Free Range Life

The Scoop on Recent Student Loan Relief – Plus, a Critical Task for PSLF Borrowers

By Rachel Puryear Last month brought much-needed good news for student loan debtors across the nation. Though there’s still a long way to go, especially for those struggling to pay large loan balances; this relief will still help a lot of borrowers who are struggling with debt. Any amount of relief can also open the…

Searching for a Rental Unit? How to Stand Out From the Pack

By Rachel Puryear Undeniably, renting an apartment or house these days can be incredibly challenging and frustrating. Many renters go through lots of time and effort before securing a rental unit. Rental applications, at times, seem to go into a black hole. Speaking from a background in property management and real estate, I can tell…

Armstrong Woods State Park in Sonoma County, CA

By Rachel Puryear If you’re not familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area, it basically refers to nine counties (including the City and County of San Francisco) that make up the metro area. There are a few main regions of the metro area: There’s “the City” (San Francisco), the “South Bay” (south of San Francisco,…

Are High Housing Prices a Factor in Unequal Car Crash Deaths?

By Rachel Puryear The New York Times recently published a story indicating that more Americans are dying in car crashes than they were before the pandemic, and that car crash deaths have also crept upward for the past several years. That follows and reverses a decades-long trend from the 1970s through about 2015, whereby car…

Remote Jobs You Can Do Without Experience

By Rachel Puryear One frustrating thing about starting a new career path is the following dilemma: it’s hard to get a job without experience, and it’s hard to get experience without a job. Even if you do have experience, what you’ve been doing might not be compatible with road life. So if you want to…

Pinnacles National Park Near SF Bay Area

By Rachel Puryear Live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or visit sometimes? Want to get away to a place that feels away from everything, even when you don’t have a lot of time to travel? Check out the Pinnacles! Situated near Hollister, California, it’s just about an hour and a half from San Jose…

Age Influences Desire to Work Remotely – but Now How You Might Think

By Rachel Puryear It probably won’t surprise you to know that in terms of the desire to work remotely versus preferring to come into a physical workplace, there are some generational gaps. However, how that differential breaks down along generational lines might surprise you. You might assume that desire to work remotely diminishes with age.…

Q&A: Youthful Indiscretions Can Cast a Long Shadow

By Rachel Puryear Recently, I participated in a group discussion. The subject was the kinds of young adult mistakes that make life much more difficult for the long term. It was a very interesting – and poignant – discussion, and I thought it would make for a great post. Accordingly, I’m sharing answers that were…

Extraterrestrial Highway, Alien-Themed Town Near Las Vegas

By Rachel Puryear What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. However, if you head a couple hours or so north from Sin City, you’ll find a place that has generated plenty of rumors and whispers over the years. I’m talking about Area 51, situated along Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway – right next to a little hamlet…

Should People on Public Benefits Be Required to Work? The Facts Might Surprise You.

By Rachel Puryear If you or someone you love has ever received public benefits, you may know that some benefit programs require people to work a minimum numbers of hours per week (usually 20-30) as a condition of receiving benefits (“work requirements”). Work requirements typically exempt elderly adults, minor children, people who are disabled, people…