For those unfamiliar with the climbing world, climbers — perhaps more than any other sport participants — routinely restructure their lives in very unconventional ways to pursue the sport more fully. As we’ve discussed here and here, in the U.S. at least, this usually means taking on an increasingly mobile existence — sans house/apartment/permanent dwelling — and instead living in a van, pull camper, or some other makeshift shelter on wheels.
Today we want to highlight Chuck and Maggie Odette, one of many climber couples living this lifestyle. What’s different though is that they’re sort of doing it all in reverse. Instead of hitting the road and blowing off traditional life in their 20’s or maybe 30’s, Chuck and Maggie are now in their 60’s and 40’s, respectively, and are incredibly talented climbers who have retired early to live the climbing life.
I first became aware of the Odette’s a year and a half or so ago when they were making news in the climbing world for climbing 5.14 at an age where most people are having concerning blood pressure discussions with their doctors and deciding whether stairs are appropriate for a forever home. For my non-climbing folks, 5.14 is elite level climbing for any age, but this couple manages to continue knocking down routes of this grade with a high degree of regularity.
Second, I was impressed with and curious about the life they were living. A lot of people climb hard these days, so I’m always looking for those sources of inspiration from folks doing it just a bit differently. When I looked into their blog, I read that they had retired early, sold their home, purchased a small 13’ Scamp pull camper to pull with a Honda Element, and were living full-time on the road with their two dogs — just to climb. A lot of folks do that too — dirtbag it and all — but as we’ll discuss below, not all of them are doing it with a well-thought-out plan or the funding to live and climb responsibly.
I can promise no degree of regularity, but I’d like to begin featuring climbers who are living this full-freedom lifestyle, if or if not they have structured their life to be fully funded. First and foremost is happiness, and no one seems to encapsulate this better than the Odette’s.
Enter Chuck and Maggie…
I exchanged a series of emails with Chuck (CO), who graciously agreed to answer some questions regarding their lives and how they have financed this adventure.
Life on the Road
CC: How long have you lived on the road?
CO: Since June 17, 2016 (3 years, 4 months)
CC: Can you elaborate on a typical year? How long do you stay in an area? What is the criteria for choosing a location? How about a typical day or week?
CO: We’ve mixed it up between low key remote climbing areas and a couple of major destination spots, including:
- Octagon Cave, near Ten Sleep, WY
- Victoria Canyon, near Rapid City, SD
- Last Chance Canyon, near Queen, NM
- Hurricave, near Hurricane, UT
- Red River Gorge, KY
- Maple Canyon, UT
We like to stay in an area for 2-4 months to save travel costs and to redpoint* hard routes (hard for us anyway). We love steep rock. The more overhanging the better. Horizontal caves are best of all.
Typically, we climb Monday/Wednesday/Friday and rest on the weekends and Tuesday/Thursday. We do Ashtanga Yoga on our rest days for active recovery, read a lot of books, Maggie knits, and occasionally we’ll explore new areas on short hikes, etc.
*CC Interjection: Redpointing refers to the often fun loathsome process of climbing a difficult (for you) route from the ground to the top without weighting the rope or taking any falls. For a difficult project, this process could take days, months, or even years of deliberate attention to a single route. The term “redpoint” implies that you were not able to “send” the climb on your first try, but had to learn and rehearse moves to put the thing down.
Life Before the Road
CO: I worked for Petzl America for 12.5 years and Maggie worked for the Ogden Front Climbing Gym. She ran their Yoga program, i.e. the Yoga Loft, and handled their membership contracts for about 5 years.
Financing the Journey
CO: We decided that we’d retire early, me at age 59 1/2 and Maggie at age 45, about two years prior to departure. I had a nice 401K with matching funds generously contributed by Petzl America that I was fully vested in after 12.5 years of employment. I converted it to an IRA account after my early retirement and moved the funds from high risk stocks (which luckily paid well!) to mutual funds. Mutual funds are safe and consistent.
We also saved hard, spent little and slowly began liquidating all of our material assets during that time. Eventually we had a huge yard sale and sold everything that we had left at bargain basement prices the month before we hit the road. We gave a lot of stuff away. Our neighbors and friends loved us! And, it made us feel good too. Liberated!
We hit the road with enough money in our savings account to last 2.5 years (estimating our monthly expenses to be around $1300-1500), so that we could make it until my Social Security kicked in at age 62 (I now collect $1427/month with Social Security).
Within two months on the road, we sold our house in Ogden, UT for more then expected on a cash offer which boosted our savings and gave us a nice emergency fund. It also gave us enough cash to buy a small lot in the Red River Gorge outright (future retirement cabin and home base for legal documents, vehicle registration, etc.).
We paid off all our debts prior to departure so our only monthly expenses are phone ($30/month with Ting Mobile which is awesome!) and auto/rental/estate insurance ($120/month through State Farm, also awesome!). We have full coverage on our health insurance through the ACA [Affordable Care Act] for which we pay a small portion due to our “low income” status 🙂
Living Responsibly
CO: Under capitalization is common for many novice (typically young) traveling climbers. We’ve met a few wannabe self-proclaimed “dirt baggers” who will skip out on camp fees, parking passes, overcrowd a campsite, risk driving a vehicle without current registration or auto insurance, carry no health insurance, boast about dumpster diving for food, borrow gear without asking (polite for stealing!), not contribute to local climbing communities such as Access Fund, refuse to help with trail maintenance to the crag where they are climbing or helping with gear replacement, etc., etc.
Under capitalization is common for many novice (typically young) traveling climbers.
Chuck Odette
We do our best to educate and lead by example, hoping “dirt baggers” will catch on to the importance of being responsible users of public and private lands in pursuit of climbing goals. There’s nothing wrong with living meagerly if you’re not taking from others and paying your fare share.
Eating and Nutrition on the Road
CC: It seems you guys are passionate about diet and nutrition. Could you briefly summarize what you like to eat and any complications finding food in areas that are more off the beaten path?
CO: We follow a pretty simple “balanced” macro-nutrient diet of 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat, i.e. The Zone Diet (PhD. Barry Sears). It’s great for everyone, athletes in particular.
It’s pretty easy to find food everywhere we go to fit our dietary needs. We typically shop the perimeter of the typical grocery store, while staying away from the interior which houses more of the high carbohydrate processed food items.
More important is finding safe sources for fresh water to fill our water jugs and keep the Scamp tank (11 gallon) close to full at all times. We use an RV filter at all times and fill from good sources of publicly available fresh water.
Staying Fit
CC: To climb at elite levels usually involves dedicated training. How do you get in (and stay in) prime shape without regular access to gyms, etc?
CO: We target places where we can climb consistently. Big overhangs ideally. We try to boulder during the winter months (3-4 months) while staying in warmer climates to build a power base for the spring through fall months, which are typical route season for us. We also transport a training pod. It hooks nicely to the cargo rack, next to the cargo box on our Honda Element. We do a lot of core training and Ashtanga yoga (3 times/week) to balance out our overused climbing muscles year-round.
Outsider Perception
CC: Now that you live a very simple life with few belongings and drags on your time, what do you feel are the biggest impediments to those who feel that they cannot live like you now live?
CO: It’s not always easy. Sometimes you’ll sit for days due to bad weather with no place to train, climb, or maintain fitness. Sometimes you go cold and other times you’re hot as hell and can’t escape it (no air conditioning). Sometimes you will go a week without showering. Other times you’re so remote you’ll go days without phone service or internet connections.
Truthfully, these are not impediments. They’re part of the process and well worth the sacrifice to us. When we explain our lifestyle to others who express interest in doing the same, we often hear responses like, “Wow, I’d love to do what you’re doing, but I need to shower every day”… or… “I could never live without having a home base”… or… “I need a bigger space to live in with all the amenities” …or… “I need more certainty”… or… “I couldn’t stand having so many rest days since I like to climb every day, therefore, if I lived your lifestyle, I’d be injured all the time since I can never rest (LOL)!”
CC: What reactions do you get when you tell others about this lifestyle? Are people generally supportive? Confused? Offended?
CO: Most folks are typically very supportive of what we’re doing. The most common response is, “Wow! You’re living the dream!” We typically invite them to join us and advise them to find a way to retire early. You only get one life, so find your passion and live it! 🙂
Parting Thoughts
CC: What are the most important lessons you’ve learned on the road that you would pass on to those considering a similar lifestyle?
Patience.
We love having the time to look around and live in the moment. It saddens us to see others who are stressed and constantly in a hurry. As a character in Lonesome Dove so aptly put it, “The grave is our destination in life. Those that hurry get there more quickly.” We try not to hurry as much as possible.
Sleep.
We get 8+ hours of sleep every night. It does wonders for your health (and climbing performance 🙂
Rest.
Since we have more rest days than climbing days, it’s important to have other life pursuits. We both love yoga. We both love reading. Maggie loves to knit/crochet. We love playing fetch with our dog Lola and taking both our dogs, Lola and Frankie on short hikes, etc.
Expect the unexpected and embrace it.
Routine is nice, but when the “fit-hits-the-shan”, which it will do randomly and when least expected, accept it as a challenge to be met head on while adding a little spice to the adventure. Plan on taking your pets to the vet periodically, for bug bites, injuries, routine vaccinations, etc. Set aside extra funds for this since vets are not cheap.
Trouble shooting and maintenance.
It pays off in spades to maintain your vehicles, your camp gear, climbing gear and personal well being (doctor and dentist check ups). But, do not fear doing your own repairs on all of the above mentioned items. Maggie and I both know the Scamp trailer inside and out. We’ve replaced water pumps, thermostat (furnace), etc. I typically let the mechanic grease the wheel bearings and do the oil changes for the Element as well as tire rotations. We are vigilant about maintaining all of our gear. We’re equally consistent about seeing the doc and dentist for routine “human” maintenance as well 🙂
Adaptability.
With global climate change a REAL thing (believe us, we see it happening first hand!), be prepared for just about any crazy weather occurrence imaginable or unimaginable. You may have to change plans quickly with little or no warning. It pays to have a back up plan, or two!
CC: Any other details you’d like to share to those unfamiliar with this sort of lifestyle?
CO: One life. Live it. As Thoreau would say… “Most men (I say humans) lead lives of quiet desperation.” We say, don’t be like most humans. Neither one of us could imagine returning to a 9-5 routine whereby we live comfortably, knowing what tomorrow will bring. Instead, we find ourselves excitedly embracing every moment of life confident, regardless of what adversity we might face…
You only get one life, so find your passion and live it!
Chuck Odette
I highly recommend that anyone interested in Chuck and Maggie’s story check out their blog or email them directly with any questions. I’ve highlighted three blog posts in particular that are some of their favorites, but from my experience, you won’t go wrong anywhere on their site.
As a parting note in his first email response to me, Chuck noted, “PS: retire as early as you can, you won’t regret it… :)”.
Chuck…we’re doing our best! See you guys out there!
Blog: The Gravity Chronicles
Email: chuck@gravitychroncles.com and maggie@gravitychronicles.com
Highlighted Posts: Living the Dream, Three Years Down the Road, and Letting Go.
Note: All photos, unless otherwise linked, are property of Chuck and Maggie Odette. I swiped them from their blog or instagram account.
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