Personal preference, more or less. I worked in tech long enough to both save up a bit of a nest egg and realize I don’t want to spend my life sitting at a computer screen while the government takes a third of my paycheck to do lord knows what with, the landlord takes another third for the enormously helpful service they provide of “using accumulated wealth to buy up investment properties”, and the rest goes to the local bars (I jest… slightly).

That said, “homeless” is a loaded term that likely doesn’t accurately connote my living situation. I live in a tent on an wildlife refuge. I am a full-time volunteer on that refuge with the US Fish and Wildlife service. The general public may camp at the site free of charge, but my position grants me access to laundry, showers, and internet at the headquarters, which is located a few miles away from my campsite (no services or cellular connection there).

About half my traditional “working time” is spent doing odd jobs around the refuge for the benefit of its wildlife, staff, and visitors. I am provided a government truck and gas for official business, as much of the time I’m off-roading around from task to task. The other half of the time I work on personal projects, bike, hike, read, relax, meet people, etc.

In general I derive more satisfaction from helping animals-at-large as compared to humans, but the animals unfortunately pay quite a bit less. I would like to some day have an official compensated position using my education/professional experience to help wildlife more than my current position allows, but I have not yet heard back from the applications I submitted to that end. I am hoping connections I develop here will help me pursue that goal more effectively.

Hope that helps explain!