# road names??



## thomas mccoy (Dec 19, 2013)

so whats up with road names??
why do peeps have them??
hippies i get it.. but the other travelin squattin peeps..
is this like a for real thing??
is it sacred like one has to be bestowed upon you??
or can you just make your own??


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## Matt Derrick (Dec 19, 2013)

yeah, i think it's just an easier identifier for our community than 'that guy from dallas with the hair' and i think the traveler community tends to shy away from full names so it's a little be harder to be identified by the authorities.


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## thomas mccoy (Dec 19, 2013)

my first potential road name.. "that guy from dallas with the hair".. i like it..


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## wizehop (Dec 23, 2013)

Its also because a lot of people want to leave their old life behind them. Having a road name puts everyone on an equal keel. It gives you a chance to start fresh. It also keeps the sketchier elements from attaining any personal shit that's best left out.


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## Deleted member 20 (Dec 23, 2013)

I have had the luxury of different peeps & groups bestowing nicknames on me. Some: mayhem kos (pronounced chaos), knockout, dancing machine, irish, dropkick, highway, highwayman, boston, sully, kemos. I still feel wierd introducing myself as anything but my first name. I have never dreamed of giving myself a nickname. I fear of some inquisition type panel that determines if it justly applies or not.I guess a single bad/good attribute, experience etc could follow you forever regardless of what cool nickname you give yourself on the road. I actually had a situation at a-cola 2013 getting questioned by leo as to my rainbow name. I told them the first day they asked me that i didnt have 1. A few days later rolling out of my sleeping bag they greeted me with a good morning "Irish" & i realised i had been mind fucked. Sure there are other people that go by "Irish" some who were also at a-cola. What i didnt understand is that regardless if I introduced myself as kevin, everyone else had collectively but independantly all come up with the same nickname. The scally cap, collection of green dkm, pogues, flogging molly tshirts & huge Irish flag hung above my camp spoke louder than me uttering my first name. I couldnt hide who I am based on a nickname or even the absense of 1.


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## Tude (Dec 24, 2013)

I'm been known as Tude for years on different forums - my Mom even got involved when I had a few people visit me and the one guy got out of the car and ran up and hugged Mom calling her Mama Tude. Yeah, Mom gave me a weird look. And he called her that all weekend, LOL.


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## thomas mccoy (Dec 25, 2013)

love it i wish my parents were on board.. they just think gonna die or get robbed or worse..

what is a tude though??


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## Tude (Jan 1, 2014)

LOL ..... an attitude. Used to be known early on in other forums as "Has-A-Tude". I shortened it.


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## thomas mccoy (Jan 1, 2014)

bam haha sounds good man..


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## z3990 (Jan 19, 2014)

I would rather be a tomas macoy than a zeppo


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## Deleted member 20 (Jan 19, 2014)

z3990 said:


> I would rather be a tomas macoy than a zeppo


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zeppo

Can you define Zeppo? I looked it up on urban dictionary. I am guessing its #1, #2 wouldnt be bad, #3 is just wierd & funny.


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## eske silver (Jan 20, 2014)

I second what others have said above, but also, I know a few people who have "road names" because they kind of/ really/severely dislike their real or first name.
But yea, since a) we don't get to choose our birth names, and b) most often they don't really fit our personality and/or are common enough, being able to referring to specific persons with a unique name is way helpful.
You can chose your own, to an extent. Like, you can't choose something that implies you're super duper cool or badass, unless you're a wad... But yea, you can make something up and go by it.
I know travelers whose names are colors, animals, random objects, their favorite beer brand, etc, etc
Have fun with it!

I go by 'eske' since my first and middle initials are S.K. 
and 'karl' started as joke, but it's a play on my middle name, Korl, which I've gone by for most of my life.
In high school, my friends and people I sold weed to, used to call me 'Korl Reefer'.
I'm also in the process of changing my first and last names legally, so sometimes , while traveling, I introduce myself as my new first name.
I do it mostly as sort of a way of telling where or when I met someone. If I get a random text from someone saying, 
"Hey Kay! How've ya been?!", 
I know that more than likely it's someone I met while meandering around in Tennessee.


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## autumn (Jan 23, 2014)

The closest thing I have to a road name is 'zim', (as in Invader Zim) which is a nickname a few people still call me after a hippie followed me around all night telling me to admit that I'm an alien - a "Nordic Blue" or some shit. He adamantly believed that I was born on another planet.


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## Tude (Jan 26, 2014)

LOL Zim the Invader!!!


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## Arapala (Jan 31, 2014)

Wish i was cool enough for a nick name. Closest i get is stew because my real name is Stewart.


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## autumn (Feb 1, 2014)

Arapala said:


> Wish i was cool enough for a nick name. Closest i get is stew because my real name is Stewart.



Hmmm... trekking buddha... excellent and substantial DIY work... hello, hippie wizard.


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## Arapala (Feb 1, 2014)

Thanks man! im glad you enjoyed the site


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## MiztressWinter (Feb 1, 2014)

I definitely feel a lot of people prefer road names to government names on the road because its harder to be readily identified to authorities when people don't know your legal name. I have met some kids that gave themselves their road names and others earned their names in one way or another. Mine was given to me when I was 17 because I had snow white hair (miss goth) lol and a friend said I was just like the season winter...dead brutal and cold but brilliantly bright and sparkling white lol kinda silly but it stuck and I have gone by winter ever since on and off the road


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## kokomojoe (Feb 14, 2014)

Glad I came across this, I actually got my name from my grandpa. He used to call me Kokomo Joe all the time and his house was literally right by the train tracks. It was the closest I could ever get to the trains and just watch them creep on by. He passed away while I was in a mental/rehab hospital. Although I have yet to travel by rail, I use it as my moniker name on freights. The name means even more to me now since he's gone; it's like the spirit of both of us is traveling around the country and maybe catching the eye of some people. He had a big influence on why I love trains so much and hopefully the name rolls around the country long after I'm gone as well.


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## NocturnalJoe (Apr 6, 2014)

Nocturnal was a nickname givin to me beacouse I am alot more active during the night, then come sun up I wanna pass out. Been like that for years. Maybe its time for a new name though.


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## West (Apr 8, 2014)

I've seen your moniker in real life, if you're the famous kokomo joe! Cool stuff!
EDIT: actually I painted mine right next to yours in Clovis, NM yard?? I think. On a line of boxcars.


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## NocturnalJoe (Apr 9, 2014)

Not me.


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## West (Apr 9, 2014)

NocturnalJoe said:


> Not me.


Well you're cool as fuck anyway!


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## Kim Chee (Apr 9, 2014)

thomas mccoy said:


> my first potential road name.. "that guy from dallas with the hair".. i like it..



That is a great road name for a bald guy who has never been to Texas!


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## dprogram (Apr 21, 2014)

"Nook" was given to me when I was rambling drunk about not needing a home cause "I stay in nooks and crannies". I generally use that with people I'm not sure about when I'm out and about . Otherwise I use my given name. My friends used to call me "Mellow Matt" since there were 5 Matts in our group but I didn't realize that it was meant to be sarcastic til 10 or so years later. I sign my artwork "d:\program" which is just something I made up...DOS like command - deprogram your mind...


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