead of owning a house. You know, like Alex Honnold that was featured on 60 Minutes.
He is also looking for a dirtbag lady friend that will be willing to live in a van with him and climb around the world. So if you know one that he hasn't met yet, do pass that contact along. He is a good guy.
Actually, he has indicated that if he meets the right woman, that he is negotiable and will live in a house if he has to. So there.
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