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3 Lessons I Learned About Saving and Investing While Hitchhiking Across California
It was 1992 and I found myself on the side of I-5 outside of Los Angeles with my thumb out.
I flew to LA to visit a friend of mine who was living out there at the time. He thought it was a good idea to go down to San Diego and spend the night. But we didn’t have a car and we felt adventurous.
So, we decided to hitchhike our way down.
It took several hours and more than a few rides, but we made it. So many emotions ran through my veins as this experience was happening. Anxiety, fear, exhilaration, nervousness.
Many people feel these same emotions when the subject of saving and investing comes up.
Looking back on that time I can’t help thinking of the lessons I learned.
Here are 3 lessons that can be applied to what to do with your money:
1. Learn to always trust your gut — before we got in anyone’s car, we took a good look at who was picking us up and made a snap decision whether to get in or not. This is the same as when you are choosing where to put your money. What does your gut tell you about this?
2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket — I knew if the person offering us a ride didn’t seem quite right there would be another ride coming by. So, we could be picky about who we got in the car with. This is the same as spreading out your money in different investment vehicles, so you don’t lose all of it.
3. Reach your goals by taking one small step at a time — Or in the case of hitchhiking, take one ride at a time to reach San Diego. You don’t make a million dollars in one lump sum. You save in increments which add up over time.
