This is for anyone curious in hitting the road to learn a little about what to take with them and other tips, etc. Obviously computer time is pretty limited for me but I'll swing around and answer questions every couple weeks to a month.
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This is for anyone curious in hitting the road to learn a little about what to take with them and other tips, etc. Obviously computer time is pretty limited for me but I'll swing around and answer questions every couple weeks to a month.
Any suggestions on using facilities? How to avoid trouble as far as using the john. and also how to get your cloths cleaned once in awhile.
Very careful thought before attempting to live free should be given.
I have been homeless on two occasions, but only for short lengths of time.
Your mind suddenly has the freedom from societies burdons, but the change can be overwhelming.
The taste of freedom can also become an addiction, so be careful.
I will participate in this thread, ( if that's ok ) and try to help anyone considering a life on the road.
No matter how hard I try I come to the same conclusion, this is dangerous for a petite female
Hmm, interesting. This thread might just be the source of data I need.
I have a few enquiries for the topic author I hope are not too impertinent:
• How long have you been homeless?
• What is it like being homeless, emotionally?
• As a homeless person, how are you treated by society?
• How do you attain nourishment?
• How and where do you sleep?
• Do you have a mate or offspring to care for? If so, what challenges have you faced in doing so?
I might return with more enquiries. But for the time being, I will leave off with these.
How long have you been an oogle?
What is an "oogle" ??????Quote:
Originally Posted by stormcrow
There are typically public bathrooms in most places. Sometimes you may have to sneak into an outhouse or something. I only worry about finding a bathroom for shitting as there's usually a line of people. Peeing is something you just sort of have to make work, find a good spot and pop a squat. The hardest thing is masturbation.Quote:
Originally Posted by sivason
I don't really wash my clothes, but you can do laundry at various non-prophet places designed to help the homeless. These facilities are also good for showers and stuff of that nature. I like to go dirty.
I kow a lot of girls that travel alone, but these girls make chuck norris like a pussy. Mostly girls find guys to travel with. I'm a guy traveling alone and I still carry a knife and a can of mace.Quote:
Originally Posted by juroara
Three months or so but I've only been traveling for three weeks now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aristaeus
It's seriously liberating. Tiredphil was genuine when he said it's addictive. I for one doubt I'll ever be capable of settling down again.Quote:
• What is it like being homeless, emotionally?
Not too well, the police are assholes and people tend to ignore you if possible. There's also a lot of drunks that spoil it for everyone by harassing people, too. Mostly I just try to make people laugh and have fun. It's good practice interacting with strangers constantly. I've sharpened my people skills immensely and my game has gotten a lot better. Despite being dirty, I have never been more capable of attracting females.Quote:
• As a homeless person, how are you treated by society?
Some places are easier than others. There's a lot of "bumfeeds" as we call them here, where good samaritans hand out food (usually for religious purposes). Also if you panhandle outside of restaurants you get leftovers kicked down often enough. I'm eating better than when I had to pay for food. If you get desperate you can go through the trash but I usually only pretend to dig through trash long enough for someone to give me a sandwich.Quote:
• How do you attain nourishment?
Some places are very hard on the homeless in this respect. But I've had pretty good luck just rolling out my sleeping bag wherever. I've also ad really bad luck. My second day on the road I hiked 12 miles before I found a decent camp spot.Quote:
• How and where do you sleep?
No I don't, and if I did I probably wouldn't have been capable of taking this vow of poverty. My potential family is the only thing in the back of my mind reminding me I will have to settle back down someday.Quote:
• Do you have a mate or offspring to care for? If so, what challenges have you faced in doing so?
Where do homeless people get the markers to use on cardboard posters?
Hmm... Could you describe their personalities in depth?Quote:
Originally Posted by Original Poster
Good markers only cost 3 dollars, you just need to find a hobo that doesn't spend every dime on booze and steal a marker from them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff777
The personalities vary. They typically just have a lot more grit. Some are seriously hot, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aristaeus
Any chance of an indepth report on your circumstances, and experiences so far.
The subject can be fascinating, and addictive to read.
I am sure many on here are very interested in your adventures.
The mark it will leave on your character, and personality can not be denied.
Some of my clearest memories come from a situation similar to yours.
Have fun, and good luck.
Phil
This is actually pretty cool. What made you want to do this? I suppose the need to feel free and travel.
In like a week or so I'll transcribe my journal onto a blog. It was spotty at first but I've adjusted and gotten rather good lately at keeping up with my experiences. You're right though, they've been incredibly profound and have taught me a lot about faith and my impregnable spirit.Quote:
Originally Posted by TiredPhil
I would tell you a story now but time on the computer always feels rushed and I'll want to wait until I'm housed up for a longer period of time so I can quote straight from the journal. A lot of my writing focuses on my mental, emotional and spiritual changes, denoting the experiences that caused them secondarily. My goal is to finish a story. It doesn't have to be published or anything, but I'll finish one story, and I'll finish another, and I'll keep going. For the first time in my life, I feel like I understand what I want out of life. And despite having nothing, my ambition is sky high. Especially because, to be perfectly honest, the road teaches you a thing or too about manifestation when it's your intention to learn it properly.
The fear that one day I'd wake up and be old, the disillusionment with what other travelers refer to as Babylon, plus something extra I don't quite understand. I spent a fair bit of time studying manifestation, from Chaos Magic to Kevin Trudeau, and realized the road was the only desire I could truly put my heart into. Everything else was socially manufactured. Now that I'm on the road, I see why.Quote:
Originally Posted by Athylus
It is, please don't bother trying. .-.Quote:
Originally Posted by juroa[B
-----
Anything scary/dangerous happen to you while homeless?
What is Babylon and this menafestation you speak about? And what's a normal span of time, that you spend on average each time you go out to travel?
Babylon is a biblical term adopted by the modern dirty kids and rainbow family to describe modern civilization. It carries with it the connotation that it's temporary and will fall again, while our lifestyle is more stable.
Yes I speak of manifestation. Part of my motivation to hit the road was to learn how to manifest. One learns better when they have no other option than when they are merely studying the science.
I have no answer as to how long I spend on the road. It'll probably grow longer and longer when I start to figure out more of what I'm doing.
As far as the petite female thing, you are the only person capable of limiting yourself. A dog, mace, a clear head and a knife can make up for being petite. I would be doing the same thing if I were a girl. And frankly, girls have it a lot easier on the road. There's just a slightly bigger risk for rape, but the risk isn't void for guys, either. Most male travelers I know have been, at the very least, offered a blowjob and at most forced to pull a knife to get out of a sexual encounter.
My best friend since middle school had been an A/B student all his life, graduated from both Stetson University as a finance major and Full Sail university with a Film degree, went to work at Charles Schwab making good money, got tired of the rat-race and literally gave up everything to travel the world doing oddjobs for nothing but room and board.
He joined WWOOF:
WWOOF - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And he has, since, been to many different places like Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand (where he met his wife), Australia, and a bunch of other places I can't remember right now. He's gotten his sailing license, dove the Great Barrier reef, vacationed on a glacier and just basically had a blast while working hard to pay his way through his adventures. He is planning to renew his vows with his wife in Hawaii, sometime next year. WWOOF is obviously a great organization/culture to look into, if you're looking to live off the land (and put in some decent work, while doing so).
I actually did look into WWOOF for a long time. I may upgrade to that sort of thing in a few years. I need exposure to something a bit less predictable right now, though. Travelling via buses, hostels and work opportunities gives you a lot of good exposure, and my own experiences doing that in South America were awesome. But it didn't quite have the same spiritual experience that traveling broke does, in my opinion. Granted you won't often get to sail (or shower) and there's definitely many possible paths to take, one must find their own. One guy I met on the road brought quartz with him all over the planet then came back and handed them out to friends and people he met (like me)
First journal entry transcribed (not in order, just first one I felt like transcribing): Kindness Saves the World: Perseverance
There's fragments and run-ons abound. I need to edit it to something easier follow but there's a lot more journal to transcribe soz I dun really care atm.
Here's an article written about a train hopper that died like a week before I hit the road. Lots of travelers I've met knew him well and considered him a friend. RIP Hotboxx
Teens drawn to dangerous world of train jumping - Homeless - The Sacramento Bee
Do you consider yourself a modern day adventurer?
The hell? What do you think I am an oogle?Quote:
Originally Posted by Athylus
(Fact: The creator of Adventure Time is an ex-kid, that's why the main character has a dog and backpack)
Not sure what an oogle is but no I don't, I meant no offense in any case. How do you come by and where do you sleep? More importantly, how do you get food?Quote:
Originally Posted by Original Poster
Sleep depends on where you are. In Portland, for example, you can sleep on the sidewalk without too much trouble so long as you're up by six. In San Francisco you can either go deep into Golden Gate park or go to a smaller park and just get up early enough. In other places, such as Austin, Texas, you have to either go to a shelter or get out of downtown and find a patch of woods or some other stealthy spot where you won't be noticed. Even downtown where it's illegal to sleep, most cities have plenty a cutty spot where cops won't see you.
During my travels, I grew fond of sleeping under bridges. Sure, there's a couple spiders but if you lay down a tarp they don't bother you much. I've also heard rooftops are ideal because no one bothers you, you just can't be seen entering or leaving.
I tend to avoid shelters at all costs. They're rampant with thieves and junkies. When possibly, I like to be in the woods and just hike into town. If it's a national park you got to be off the beaten path so the rangers don't find you. Some smaller towns leave it up to the local police to watch the woods which is ideal cause cops are too lazy to find you.
As far as food goes, there are multiple options. If you take advantage of all of them, they can supplement each other. People throw away a lot of good food so dumpsters and trash cans are great places to scout. Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts make for fantastic dumpster diving because they throw out their day olds even though the donuts remain good for weeks.
One can also offer work or ask if there's any left overs at any food establishment. Even if you get turned down, perhaps a customer will decide to buy you a meal. It never hurts to ask.
Food stamps don't usually provide enough to survive off by themselves, but they add a good supplement.
And finally, most places have bumfeeds pretty regularly. Check your local churches or ask the homebums (stationary homeless) to get the scoop on where food gets handed out.
In short, and I'm kind of fucking over a lot of bums by saying this, but if you don't give a bum money chances are they won't starve. Their dog might though.
Wow man, you really amaze me. You're pretty much able to survive without using modern day technology, I imagine you must feel in touch with nature. Do you care what people think about you? Where do you clean/wash yourself?Quote:
Originally Posted by Original Poster
And how did you ever learn all of this?
You don't mind me asking all these questions right? I'm intrigued by your lifestyle, and I would definitely love to give it a try sometime when I feel I am prepared and willing. I will be volunteering in Africa or Asia this summer holiday if I can gather up enough money, my motivation partly lies in gettting a feeling of how it'd be to live in such a different environment with minimal technology. As well as selflessly helping other people who don't have it as good (as most people would call it) as we do in western civilisation survival wise. Sorry, don't mean to be hijacking here. Just sharing my motivation and origin of interest.
I would not make the thread if I minded. And you tend to learn as you go, other travelers are typically very helpful. I picked up a lot from them. As far as cleaning/washing goes, well there's a reason we're called dirty kids. You grow used to it. To be truthful you smell worse a day after a shower than a week after. The dirt buildup adds a protective layer, and acts as its own mosquito repellent.
And as far as what people think of me... dude people will always judge you. Even bums judge each other as being oogles or whatever. Some kids will look down on you for not having enough tattoos on your face and some kids will judge you for having too many. Even if you aren't homeless, the homeless will just think of you as a worthless yuppie. People judge, it's what they do. As they say in Braveheart: Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it.
Yeesh, I just read through this thread: http://www.dreamviews.com/extended-d...ml#post2075644. Terrible world we live in.
Anyhow, I just wanted to thank you for all the data you have provided; it has proven to be quite useful.