A is for Alone

Don’t worry it’s not a sad post. It’s not the philosophical ‘Alone’ I want to rant about, instead what I wanted to talk about is something that I have been doing (on again off again) for the past 6 years, and that is ‘Living Alone’. After all this time, of people asking me; Why do you live alone? How do you live alone? Where do you live alone? I am finally coming out in the open with this one. It’s not as bad as it sounds, and once I had a taste for it in college, I just couldn’t stop coming back to it. So here is the low-down on sharing your apartment with yourself.

Alone, where?

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Always pick a place which has all the basic amenities available nearby. You don’t want to be walking/driving too far from you bachelor pad everyday to buy milk and eggs. Remember you are going to be living alone, and everything that you need, you would have to buy/bring it yourself. So pick a place, where all things that you deem important are a stone’s throw from your hub. A cost-effective eatery, a general-store, a saloon and a medical store are some of my favorite picks, but you can always stay near a blood bank (if you are a vampire), or a disco (if you are that other kind of vampire).
Finally, find a place that you like, no use staying alone in a place which is reeking and creaking at the edges. Remember you won’t have roomies to make the experience bearable, so make sure the place is just the way you like it, or damn near close to it.

Alone, how?

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This is the easy part, and the most fun. You can live just the way you like it. You want to live like a slob, with pizza boxes and your underwear in tight embrace, you can do it. You want to live like a modern-day minimalist with everything organized, neat and shiny, go ahead. You may even want to live like a doper with a constant fog of marijuana in your room, you know what you can do that too. The truth is when you choose ‘Alone’ as your life style choice, you choose your own lifestyle. Gamer, writer, porn addict, hard rock fanatic everything goes.
Remember alone, in theory costs double of what it would cost you when you are sharing a room, the truth is it costs you just a little more than that. So if you are the stringy, money-saving kind, ‘Alone’ is not your style. Money solves a lot of problems, and it is your best friend, when no one else is around. So live a little, and spend a bit. One advise I can give is, it might look expensive today, but you are living the dream at a much cheaper cost than most of your friends will when they move in into a place of their own.

Alone, why?

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The most important of all the questions. When I tell people; I live alone, they look back at me in shock and awe, and invariably ask me WHY? Is it because I am socially repellent? Is it because I have disgusting habits? Do I have too much money to throw around? Or I have a secret that is so secret, that it has to be kept a secret? The truth is far more boring and simple; I like it. I like coming back to my room, and finding it just like I had left it. I like bringing my friends over to my room, and not worried about whether I would be imposing on my room-mate. I like doing stupid things and making stupid mistakes, with no one around to laugh and sneer at me.
I have seen people who bitch and crib about their room-mates every chance they get, and I say to myself, why be so bitter? I have no qualms with sharing my space with people I know and trust (I have done it before and I would do it again when I get the chance), but finding a stranger to share your habits with, just because 90% of the bachelors are doing the same is just insane.

Look at it as a challenge, try it some time. See how you like it. After all variety is the spice of life, and you would never know how ‘Alone’ tastes until you try it for yourself.