Homeless by choice

[Tony85320]

Hitman-- Do not display racist behavoir and do not insult people in my forum.

 

[DrEIMiller]

[DD's edit-- Please do not feed the troll]

And to be on topic, being homeless, in some sense of it, sounds very appealing to me at times in my life. But more so living the Walden Pond kind of life, or the really simple life in Arcata, with nothing except food, guitar and the beach....ahhhh, life would be so much rewarding I think. And less stressful for sure.

 

[KaNdii kiSses]

I am not homeless nor would I become homeless by choice, but I knwo this lady and her son and his wife were homeless by choice. They had money and his mom even said she would by him a house. He still didn't want it.... at least at the time he didn't. Last I heard he finally decided to get a house.

 

[Mike DMA]

Has anyone decided to become homeless out of there own free will? Maybe spent a year or two just hitchhiking or travelling some other cheap way? Any backpackers here? I'm thinking about doing this in a year or two and would like to hear others experiences.

I knew someone who did...voices in his head told him to do so. he told me it was fun....he left with no money at all and ended up at a free festival miles from home where he could drink for free.

i wish u good luck

 

[masaz]

I'd love to do something like that, just kind of travel the country doing whatever with whoever.

I'm not the kind of person who could see herself living the whole 9-5 thing. To me it just seems a bit mundane and ultimately pointless.

Wanna live, dammit! So in a few years, who knows...?

 

[SilverFeniks]

that's always been my fall-back plan if things don't work out

I'm far too deep now to jump ship though, and I'm sure my family would hire an assassin to hunt me down and kill me. But as it is I can't see myself making even $10/hour in my life, after all this damn Uni education, nor do I really want any part of typical suburban, married, family, monetary life.
I don't think I could survive on the road though, if I don't eat a whole lot each day I risk losing what little weight I have left. And how I could live without music is beyond me.

 

[DarthMom]

Ok this thread really got me thinking after I posted, and I was already having that intense boredom setting in daydreaming about selling everything and my family moving to some third world country where we could live cheaply and explore the country every weekend.

Anyway, I have decided I found the next best thing. Hi tech homeless....my husband has the option of taking some contract positions doing what he did in the army, bomb disposal...basically like the guys over in Iraq getting killed, the contractors. But not there, there is no way. Hubby wouldn't leave us for any amount of time, and it isnt' worth losing him. But they have an opening right now in Hawaii for 10k a month. And there, we could take the family, safe enough. That is a lot of money. It is only a yr long contract, so then we would need to find another. But it shouldn't be difficult since as long as I have known him and his buddies, they are always discussing one or two good ones. This would be so ideal for me. We could keep our home here and rent it out, so we always have someplace to go, and it shouldn't be too hard to get back into a career doing what he is now, most likely with the same company.

Anyway, I thought I would share since it goes with this. Homeless doens't have to mean penniless and no clean sheets at night. Those of you with the intense wanderlust but realistic expectations for yourself and family can get creative and do it other ways.

*runs off to check rental prices in oahu*

also, with no experience, you can look into something like truck driving. (yeah, i know, redneck...so what!) pays well, and you can go all over.

Also, I used to sell timeshare. A lot of my friends would rotate companies every few months, going someplace new, mexico, domestic locals, carribean islands....it pays very well, and no experience is necessary in sales. start with a domestic location, and be a consistent producer and you can go anywhere you want. Just ideas

 

[xxanxx]

I did the homeless backpacker thing for a while last year. Our first time out a buddy and I hitched from Chicago to Taos, New Mexico, then up to Eugene, Oregon and finally down to Eureka California. We had a great time and mainly hitch hiked, although a lot of the time we spent hiking. We took full backpacking gear including camp stoves, tents, water purifiers, etc. The second time we went from Ely Nevada to Las Vegas and then to Berkely California. That was a lot of fun, met a lot of great people and learned a lot about staying safe on the road. I would be glad to elaborate if you want. I have a lot of useful information, and if you are looking into train hopping I have the crew change manual. Cheers

 

[xxanxx]

Also, a great book to read is A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins.

 

[Blue_Lava]

Liberating?

I worked as a social worker with homeless people for 7 years. Myself and the other social workers I worked with came to see homelessness as prison except instead of being locked in, you are locked out. It's a very hard, very dangerous life. Once your in it, it's hard to get out. I would run sensetization excercises on the streets on NYC and ATL where I'd take a group of volunteers out on the street for a 24-48 hour period just to see what it's like and what it takes to survive. Trust me. Life on the streets is harsh. You lose something of yourself while on the streets... sanity being one of those things. I'd highly recommend you volunteer at a soup kitchen, or shelter a few times before hitting the road.

 

[Cunning Linguist]

What an interesting thread! I'm sure that wandering is something that I absolutely must do soon, once I can get some money together. I've no long-term commitments at all (no college, uni, job, girl, house) so I can pretty much pack up and leave somewhere when I want to.

blahblahblah: what advice can you give me on travelling by motorbike? you say you've done this before and I'd love to be cruising around like in Easy Rider. I'm thinking of how easy it is to sleep in a camp site or something if need be? Learning to ride a bike has been on my to-do list for a while (like many other things) and I think i've got as good a reason as any to get it done soon.

What are peoples oppinions on travelling solo? I think this is almost a certainty for me right now, and probably best as I don't have to compromise

 

[xxanxx]

Depending on how you are traveling, solo can be great! If you plan on hitching around or riding trains I would highly reccomend going with at least one other person. You can get in some sticky situations if you aren't careful. As far as riding around on a motorcycle, it can be great too. The only thing with that, you have to have gas money or camp site money. Although, if you are reasourceful enough you can always make a quick buck. Some good idea's are flying a sign (Traveling, Broke, and Hungry always worked well) or begging or even freestyle rapping. The last requires two people though, one for the beatbox, one for the rapping. Are you in the USA? If so, I know some great routes depending on what you are looking for. There are some that are great for scenery, others are good for certain recreational activities. Cheers...

 

[xxanxx]

Myself and the other social workers I worked with came to see homelessness as prison except instead of being locked in, you are locked out.

I think you probably dealt with a different type of homelessness. The alcoholics, scitzophrenics, etc... There is actually a huge subculture of people who hike/ride around out of their own choice. It definitely is quite dangerous but not quite the same as what you are speaking of. I too have spent about 4 days homeless in downtown Chicago. It is not fun, probably one of the scariest, most stressful things I have ever been through. But it is comepletely different being homeless out on the open road. Even smaller towns like Santa Fe aren't so bad if you know what you are doing. Cheers.

 

[phactor]

Gonna bump this...

So obviously I never really traveled yet (except for touring but that really isn't the same). I decided to go back and finish school first (only 1 and 1/2 years left) which is going great. I'm gaining alot of confidence now that will probably serve me once I do start to travel.

I would eventually like to do some backpacking in India,Thailand etc.. alot of Europeans seem to do this but not too many Americans and also some more stuff around the states.

When I wrote that message I doubt I'd have been able to pull it off but now I know I could.

Anyone else have anything to contribute?

 

[axl blaze]

I do a lot of traveling. the only thing different than what I do is I don't associate it with bumming. you're traveling, and you'd be surprised at the many ways you can fill your wallet w/o the depravity of pan handling.

but yeah, since someone could use this advice - it's amazing how easy it is to get quick cash at gas stations. go to older women, slightly primp looking and explain to them your sob story on how your girlfriend's an alcoholic so therefore she kicked you out so therefore you need gas money ASAP. you'd be surprised to how many people will throw you some bones this way.

 

[Pander Bear]

Liberating?

I worked as a social worker with homeless people for 7 years. Myself and the other social workers I worked with came to see homelessness as prison except instead of being locked in, you are locked out. It's a very hard, very dangerous life. Once your in it, it's hard to get out. I would run sensetization excercises on the streets on NYC and ATL where I'd take a group of volunteers out on the street for a 24-48 hour period just to see what it's like and what it takes to survive. Trust me. Life on the streets is harsh. You lose something of yourself while on the streets... sanity being one of those things. I'd highly recommend you volunteer at a soup kitchen, or shelter a few times before hitting the road.

Wouldn't it be fiar to say that sanity is one of the things youi generally lose before you become homeless, rather than afterward. I can't find the reference, but isn't it something like 7 in ten homeless people have preexisting psychological conditions?

 

[1984]

for whatever reason someone is homeless, its a tough gig, no shit.

 

[phactor]

I just want to clarify that I plan on travelling/backpacking... homeless by choice might have been the wrong title. I definatly don't want to become a "homebum"...

Edit - I believe this was my 2,000 post

 

[chrissie]

...you'd be surprised at the many ways you can fill your wallet w/o the depravity of pan handling.

...go to older women, slightly primp looking and explain to them your sob story on how your girlfriend's an alcoholic so therefore she kicked you out so therefore you need gas money ASAP. you'd be surprised to how many people will throw you some bones this way.

so lying/begging is less depraved than pan handling?

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

The difference I see between the homelessness BlueLava is talking about versus what xxanxx is talking about is that the latter is more or less PLANNED. People who choose to live on the road out of a sense of adventure rather than desperation typically plan it out fairly well, I'd bet. Before they get their security depost back and give their boss the finger, I think most have given some very realistic thought to where they're going to sleep, how they'll find food / gas / drugs, what they'll do about staying somewhat clean and respectable when they need to, and most of all, how they'll make enough money to get by.

There are, and have always been, hobos, or people who have life on the move down to a science and wouldn't have it any other way. In some cultures there are even whole classes of people who've been on the road for centuries! (Britain's "Pikeys" come to mind.) I'd venture a guess most are not only very street smart, but also very good networkers, who know "somebody" vitrually everywhere they go, both settled people and fellow hobos.

It seems to me certain social skills would take on especial importance to someone PLANNING ON living homeless:
*** Never forgetting a name, face, or conversation, even if it was only one encounter long ago.
*** Leaving no trace as a guest, never "making onesself at home" too much.
*** Being able to spot someone who'll likely buy a sob story or offer something of help, as xxanxx mentioned.
*** An arsenal of quick and confident replies to the question "ExCUSE me, what are you doing there?"
*** Always keeping something on hand that anyone would appreciate as a gift.

Becoming homeless out of desperation, like most things done out of desperation, is a whole other kettle of fish. BlueLava, you're talking about people who don't even have the chops to make it in ordinary society, let alone at the mercy of the elements.

chrissie, I'd say begging and panhandling are both pretty depraved, and should ONLY be done out of real desperation, when all other options have been exhausted. It makes me sick when I hear stories of some hot girl who'll dress in dirty scanty clothing on a streetcorner, collect hundreds of dollars in a day, then go back to her b/f's house and order pizza and a MovieOnDemand. How can some people be so shameless? If pimps harrass her / try to get her on board, good. She deserves it.

As for travelers who lie / steal / con their way across the country / world? All I can say is karma travels faster than the fastest airplane, and WILL catch up to you someday. And you, too, will deserve it when it comes. If you don't have it in you to live on the road honestly and show the proper thanks to those who've helped you, you shouldn't try to live on the road, because it's people like you who give vagrants a bad name.