Successful Homeless Hiker?

[SMSP]

Know anybody that has been good at it?

Been thinking about trying it out.

I’m tired of being responsible and trying to live the so called American dream. I’ve been responsible for the past 20 years, and been thinking about being non-responsible for the next 10 years or so. Of course, this would come at a great price.

Been thinking about selling anything of value and hitting the trail for good. I know there’s unforeseen things I haven’t thought of, but the idea sounds great at the moment.

SMSP

[texascampgal]

I have many days where that seems ideal... and I WOULD love it. Truth is, I love the comforts of home too much.

[Moose2001]

It's a nice dream but not possible unless you have an income stream from some source. Savings, retirement, trust fund, or something else. You might get by for a year but not much longer than that.

[mirabela]

Think it through carefully ... it could be tough reintegrating when/if you decide to.

I think the closest I've known to this over the long haul was a couple I worked with in the early 90's. Every year they would teach a summer session (one in physics, the other in history if I remember right) at a tony eastern private prep school (8 weeks), then do a few weeks teaching rock climbing for the outdoor frosh orientation programs at three or four top-tier private colleges; the rest of every year (9 months, give or take) they spent climbing all over the world. They'd been all over the Andes, the Himalaya and Karakoram, various African ranges, everywhere you've ever heard of in North America ...

It seemed like an enviable nomadic existence to me. They'd been at it for at least a decade when I knew them. I remember wondering then, though, what would happen if they ever wanted to raise a family.

It's not for me, but I certainly understand the appeal. Just do your homework seriously, like for any major life step.

[MyName1sMud]

Any room for another Mississippian ? haha

good luck to you brother (if you decide to go thru with it.)

I think it would be hard to beg for money in the woods though. I could see being homeless in a big city where you can easily beg for enough money to eat/drink everyday.

[Shutterbug]

Know anybody that has been good at it?

Been thinking about trying it out.

I’m tired of being responsible and trying to live the so called American dream. I’ve been responsible for the past 20 years, and been thinking about being non-responsible for the next 10 years or so. Of course, this would come at a great price.

Been thinking about selling anything of value and hitting the trail for good. I know there’s unforeseen things I haven’t thought of, but the idea sounds great at the moment.

SMSP

When I was a kid, we lived near the railroad tracks that passed through our town. There was a wooded area near the tracks we knew as "Hobo Jungle." I had the opportunity to meet quite a few of the people we called "Hobos." There always seemed to be two common themes -- "No one is going to tell me what to do!!!" and "Hey, kid, can you spare a dime?" It seemed to me that their independence came at the expense of their own sense of self-worth. If you ask them if they were successful, they probably would have said that they were doing exactly what they wanted to do.
Is that really success?

[Slo-go'en]

Being homeless with money is a lot more enjoyable then homeless with out money. If you have the savings to pull this off, why not?

Way back in the summer of '85 I got fired from a well paying, high tech, high stress job in the Boston area. I decided to teach those jokers a leason by never working a real job again. (BTW, the place which let me go went belly up 6 months later, so they actually did me a favor letting me go with 6 weeks severance pay!)

I managed to go almost 6 years effectively homeless after that - much of that time spent in the woods. I spent a whole summer wandering around Yellowstone and near-by areas, hiked much of the AT, did caretaking for three summers, two falls and a winter for break even wages. Other winters I would get a job of some kind to hold me over until spring. Otherwise, I would dip into my savings, which were reasonably large when I started. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten around to getting married or having children, which made it all possible. Plus I had friends who would let me sleep on the couch for extended periods when needed.

But all good things must come to an end. The life style was getting old and I needed to settle down while I still had sufficent savings to start over. Of course, by that time I was "corrupted" and couldn't get a real job again even if I wanted to, so I had to start my own buisness to survive. Still haven't gotten married or had kids, I was out wandering around in the woods at the age when most people did that.

[mirabela]

Come to think of it, I knew another guy when I was thru-hiking ... he got a small disability check in recognition of some type of mental illness ... it did not go far in town, but he could live like thru-hiking royalty. He was six or seven years along on a cycle that mostly involved yo-yoing the AT during the milder months and staying in shelters and squalid SRO hotels in east coast cities in the worst of the winter.

I'm not sure he'd have called himself successful, and from my POV he looked awfully lonely, but he seemed to get by without begging or stealing.

[Two Tents]

People dream of it, some start with full intentions of not looking back, some do it as far as they can make it and a few go all the way to the big 'K'. They are said to be thru hikers. Point being to address your questions is to follow your dreams. It is just walkin and ya gotta still live even if yer standin in the same spot days on end. I say go!

[milehighjohn]

All I can say is that I retired from a high stress job a little over a year ago, so I had some idea what you mean about walking away from a job. I wouldn't rush into anything though as jobs are getting harder to find all the time with the economy tanking as it is. I can say that given my experience hanging in there with the job was the best thing I could have done and made the retirement days even sweeter. I haven't hit any long trails yet, but have been taking two or three 20 mile nature hikes to and from a popular mountain in our area each week. Guess you could say I am an Urban Hiker for now, although I would like to take a little longer hike (the length of the Natchez Trace) sometime in the next year or so. As someone mentioned earlier, you'll need some sort of cash stream and retirement will fit that bill fine. Health insurance is key too as none of us are getting any younger. As the monument at the Korean Memorial in DC says, "freedom isn't free". A hobo has his freedom for sure, but boy at what a price.

[SassyWindsor]

Eric Rudolph tried it, probably with help, he finally got caught looking for a meal. This is NOT a realistic undertaking.

[4eyedbuzzard]

A romantic idea, but I think it would "get old" pretty quickly. I definitely want to pare down now that my kids are grown, simplify things, etc. But a small cabin with a wood stove, a comfortable bed, and a place to hang my coat when it's cold, wet, and windy sounds a lot better than living outdoors every single day.

[Gray Blazer]

Come to think of it, I knew another guy when I was thru-hiking ... he got a small disability check in recognition of some type of mental illness ... it did not go far in town, but he could live like thru-hiking royalty. He was six or seven years along on a cycle that mostly involved yo-yoing the AT during the milder months and staying in shelters and squalid SRO hotels in east coast cities in the worst of the winter.

I'm not sure he'd have called himself successful, and from my POV he looked awfully lonely, but he seemed to get by without begging or stealing.

I met a guy like that. He was a Nam vet. He would help out at hostels. He never asked for anything and if you gave him something he was extremely grateful. He seemed to me to be successful. Nice guy. I gave him some smokes and he actually gave me cash so I could make it back to FL. Go figure.

[Wise Old Owl]

Eric Rudolph tried it, probably with help, he finally got caught looking for a meal. This is NOT a realistic undertaking.

Beat me with a stick It was the first thing and I went looking for the best photo, He is by clear the best at Hide & Seek and backcountry Hobo.

eric-robert-rudolph-mugshot.jpg

[Wise Old Owl]

A romantic idea, but I think it would "get old" pretty quickly. I definitely want to pare down now that my kids are grown, simplify things, etc. But a small cabin with a wood stove, a comfortable bed, and a place to hang my coat when it's cold, wet, and windy sounds a lot better than living outdoors every single day.

Here in PA deep within the central part, there are still log cabins with NO running water, handed down by generations where family members keep them on govt land and keep them up - screwed by Eminent domain laws they rarely come up for sale even thou there are some 300-400 of these cabins last year 9 were for takeover.

[WingedMonkey]

Eric Rudolph tried it, probably with help, he finally got caught looking for a meal. This is NOT a realistic undertaking.

There is a difference in living in the woods when you are a wanted man and when you are free to roam and go in public. I was staying in the various North Carolina Forest for a lot of 1998 when they were looking for him.
I'm not surprised they never found him until he was in town, the searchers where as far from quite as a person could be in the woods. You could here them coming for what seemed like miles.
There are a lot of "homeless" folks camping in National Forest. (No I don't mean Rainbow People) but most of them don't hike or stay moving.

[Wise Old Owl]

WM - there are post were elaboration is required please tell more about homeless folk that you ran into.

[yappy]

Alaska still has plenty of land to get lost in..endless...folks try it all the time..very very few of them make it but if u want a true wilderness where u can live off the land and deal w winters beyond compare ....the cool thing is that no1 cares what u do

[XCskiNYC]

Check out some of the videos on youtube of people who get a motorhome or a pickup camper and drive up to Alaska. It looks like fun. These vehicles aren't that expensive compared to paying rent or a mortgage.

This woman shows how she did it and some of her travel and she also has a couple of interesting interviews with a woman who did the work herself of converting a van into a camper for very little money --

http://www.youtube.com/user/JenniferBlogAccount

[yappy]

I'm gonna tell u guys a secret but don't tell any1 k ...this is a fantastic place to live w lots of opportunity and the kind of natural beauty that can bring u to ur knees and delight ur senses