Gen Z Guide to FI

I’ve mentioned before that I live in a random part of Northern California. It’s 1.5-2 hours from anywhere that is considerably exciting.

My first big beef with living here is the lack of Ubers and Lyfts. That’s a red flag y’all. Anytime my parents or out of town friends visit, it’s always a struggle to get them a ride to the airport. There are no reliable taxis either. It’s so annoying but I usually have to call a taxi a day in advance. And even then, I might not be lucky. If you’re wondering – “why can’t I just drive my parents to the airport?”. For that you should refer to my post on how I hate cars and driving.

Two years ago, I locked my keys in the trunk and was stranded at work.
I tried calling an Uber to take me home so I could get my spare key. IT NEVER CAME. Then, one of my generous coworkers used their AAA membership to help me open my car. I got AAA for myself that same day.

How can a “city” with over hundreds of thousands of people not have 1 Uber/Lyft/Taxi at 3pm on a Tuesday?

My next beef is car theft. I’ve been using the Amtrak to go to Los Angeles because once again, I hate driving. For the past 3 years, I haven’t had an issue because one of my best friends would drop me off and pick me up.  But now that they’ve moved to bigger and brighter places, I have two options. Either leave my car at the Amtrak station and risk it getting stolen or pay $80 round trip to book a mediocre taxi service. Really?!?! In this day and age, those are the best options. Wow! I went into a spiral because $40 is way too much for a 20 minute drive. I guess I need to make more friends in the area.

The last beef is going to the airports. As frustrating as it is not being able to get a Lyft or Uber, it’s even more stressful to figure out my airport strategies. I usually use SMF which is 1.5 hours away. I have some friends in that area so I can leave my car there. But more recently, I’ve been getting better flight deals from airports in the bay. Like my flight to Nigeria would have been well over $2500 if I booked out of SMF. So I decided to try SFO. But the bay is a different beast for me… I only have 3 close friends in that area and the Ubers to SFO are about $60-80 each way from their houses. An acquaintance offered to let me park at her partner’s place in SF for 2 weeks. But I feel too awkward to impose on someone who isn’t my ride or die homie. So I let that go and parked in Livermore. All in all, $160 round trip for Ubers isn’t that bad. But it would be so much better to spend the money on vibes.

All in all, I can’t wait to move to a more popping area. My criteria for “popping” is that there should be an airport 20-30 mins away. And I should never ever be worrying about Lyfts/Ubers. I also don’t want to worry about my car getting stolen. Moving to a more exciting place is a big goal for next year – after my applications are turned in. I’ve been strongly thinking about getting an internship and quitting my job early next year. That would very much depend on if I get scholarships or not.

Application season is creeping up! Wish me luck!

XOXO Gen Z Fire Baby