Say Hello to Lucas!
What’s your Childfree Family username?
NoKidsLucas
Where were you born?
Where do you currently live?
Dallas, Texas area
Are you childfree by-choice or by-circumstance?
By-choice
If childfree by-choice, what was your biggest influence?
I would have to say the biggest influence to my childfree-by-choice status was the ending of my college relationship where I was engaged. It ended badly and I realized I was the one who was giving way more than I received and was willing to go with the marriage and kids with her because she wanted kids. I never really did and after that relationship was over I committed myself to live my childfree-by-choice life and find a partner who would be on the same page.
Do you have any pets?
My family consists of cats, I have 2 black cats. The 2 year old is Drogo and the 7 month old is Phoenix. Phoenix is a partial Maine Coon mix and I got super lucky that both are “human cats”, which means they are super affectionate and always with me no matter which room of the house I am in! They both sleep with me at night and have been my rocks during a very difficult period of recently losing my wife.
What was your first job?
I like to say I was a “drug runner”, but what it really was is being a delivery driver for a pharmacy in Pampa, TX.
What is your occupation now?
Software Engineer sales specialist for IBM selling Cloud computing.
What is a typical day like for you?
I’m a work from home employee and so during COVID times, my typical day is waking up for the first meeting around 9am, making my way up to home office upstairs and then sitting in meetings & virtual sales calls most of the day. Usually end the day around 5:30pm or 6pm, then me and the cats go back downstairs to eat some dinner and enjoy some hobbies like binge watching some TV, reading some comics, playing some video games.
Do you enjoy any hobbies?
I have several hobbies that I like to throw myself into… cars, comics, movies, tv, basketball, working out, posting daily Childfree content on my #NoKids social media accounts and generally running the #NoKids Shop business. I spend a lot of time on my car hobbies though. I like to race my sports cars at both runway half-mile events and take it to a road course. I also am part of a group of guys who have made a YouTube channel for cars called NoRevving. We do a lot of DIY mechanical work on our cars and post to the channel. I’m a massive Wolverine comic book collector and fan, so have a lot of things I do for comics like attending comic cons in cosplay, etc. I am a die hard Chicago Bulls fan and watch every game via NBA League Pass and play some basketball in Y leagues for older guys since I’m almost 40 now.
Do you have a special talent or skill?
I wonder if being considered Vulcan could be a special talent?! 🙂 I’m very logically oriented and science based, so it doesn’t leave a lot of room for creativity unfortunately. I am fairly good at public speaking though as my first 7 years at IBM was building and delivery technical workshops and that made me get proficient at standing in front of a classroom and teaching them how our technology APIs work.
If you could master a new skill instantly, what would you like to learn to do?
Languages… I’m fascinated by the people who are fluent in multiple languages. Their brains are just better. I have tried learning Thai, Japanese, and German. Never got fluent in any of them but enough to get around in the international travels I do. I take an international vacation annually.
What’s an interesting fact about you?
I hold the record for number of passes at a half mile runway event in a single day… I took my 2013 Dodge Viper SRT down the runway at Sulpher Springs, TX 33 times on a Sunday. I consistently ran around 153 mph on each run.
Do you have any “stupid human” tricks?
Haha, this is a great question and I look forward to reading the other spotlights answers! For myself though, no I can’t do any of those tricks.
Are there any accomplishments you want to brag about? (Don’t be modest, we want to know!)
I am quite proud of building the #NoKids shop business to provide childfree merchandise to the community. I of-course am not the only one selling childfree merchandise, but I have been able to slowly organically grow a following on facebook and twitter with daily childfree posts. I very much enjoy being a part of the childfree community and connecting with all the others in it!
What do you enjoy most about the childfree lifestyle?
For me I think it is the freedom to live life the way I want to. Other people try to call childfree selfish, but I don’t think it’s selfish at all to live your best life your way. I really like that I can sleep in until whenever I want on the weekends and don’t have to have anything planned, can just do things on a whim. I absolutely love my annual international trips to see the world! Childfree lifestyle gives me the time and money to do the things that I enjoy the most.
Give us your Top Three recommendations for travel destinations that you have visited?
1) New Zealand – I took my wife to New Zealand in November 2019 and OMG it is the most amazing place! We had actually looked into the immigration laws to potentially go over there for an international assignment. I might still.
2) Japan – Such an amazing place to visit, I taught a workshop in Tokyo for a week then went to Kyoto where there are 28 world heritage sites in that town alone. The Japanese culture is fascinating and beautiful. I can’t wait to go back!
3) Ko Lanta in Krabi, Thailand. We took a trip to the Pimalai Resort in Krabi, Thailand in December of 2018. This is the spot to go visit the beach in Thailand. So much more relaxed and beautiful than Phi Phi Don Island or Phuket (although that was a lot of fun in 2008 too!). Thailand is filled with friendly people and has some of the best food on the planet. You must go scuba diving when there!
Is there a travel spot you REALLY want to visit?
Oh man, the list is strong! I hit a new one each year though… but to answer this question I think the top 2 travel spots I must visit are an observatory in Chile and go far enough north to sleep under the Northern Lights. I’m a huge space geek so these are bucket list items.
What do you want people who are not childfree to know about this lifestyle?
I think primarily it’s that our lifestyle choice is every bit as valid as theirs! We are all able to make the life we want while on this planet and just because we made a different choice from them doesn’t make us “wrong” or “selfish” or any of the other negative crap that is always thrown at the childfree! I built #NoKids to empower the childfree so we can help change the perception that those who are not childfree have about us. If we show them how many we number they will change their attitudes and accept it as just another way to live life.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
This was such an easy answer just a couple of weeks ago… it’s now much harder having lost my wife. I have a lot of healing to do, but I see myself living as an expat somewhere international, top of list would be New Zealand. Getting in a life experience that so few have opportunity to have because of my childfree by choice lifestyle. I hope to have grown #NoKids and play a bigger role in the childfree community.
Do you want to give a plug for anything?
Shoutout to my shop… NoKidsShop.com and the facebook and twitter pages I run for it’s social media. We have lots of fun childfree designs for all types of merchandise available. I take requests as well.
https://twitter.com/No_Kids_LLC
https://www.instagram.com/nokidsllc/
Also to the International Childfree Day, I was fortunate enough to be on the selection panel this year and look forward to celebrating it every year with the childfree community!
What is your favorite quote?
“I’m the best there is at what I do but what I do best isn’t very nice.” – Wolverine
If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
Fort Minor – Remember the Name
FREE SPACE – Put anything else that you want to share here!
I want to thank Childfree Family for the opportunity to have a spotlight and I look forward to connecting with even more of the childfree family community!
