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New Harvest

Walden on Wheels: On The Open Road from Debt to Freedom

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Format: Paperback


Description

In this frank and witty memoir, Ken Ilgunas lays bare the existential terror of graduating from the University of Buffalo with $32,000 of student debt. Ilgunas set himself an ambitious mission: get out of debt as quickly as possible. Inspired by the frugality and philosophy of Henry David Thoreau, Ilgunas undertook a 3-year transcontinental jour¬ney, working in Alaska as a tour guide, garbage picker, and night cook to pay off his student loans before hitchhiking home to New York. Debt-free, Ilgunas then enrolled in a master’s program at Duke University, determined not to borrow against his future again. He used the last of his savings to buy himself a used Econoline van and outfitted it as his new dorm. The van, stationed in a campus parking lot, would be more than an adventure—it would be his very own “Walden on Wheels.”Freezing winters, near-discovery by campus police, and the constant challenge of living in a confined space would test Ilgunas’s limits and resolve in the two years that followed. What had begun as a simple mission would become an enlightening and life-changing social experiment. Walden on Wheels offers a spirited and pointed perspective on the dilemma faced by those who seek an education but who also want to, as Thoreau wrote, “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Read more


Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Harvest; 4/14/13 edition (May 14, 2013)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 054402883X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 38


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.86 x 8 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #698,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #319 in Budget Travel Guides #2,197 in Travelogues & Travel Essays #3,616 in Traveler & Explorer Biographies


#319 in Budget Travel Guides:


#2,197 in Travelogues & Travel Essays:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • A master's degree in LIFE
The title WALDEN ON WHEELS implies that this is a book about a college student intent on minimizing college debt by living in a van. Fortunately, that's only about 5% of the book. The other 95% is about how author Ken Ilgunas finished college then educated himself. In short order he paid off his college debt while LIVING his life full of adventures that most young people only dream about. The stereotypical story these days is of young people graduating college with mountains of debt and no job prospects. Ken is actually the OPPOSITE of that stereotype. For one thing, most of the story takes place in the early 2000's when jobs were plentiful. Ken went to college and graduated in 2004, so finding work wasn't as hard then as now. Although he portrays himself as having been a dull high school student who had no real purpose in college other than to goof off, he did get life's "wake up call" in his junior year. He went to work 30 hours a week at Home Depot and thus paid for much of his college as he went. Although it's easy to talk about how worthless a Liberal Arts education is, Ken says that by his senior year his mind was opened by the education to think more deeply about himself and all aspects of life. When Ken finished undergrad he jumped in his car in Buffalo, New York and drove 4,000 miles to Coldfoot, Alaska. When he left Buffalo he describes himself as a naïve kid. By the time he finished working his first year in Alaska he had experienced more of life's drama than most of us do in a life time. AND he had paid off most of his student debt, that being accomplished by living in a dormitory at the camp where his food and board were free. He says he earned the equivalent of $50,000 working manual labor odd jobs his first year out of college, working as many as 70 hours a week during the tourist season in Alaska. When he had most of his debt paid off he travelled on adventures around the country, working here and there, growing and maturing, while having the time of his life. Some of his work was in the Americorps where he helped young deadbeats realize that they had bright futures if they would improve themselves. It was only after working all around the country, including returning to Alaska for a year's work as a Park Ranger, that he felt the call to return to graduate school. He was accepted by Duke University. There he became a "Vandweller," one suspects more for the sense of adventure than because he really needed to save money by foregoing rent. That part of the story is boring, but fortunately only takes up a few pages near the end. It is what he did before that matters. Ilgunas managed to obtain a bachelor's degree, pay it all off in two and a half years while doing exactly what he wanted where he wanted. Then he felt the call to open his mind further with a master's at Duke. You've got to read the book to undestand the wonderful drama of Ilguna's experiences. This mainly involves the PEOPLE that Ilgunas interacted with on the Alaska frontier and in the Americorps camps in the shambles of post-Katrina Mississippi. He lived among the "downtrodden" --- the crude, half-educated people who work as truck drivers, odd-jobbers, waitresses, etc. --- the people who live "free" day to day without worrying about how they're going to pay their mortgages (most live in shacks out in the sticks) or where their kids are going to college. They're the "low class" folks who stay drunk most of the time, own rattletrap vans and expensive firearms, "inseminate everything that moves," and have daily scrapes with the law. But they have a strong pride in their independence and a deep-seated empathy for folks like them. They're the kind of people who picked Ken up when he was hithiking across the continent and invited him into their shacks for dinner, beer, and conversation at the end of the ride. He contrasts that way of life, which he learned to enjoy, with the "wage slaves" of suburbia (where he grew up) who go into work miserable jobs that they hate and whose lives have become boring and mundane. Ken came out of college an educated, thinking man who learned to LOVE that life of adventure among the Free White Trash on Alaska's frontier. Had he stayed in Alaska he would have become well-off in ten years by accumulating the savings from hours worked at manual labor. He has a strong work ethic and learned how to work many jobs. For a while he rejected (to his loving parents' alarm) the middle class life that college is supposed to bring. But ultimately it called him back to get his masters at Duke. This story is more than just a travelogue or a tale about living in a van. It's the story of how a young naïve college grad learns how to MASTER LIFE --- how to make life serve HIS destiny --- by having the courage to follow his dreams. He didn't become wealthy from that experience but he did learn totality of life's meaning before he was turned thirty. Lucky indeed if most of us learn those lessons by the time it comes for us to pass away. And by then it's too late. I think he's saying: "You must first educate yourself to enjoy and master LIFE by EXPERIENCING it. Only then will you appreciate mastering EDUCATION in college." ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 5, 2013 by Alan F. Sewell
    • Must Read
Do yourself and a favor and read this book. Ken gets it
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2023 by Justin
    • Insightful
I not only learned about the author's journey; I also looked inside myself & saw more than meets the eye. Even my eyes. I've had hardships like everyone else, and I have always thought that if we learn from our mistakes, than it wasn't a complete waste of time. I look back on my childhood born in the U.S., but raised in the wilds of Canada. I had adventures practically every day. My dogs & I had great times. I learned at an early age, unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), that I can always trust my animals. The unconditional love that I have never found in a human being. Now almost 50, gosh I don't feel THAT old, I still depend on my animals. Horses are very misunderstood animals. They grieve their dead forever; longer than most humans. I've heard elephants do too. Horses have every feeling and emotion that humans do. I recently lost one of my best horse friends. A huge piece of my heart is buried in that hole with her. After waiting a year, I will never forget the day that she gave herself to me, mind, body, soul, love, respect and trust. I will always be indebted to my children for making me smile and laugh. I wear those new wrinkles with pride. Didn't have them before the day they were born. Yes, all 3 were born on the same day. My kids and I have endured many hardships, but have come through them all stronger, better people for it. We have a special bond. Finally, finally I have unconditional love from at least 3 human beings. I haven't been as lucky as Ken. It seems he feels kindness wherever he went. Maybe because he believed he would find it still left in humans. I used to be more of an optimist, thinking there was good in every single person I met. I was quite shocked to grow up & learn that kindness is difficult to find. I have believed for a long time now that the reason I can't find the people I am looking for is simply because they do not exist in the particular State I currently live in. Yes, I've been back in the U.S. for my adult life. Before I was married, had children, then a divorce; I would take off with my dog, my camping gear and my truck. I'd yell, "Road Trip." I slept in some places that made my friends cringe. I also saw the open road and was very glad to be back in nature, where I found solace as a child. Maybe not a smart thing for a young woman to do. But my dog, who loved people, was scary looking and big. She was also extremely protective of me. Also a great judge of character. I followed her lead. She knew people better than I did. As for Canada, you haven't lived until you have dragged your 2 dogs away from the tree where that bear cub was crying for it's mama. I could tell by his fur which of 'our' bears was his mama. She was beautiful, but twice as big as most of our bears. Thank you adrenaline. Each dog weighed more or as much as I did. When we got back to the road, I promptly lost my cookies. However, it is one of many stories of my adventures growing up in Canada. My children still can't fathom my childhood, but at least they believe me now. This book hit me in so many ways. I love words and this author provided a plethora of words and put them together in such a way I can only dream of doing. This author changed my life. I remembered that I have to slow down again, and smell the proverbial flowers. This book made me want to yell "Road Trip!!" and pack up dogs, cats, rabbits, horses and children and go back to the way I was. Well, there's school. The fact that I don't have a horse trailer, and my truck is sitting there with a broken transmission. On my bucket list is camping with my horses and children. Unfortunately, a surgeon ruined my foot & leg, which in turn exacerbated my back injury, and now I have some strange bone & swelling growing on my other foot. I realized I put too much weight on my other leg, and it doesn't like it much. I'm truly afraid that my road trips are a thing of the past. However, nobody can take away those wonderful memories. It is really sad to see people so into their own lives that they no longer have time for others. I think I am living in a selfish State. A State dependent on the internet and other luxuries. A people who want what they want, and they want it NOW. Bigger, better, faster. NOW NOW NOW!! I would recommend this book to anyone & everyone, however, I'm afraid not all people would 'get' it. Thank you Ken for sharing your life, journey and adventures, especially with those of us confined to just reading about it. Thank you for making me remember who I really am. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 7, 2014 by Rockinrobn

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