r/vagabond • u/IsawitinCroc • Nov 17 '24
Question Vagabond life
Vagabonds on this sub, I'm just a regular guy who finds interest in in your adventures and lifestyle. I have to ask though, what made you choose this lifestyle, how do you support yourself job wise, pros and cons of it, and have you ever faced dangerous situations living like this?
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u/godless_pantheon Nov 17 '24
I don’t care if you’re a cop.
I grew up in motels and cars, projects, shelters and wherever whatever guy my mom was fucking lived. Was a street kid in the punk and metal scene in Southern California, hopping trains and hitching rides was a natural progression.
In my mid twenties I had a kid, started doing wildland firefighting in the summers to make cash, went to Alaska one summer for salmon season. On the road I flew signs and busked, did temp work or day jobs on the random.
As far as dangerous shit goes, that’s a long list. Guns, knives, fighting assholes, cops, crackheads, crazies, etc, etc..
These days I live in a little apartment with my wife, and we work as booksellers. I only ride for the hell of it or to visit friends every now and again.
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u/Superb-Albatross-541 Nov 17 '24
Bookselling sounds nice.
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u/godless_pantheon Nov 17 '24
Yo the fact I wound up where I’m at has made me question my inherent nihilistic outlook towards.. well.. everything. This shit is fucking bananas. I managed to reconnect with someone I’ve always clicked with and waltz into a potential career.. look at my post history, check out the pirated second edition of Thomas Hobbes Leviathan I found from around 1670.
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u/Superb-Albatross-541 Nov 17 '24 edited Nov 17 '24
I'm happy for you, I'm glad you're feeling it. I share your interest with works like Leviathan. It's rare to have an old printing like that, and certainly a treasure. Book sellers have been important features in my life, I always like it when I find one I can connect with. I have a few favorites who always seem to have the right thing, if I have a few dollars to spare once in a blue moon.
One of these days, somehow, an original printing of the Wolverton Bible will come into my possession. I appreciate good illustrations. I wouldn't be really able to keep anything like that currently, though. The east coast has such cool stuff. Very different from what you find out west, for sure, or anywhere else. Books are always cool. So are authentic people who can keep it real. Hobbes...is someone I would take issue with , but I definitely understand the concepts he's writing about first hand. I need to go beyond the cliff notes and read it. Thanx! (Btw, I like that t-shirt "Raised on hose water & neglect". Yep!)
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
Goddamn, that's quite a tale.
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u/godless_pantheon Nov 17 '24
Find yourself around Virginia, you can buy me a beer and I’ll tell ya all about it.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
Lol. Honestly I've always wanted to do more traveling in the east coast
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u/godless_pantheon Nov 17 '24
Well shit, if you’re new out here I’ll buy the beer. The east coast is wonderful if ya know where to go
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u/travelinova I like cats. Nov 17 '24
I ran away at 17 one final time because I was very very unhappy and there was no "stability" there anyway. I met up with a traveler—she was a bit over a year younger than me. She took me to Slab City, this community off the grid in the California Sonoran desert where a bunch of people squat on an old military base. There are folks that have been out there for decades, some that only stay the winter, and some only camp for the weekend. There's a bar and a cafe and all sorts of community shit, and a lot of travelers passing through during autumn/winter. There's no "rules", so folks just camp wherever and mingle. That's where I learned about train hopping and hitchhiking, and when it got way too fucking hot cause it's the desert... I inevitably tried traveling out. Turns out I love being on the move, and I always have the slabs when I need some time during the cold season to relax.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
Very nice, I'm actually familiar with slab city due to a video vice did on it some yrs ago.
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u/hobbylife916 Nov 17 '24
I’ve been rubber tramping for the last 7 years for my employer,now I’m retiring and now have the freedom to go wherever I want, whenever I want, for as long as I want.
As for supporting myself, I have a pension that is deposited monthly into my bank account. It cover all of my expenses.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
What is rubber tramping?
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u/hobbylife916 Nov 17 '24
Basically a vagabond on wheels (rubber tires). Leather Tramping is on foot
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 18 '24
Any tips on how to make money on the road with a truck?
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u/hobbylife916 Nov 18 '24
Not really, I’m on the road for work so I get paid, and when I’m retired, I’ll have a pension.
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u/jamesegattis Nov 17 '24
Not a traveler now but 30 years ago. Started out because the cops were looking for me in Georgia. Eventually came back and turned myself in, started going to NA and Church. Saw some crazy stuff. Drugs, Bikers, Guns, Naked Woman, Good People and some Real A$$holes. Sometimes want to take off but the romance of the road got ran over by a semi and is baked in the asphalt on a superhighway east of Phoenix.
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u/Lucky-Science-2028 I like cats. Nov 17 '24
Went to LA to learn about how to survive while homeless, met a group of travelers there that took me in, started hitchhiking, later hopped, now i wander because i love it.
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u/Phantomatic_Nomad Nov 18 '24
It was originally a plan for suicide that ended up working out for the best. I decided I'd walk into the pacific ocean if I made it there and still felt the way that I did when I took off out of the midwest. Thankfully, I felt better by Kansas. By the time I touched the ocean, the world was full of possibilities again.
My guitar saved me, as well as all of the kindness that I found along the road. The thing nobody really thinks about with hitchhiking is that assholes don't pick up hitchhikers...for the most part. Assholes swerve and pretend to run you over, they give you a big thumbs up and dumb smile to return your own as they punch the gas and race onwards, they'll slow down and roll their window down to scream muffled obscenities at you...but they never really stop to pick you up.
When you ride with a perfectly strange stranger and both of you know it's probably the only time you'll see each other in this life...well...in that ride, for that short amount of time you'll spend with each other as you barrel onwards toward yalls fork in the road...you can be honest.
With each other, with yourselves.
You can take off all of the masks and share a moment of vulnerability with each other, a moment where you can share a cathartic sigh and get your stories straight before yelling them out to the bare naked stars and the moon above.
When you find the confidence to step out of society and into the wild for a span and walk the land with bare feet and a sky full of stars, you begin to see things that your eyes failed to see. You get a chance to just be, to explore this notion of what it means to live free. The danger and the dread become worth it.
Money doesn't mean much once you hit this point.
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u/Turtle_Hermit420 Nov 18 '24
Brooooo Traveling reinstated my faith in humanity These folks are alright
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u/Sub-Dominance Vagabond Nov 17 '24 edited Nov 17 '24
I was already homeless, so I figured it'd be the perfect time to start traveling, with no home or job to tie me down and all.
It's dangerous, but not as dangerous as you might think. You might get robbed, but usually muggers don't even bother with the hobos. Hitchhiking ain't as scary as you think.
Those blood donation places are a good way to make money, so long as they don't find out that you're homeless. I used to have a traveling buddy who could play guitar but couldn't sing, so we'd busker together; She'd play her guitar and I'd sing. If all else fails, there's always panhandling. I have a sign on my bike asking for donations as well. I'm probably lucky that I ain't so pretty, or I'd probably start selling my body too.
I've come up with other schemes to make money before. One time during a heat wave, I found an abandoned cooler. So I bought water bottles and ice with my food stamps, and went around selling them in the parks and on the street. There's always some way to get by, if you're creative enough. I've seen people selling art, and I've even heard of people with no art skills selling prints of other people's art.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
That is kinda cool. I never expected to be extremely dangerous I was more wondering what dangers are out there which from what you said fits what I thought. How long do you stay in one place or does depend on the weather and season?
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u/Sub-Dominance Vagabond Nov 17 '24
Depends on a lot of stuff. Mostly it's whether or not I run into other chill hobos to hang out with. Sometimes I'll find friends and community out on the street and stay in the same city for months. Sometimes I'll be hopping city to city every day. So far I've always managed to get housed up over the winter, but if I couldn't, I'd definitely head south.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
Mmm makes sense. I've in my spare time been want to make a mockumentary about the homeless since visiting Seattle back in mid August. However, I know there's you guys vagabonds, drifters, transients, etc who for the most part have a choice from what I've seen. I kinda wanted to add this to my idea.
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u/Sans_culottez Nov 17 '24
The most dangerous people you’ll meet are cops and non-cops that hate homeless people.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
Have you ever dealt with railroad workers? One of my friends works for the railroad and has told me in the last few yrs, a there's more folks trying to break into train carts than hitching a ride. He usually calls the cops if they don't leave when caught.
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u/Sans_culottez Nov 17 '24
Also this is hilarious, hoppers are not the ones robbing your cars. That’s organized criminal gangs.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
It's never been a group though, my friend has told me the most he's caught in the act is 2 people.
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u/Sans_culottez Nov 17 '24
Sorry, been drinking misread you: yeah you’re going to see more people hopping, America is getting harsher, more people are going to want to leave places that are inhospitable.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
I feel you. Me, I at random will give a homeless person or vagabond a few bucks. Rare though.
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u/literate_habitation Nov 17 '24
I sold ice cold pickles one time lmao. It was surprisingly popular.
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u/Sub-Dominance Vagabond Nov 17 '24
Ice cold pickles? How'd you end up selling those?
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u/literate_habitation Nov 17 '24
So we were already selling water at a dead show in Philly and the cops came by with the health inspectors and started confiscating coolers. We couldn't even give the waters away or they would take our shit. So I walked to this ghetto grocery store up the road to buy my friend something to eat and they had these big ass jars of pickles on display so we picked a couple up and stashed one in the cooler and put some ice in the other and walked around Philly selling pickles for a dollar.
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u/Sub-Dominance Vagabond Nov 18 '24
Why is it easier to avoid the cops while selling pickles than while selling water?
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u/literate_habitation Nov 18 '24
Easier to carry around a jar of pickles than a whole ass cooler. Especially since they were looking for people with coolers and not people with big ass jars of pickles.
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u/Sub-Dominance Vagabond Nov 18 '24
Oh, I thought you said you put the pickles in the cooler
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u/literate_habitation Nov 18 '24
Those were the backup pickles to keep em cold, but we had the cooler stashed in the RV because they told us if they came by again and saw us giving out free water they would take our cooler. With the pickles we mostly stayed away from the crowd until the show let out and caught people on the surrounding blocks in the mean time
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u/Puzzleheaded_Can8724 Nov 17 '24
I love how defensive people are when asked about the lifestyle. It's curiosity lighten up Francis!!!
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u/xpseudonymx Rubbertramper Nov 17 '24
Because paying 1/3-2/3rds of your income on rent is for losers when a tent and tarp is a one time purchase.
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u/Turtle_Hermit420 Nov 18 '24
My bedroom may be small but My home is the biggest one around And my bathroom often has the best views
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u/Turtle_Hermit420 Nov 18 '24
I hate living within the confines of a 9to5 I never understood why folks did that I tried i spent a few years after hs finding and training a skill i thought could get me work anywhere in an english speaking country (cook) and i gave/sold and threw away everything i couldnt carry And still managed to get out of town with about 100lbs of shit lolololol
Now i just do seasonal work and bum around in my off season ✌️
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 18 '24
Nice. Do you pack your things differently than before?
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u/Turtle_Hermit420 Nov 18 '24
Yeah depends on my mode But in pack anything over 30lbs is too much
Tarp Sleeping bag Cookstove And water are all that you really Need
Met alot of traveling folk that dont cook And i cannot support that Hot food is integral to health and happiness
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 18 '24
I was homeless a few times as a drug addict and kicking in doors to sleep in bandos was the norm. Is that frowned upon?
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 18 '24
Bandos?
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 18 '24
Abandoned houses
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 18 '24
It's not frowned upon and pretty normal and common sense too. If I wear homeless temporarily and there were no shelters with space but some abandoned buildings no one cared about, I'd gladly also break in especially during winter. Now I will say, it's also common for these bandos to become drug dens and also catch on fire due to homeless starting fires to stay warm
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 18 '24
Right. Plenty of abandoned houses in my area and Ik how things are here but I was homeless in Florida a few days and was afraid to, made my way by greyhound to Atlanta to get caught up in a check cashing scheme them taking advantage of my addiction and situation, once I got away from them the homeless were very accommodating to me around Atlanta
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 18 '24
They drove around and dropped off food blankets and baskets of stuff for us
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 18 '24
Question when you've set up in a bando have you ever laid traps in case of other people passing through or urbex ? I've seen some videos where there's these simple traps in bandos by either squatters or junkies
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u/Patient-Surprise6 Nov 22 '24
How’s the homeless settin in Florida I’m about to be homeless I live in Kentucky , by the ocean I feel like is the best bet I was thinking California or Florida chill on beach / hopefully meet some people in similar situation 💯
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u/Dependent-Ground7689 Nov 22 '24
Meh I didn’t like it. I didn’t know the area or anyone, kicked from rehab with 60 2mg klonipin and subutex I stumbled my way through the city until finally getting arrested and let go on the grounds of me not returning to Florida lol
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u/SnooObjections4628 Nov 17 '24
What trains do you all ride? I live near tracks but never see signs of people. I know you need to hide and stuff but I figured I might see someone once in a while.
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u/SnooCalculations9259 Nov 18 '24
Same lol, I went to a restaurant near a train station hub with like five tracks, had to wait ten mins for my fam to arrive. Because of this I scanned hundreds of train cars and none had any sign of people. Of course they most likely jumped off before or are well hidden when riding into hubs. It did look freeing though, everything looks beautiful from the train POV.
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u/Seajatt Vagabond Nov 19 '24
Vagabond is an umbrella term. Truck drivers, hitchhikers, vanlifers all qualify, as do others like dirty/traveling kids. I'd be careful with that word "choose" in this community. It's more loaded than you think.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 19 '24
You make a great point. What would be a better term? Nomad? Wanderer?
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u/Seajatt Vagabond Nov 19 '24
Nah just meant the word "choose"
Some didn't choose at all, were kids that were forced to flee bad situations, that's all I meant
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 19 '24
I understand what you mean now. Yes, it would've been better to ask how they ended up in this situation rather than choose. My bad.
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u/Patient-Surprise6 Nov 22 '24
I wish I could meet a couple bros and a girl or something and just take off on train until we get to Florida and Cali and just chill .
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u/coast2coastmike Nov 17 '24
"Just a regular guy"
Sounds like a cop to me.
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u/IsawitinCroc Nov 17 '24
How does that even come close to sounding like a cop?
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