Main image via The Independent
When you've got to think about how to pay off your student debt, it could get very stressful. And for 29-year-old Chad Haag, the stress got so overwhelming that he moved away - to a jungle in India!
Like many other Americans, Chad relied on a student loan to pay for his college education. However, he struggled like so many others, he struggled to find a college-level job after graduating. He even went back to pursue a master's degree in comparative literature to help his chances of getting a job, but to no avail.
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The first job that he was able to land was to unload trucks and construct toy rockets on a factory assembly line. Next, he worked as an adjunct professor with only one class per semester. As he could barely make a living and support himself, there was no way he could pay back his $20,000 (RM83,408) student loan.
Chad decided to leave the United States and move to a remote jungle village in India so he wouldn't have to constantly worry about paying back his loan. Speaking to CNBC he said that he considered living in a cave first before moving to the other side of the world.
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Currently, the philosophy major lives in a concrete house in the village of Uchakkada for only $50 (RM208), and is recently married to an Indian citizen, a professor at a local college. But what about his debts back in the US? He doesn't worry about it anymore.
He said, "It's kind of like, if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it really exist? I would say that the debt does not weigh on me the way that it might have in the past, in the sense that most of the measures they could take against me have become practically irrelevant."
Chad does note that his $20,000 (RM83,408) student loan may be a lower amount than many other students. However, he said that it was the inability to find a job that would allow him to make the monthly $300 (RM1,251) payments and still have enough to survive on, that made the whole ordeal a lot more stressful.
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Leaving the US did involve some sacrifices on Chad's part but overall he is very happy with his decision to move to India.
"I saw four elephants just yesterday," Chad told CNBC. "I have a higher standard of living in a Third World country than I would in America, because of my student loans. I couldn't make the math work in America."
Well.. All that matters at the end of the day is that he's happy, right?
Info via Oddity Central
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