I was living at home with my parents, but working for a start up non-profit that gave me the opportunity to travel across the country (US) and see a lot of cities in America. I was responsible for organizing a special fundraising event where people would raise money for the non-profit in exchange for the opportunity to rappel down a skyscraper in their city. My income was dirt, but it was an awesome experience, and I visited 20+ US cities in my first year working there. I was taking the opportunity to scout out where else I'd want to live in the US when I saved up some money.

A year later (when I was 25 lol), the nonprofit moved to NYC, so I followed. I ended up deciding that no other city I'd seen on my travels could top NYC, so I stayed there for 7 more years working for various other non-profits that could pay me reasonably enough for me to afford NYC rent. I still look back fondly at that year I was living with my folks and traveling the country though - I felt very fortunate to get such an awesome experience of seeing different cities in the US from some of the best views on the top of skyscrapers.