The Man Who Quit Money

March 26, 2012
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his last $30 in a truck stop phone booth. Since then, he has "not earned, received, or spent a single dollar." He does not receive any government assistance and accepts only charity that is freely given. He currently resides in a cave in Utah's Moab Desert, where he primarily lives off the land. In this inspiring book, Sundeen (Car Camping) tells Suelo's remarkable life story and the circumstances surrounding his decision to "quit money." Suelo came from a family of fundamentalist Christians, but in college at the University of Colorado, he became fascinated with other world religionsâparticularly Hinduism and Buddhismâwhich he would explore more thoroughly on a trip to Thailand and India. While volunteering with the Peace Corps in Ecuador, Suelo came out as gay to his parents, whose refusal to accept this fact plunged Suelo into depression. Disillusioned with the world, Suelo scaled back on life, eschewing a steady job for couch surfing, volunteer work, and adventures, including working on a salmon boat, hiking Alaska's Resurrection Mountains, and hitchhiking across the country in 2000, when he finally abandoned money. Sundeen provides details of Suelo's day-to-day life, and the guiding philosophies that have enabled him, in his own words, "to live with zero money⦠Abundantly." Suelo's mission and ethos are truly admirable, and his story is equally compelling.