You are pretty spot-on in the characterization. I will give a shout-out to 25-35% of my social circle who are more blue collar, high-school graduates that worked their way up or started their own business - people who now own their own construction companies, work for utilities, or started other successful small-business. One of the common features, though, among the broader social group is either middle-class or upper middle-class professionals. That is probably one of the subtle filters in my social circle when I think about it.AxelHeyst wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:02 pm.Part of this might be the optics of your lifestyle vs. my lifestyle. You are a successful sustainability professional/DINK/rent an apartment and your social circle seems to be similarly successful professionals etc. (I hope I haven't mischaracterized at all). Yes, it's weird by normal standards that you don't own a house and a fancier car, but you're about to go travel the world with your wife. You have nothing to be self-deprecating about. You can live your life and be pretty matter-of-fact about it. Your life is certainly unique and well crafted but clearly awesome and attractive. Duh!
I face a greater PR challenge. I live in a rusty tin shack on the back 40 of my parent's land out in the desert, I don't own a car, and I take showers from a bag suspended from a Joshua Tree. Explaining the simple facts of my lifestyle is a toughie. It sounds like I failed at life. Jokes on them because I'm happier and more fulfilled and stoked to be alive than I ever have been, by far, but how to explain this? It's easy to just be self-deprecating*, joke about having really low standards, about the leisure class at both ends of the socio-economic spectrum, and go on about my business.
Thinking through your response, I can see how the full ERE lifestyle is a lot harder for people to grok. Easing into travel makes the broader conversation easy for DW and I because most professionals either value, or pretend to value, travel. People can project their own values and experiences onto that lifestyle.
I appreciate the ironic take on self-deprecation regarding Quail Haven and the layers it adds to your post
Ultimately I think what you are describing comes down to WL gaps. You might be able to move the needle a bit with some of the ideas you listed, but a large chunk of the population who are at WL 1-3 will always struggle to see the value of a WL 6+ lifestyle. I'm probably still swimming in WL 5 waters, so maybe that explains the ease of communication?