With rent prices rising in major cities across the country, many Americans are faced with the dilemma of paying more and more for a place to live. This is why I’ve decided to stop renting and instead move into the nostalgic pixelated wagon from the 1974 video game The Oregon Trail.
Before my move, I was paying half of my monthly income in rent for a shoebox of a room surrounded by other people in this rat race. One of my favorite things about living in this 8-bit wagon is that I don’t have any neighbors! I do, however, have a family of five to feed and provide for, who also get dysentery about once a month. There’s always something, isn’t there?
Many people ask me how I’m able to forfeit the space of an apartment to live in a portable tent, but I always tell them that while the wagon is small, the vintage architecture of the vehicle is amazing. No ‘tiny home’ could ever compete with the aerodynamic and parachute-like structure of my new crib.
I’ve also always wanted a pet, but my last apartment didn’t allow them. Now, with my pixelated wagon, I have six oxen that travel with me wherever I go! They’re not great for emotional support necessarily, but it’s still cool to have them there! It just kind of sucks when they die from over exhaustion, which happens a lot more than you might think.
In addition to that, moving into the wagon from The Oregon Trail allowed me to finally cut down on storage. Before, I had a closet full of clothes that I could barely choose from, but now I only have a worn and dirty virtual prairie dress! I love living a clutter-free life.
I can also name my roommates/family members, which is a privilege that I don’t take lightly. Even though they get on my nerves sometimes (they keep getting dysentery), it’s easy to keep a good sense of humor when their names are Ugly, Butt, ???, and Omelet.
Living in the pixelated wagon from The Oregon Trail has changed my perspective on everything, especially since I have to shoot and kill all of my food now. We’ll see if I ever get to Oregon with the fam. They’ll probably all die on the way there, but that would actually be fine because it would be kind of like a studio apartment!
