Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
This campaign is closed
Escape from LA 2017 - Birthday car fund
Hey friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers!
It's my 30th birthday in May, and I've decided to make some changes to ensure my workaholic lifestyle is less likely to kill me. Want to help me continue to create art, build, and grow? Pitch in on this Birthday Fundraiser and bask in the knowledge that you picked the perfect gift.
In 2014, a small fix-it ticket while driving to the grocery store turned into a license suspension after a friend wasn't able to register his car in the time the ticket mandated. LA demanded a fines of $2,000 to reinstate my license despite me not being the owner, and I had to give up on driving in Los Angeles for over two years while paying down the fines. As a result, I haven't visited home in nearly four years.
Since then, I've become an expert at getting around the city on Metro, Uber, and Lyft. I've taken Metro to work at Uber's office in Santa Monica, and become fluent in traversing Downtown LA and the west side. I've completed challenging fashion, technology, and media projects all without the ability to drive a car in LA. It's been difficult, frustrating, depressing, limiting, and incredibly eye-opening to be forced to rely on others to do nearly anything.
While growing up, my first car gave me the freedom to not feel so tied down to a place, since I could always leave if I wanted to. I've lost that ability for over two years, and the vibrant adventures that used to take my mind of the stress of the city have left a hole in my heart where something I truly loved used to be. While I can function without a vehicle, I cannot thrive, and my goal is for this birthday to the start of less stress, more freedom, and greater opportunity.
As some of you know, I work nearly all the time and I don't talk much about what I do anymore. I don't have much time to meet people or make friends, and I sincerely miss the ability to make new friends from diverse places without having to pay ultra-close attention to the metro schedule. A vehicle would make working so hard a lot less lonely, and open up opportunities with the current work I have.
If you're a friend, an acquaintance, or someone just looking to greatly improve another person's life, this is how you can help each day this year a little better for me. I'm working 4 separate jobs saving for this and other goals, and the option to go out of the city when work or stress becomes overwhelming would mean more to me than any other gift I can think of.
And of course, you can expect beautiful photos of the places outside LA I find to share in photos, videos, and stories. Thanks for supporting me and being a part of my life!