Walden on Wheels, by Ken Ilgunas
Walden on Wheels is a gripping tale of one man's quest to break free from the shackles of student debt and societal expectations. Ken Ilgunas, fresh out of the University of Buffalo with a liberal arts degree and $32,000 in debt, dares to ask: Is the rat race really worth it?
Channeling the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Ilgunas embarks on a journey that takes him to the untamed wilderness of Alaska. There, he wears many hats - cleaner, cook, garbage collector, and tour guide - saving every hard-earned penny to chip away at his mountain of debt. Along the way, he stumbles upon some profound truths about happiness and fulfillment.
But Ilgunas doesn't stop there. When he enrolls in Duke University for graduate school, he makes a bold decision: no more loans. His solution? Turn a beat-up 1994 Econoline van into his home sweet home, right in the middle of a campus parking lot.
Life in the van is no picnic. Ilgunas grapples with sweltering heat, hygiene challenges, and the constant fear of being caught by campus security. Loneliness becomes his unwelcome roommate. Yet, amidst these hardships, he uncovers a surprising truth: with fewer possessions comes greater freedom. His tiny mobile home becomes a launchpad for adventure and self-discovery.
Walden on Wheels isn't just a memoir; it's a wake-up call. It challenges us to rethink our relationship with money, possessions, and the so-called American Dream. Ilgunas' story will make you laugh, cringe, and most importantly, question whether the life you're living is truly the one you want.
“I am a member of the ‘career-less generation.’ Or the ‘screwed generation.’ Unlike previous generations, the members of my generation won’t get jobs and respectable wages straight out of high school, let alone college. We don’t have the means to buy homes and start families in our twenties. We’re the first generation in a while who will be less well off and less secure than their parents. Strangely, I seemed more okay with this than my parents. Not being able to afford an above-ground swimming pool and a kid wasn’t some heartbreaking tragedy to me.”
Interesting Facts & Links:
Ken Ilgunas is an up-and-coming Canadian-born author who was raised in Niagara Falls, NY. His adventure travel career is already notable having hitchhiked 10,000 miles across North America and canoed across Canada. He also worked as a tour guide in Alaska and as a ranger at the Gates of the Arctic National Park, and perhaps just as adventurously, as an elementary school tutor. We recommend his book Trespassing Across America, the account of his hike across the heartland following the proposed trail of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Read the 2013 New York Times preview from Ken Ilgunas, "When Home is a Parking Lot".
Iglunas was of course influenced by Walden, the classic philosophical book by Henry David Thoreau chronicling his two years spent living in 1845 on Walden Pond and his attempt "to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and … learn what it had to teach."
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