Graduating from college and becoming an adult is one big and rude awakening. The transition was not easy for me of waking up early, working out, going to work eight hours, getting home to make dinner then sleeping just to do it all over again. You work and grind to get to the weekends. Throw your constant craving of going to music festivals and your fomo skyrockets. In college, when you wanted to go to a music festival, you didn’t have to ask for permission, you just went. Now you have to request time off, make sure you have enough money for rent and festival expenses all while busting your butt 40 hours a week trying to stay afloat. It’s ludacris. I went from having attended 21 festivals, raves, and shows my senior year alone to being super selective and going to two big three-day festivals, three two-day festivals, and a couple shows here and there. Here are my best tips for those figuring out how to balance being an adult while still fueling your heart and soul with music and experiences.
Be Selective
Here’s your first wake-up call: you can’t go to everything. If you happen to have endless money and endless PTO, then you’re luckier than most. I think the biggest pill for me to swallow was I can’t go to everything anymore. Especially being in Texas, I don’t have as easy of access to the California, Arizona and Vegas festivals like I used to. Before I could drive to EDC and Coachella, now I have to take into account a $300-$400 flight on top of the ticket.
You have to seriously be selective with your time and money as to what festival you want to go to. I look at the experience overall way more and the lineup as well. I’d rather pay money to see a bunch of artists I’ve never seen before and experience a new festival for the first time than continue to go to the same festival with same artists I see on every lineup (or that I may have already seen).
The B Word
I still cringe at this word when my mom first uttered it, “Honey, you need to learn how to budget, I can send you an example”. Moms know best because that’s how I’ve been able to go to festivals my first year being out of college. The first step I took was researching how to budget, I signed up for Mint account to see where I was spending money and cut back from there. I deleted all of my food delivery apps, opted for the free coffee and tea at my work and limited myself to eating out 1-2 times a week. I now only go out one to two times a month not just for money purposes, but for losing weight too. I only buy new clothes a couple times a year and try to get things on sale or if it’s more pricey buy it knowing it’ll get its use.
Find what works for you to track your spending whether it’s an app, a spreadsheet or good old pen and paper. I do the math each paycheck as to how much I can put into savings, what goes towards fixed expenses (rent, cable, utilities) and then whatever is left over is for weekly groceries, gas, etc. essentially what I can live on and use for outings. If your bank and card is compatible, check out Digit app. You link your account and it helps you withdraw money into a “rainy day” account that you can withdraw at anytime. You can have it set to save for just about anything (start you festival saving now!!). It does the withdrawing of your own money for you in small increments so you don’t have to think about it all the time. I tried it out, but my bank being a credit union it didn’t work too well, but major banks like Chase and Wells Fargo works great.
Balancing Work
PTO/Vacation Time is a blessing. Use it to your advantage, but be smart with it. You want to make sure you have enough for other trips, sick days or family time. Keep track of it or if you can workout deals with your company where you can make up the hours instead of taking PTO, do that. Make sure you get what you need to get done prior, let those you work close with know of anything that could come up while you’re gone, and set your out of office message on in your email. Don’t feel bad for leaving or taking time off, there’s a reason they give you this time. It helps you not get burnt out and let’s you still enjoy life. Make sure you request enough time like if you need to take a day off to travel back from a festival and another one to fully recover.
Take Care of Yourself
Getting older means your body can’t bounce back like it used to. After EDC, I got the most sick I had ever gotten after a festival. My sleep schedule was so messed up that when I tried to get back into my routine, my immune system crumbled. I luckily could work from home and make up the hours for being sick. After that I promised myself I wouldn’t let myself get to that point. I went and got immunity supplements and started caring about my body way more. Working out, eating healthy, and taking supplements put me in a way better position for Electric Forest and I was able to get back into a routine. Recovering from Electric Forest was seamless and I went way easier on myself. I chose not to go out and use my weekends to relax and reset. Be in tune with yourself and your body to give it the fuel it needs to go to festivals, but also know when to give it rest when it needs to bounce back.
I hope this helps my friends who just recently entered adulthood and can feel better that you can work and grind and still go to the festivals you want. These tips work for festivals, but really work for traveling in general too. I think this quote speaks volumes: “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life”. You can work and live your life too. Easing into adulthood takes time, but you can do it! I’ll always be learning, but that’s what makes life interesting. Hope to see you living your best life at your next festival!
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