# is it easy to get back to a normal life?



## JahDucky (Sep 8, 2009)

Im not too sure if this is the right place for this post and I appologize if it isnt. but...

A friend of mine on this site is worried that she wont be able to get herself back into the working world after this.

I have a job after being in Alaska for two weeks and we are saving up to move into a new apartment with just the two of us and not us and our roomie. Im back to living a housed life and I think Im living it better now.

Im wanting to get this thread started to show her other people's words on how just becasue your traveling and squatting it doesnt mean your stuck doing that for the rest of your life.


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## dirty_rotten_squatter (Sep 8, 2009)

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What I do is I go off and do what I do, then settle down for a lil and work then go off again then settle back down for a lil bit. It is possible to get back working again, I think it's just a matter of if you really want to or not.


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## finn (Sep 8, 2009)

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Two words: false references. That's how I'm not squatting anymore!


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## IBRRHOBO (Sep 8, 2009)

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if your friend is naieve enough to trust folks telling her that it'll all be ok by reading a thread then so be it. i, for one, am not going to reinforce it.

let's be real clear: a LOT of shit can go down. and with all due respect treating stuff on here like a game is the EXACT mentality that most folks don't like to deal with.

first, you can die! yeah, DEAD. bad folks in the squat, fall through a floor, rat bites you with junta virus, what the fuck ever. you could contract TB, hepatitus and G-d knows what depending on whether you drink, drug or screw on your little 'adventure'.

second, you're trespassing. so, you could get a record. goes the same if you hop freights (see here statements on death except add neurotoxins, poisons and shifting freight due to fumigation and moving fucking steel).

third, you could be maimed. yup, reference one and two and then factor in walking to the squat and ur in the wrong neighborhood.

now, if you're out and about 'cause you have nowhere to go i dig it. that sounds like the case here. arrow and shoe knows the area up there and they might be able to lay some decent areas on ya'll. if it's a thrill seeking gig i don't. 

i really don't understand, though, how someone might want others to cosign a statement as broad and ambiguous as squatting is a safe vocation. it's not. and psychologically it MAY just alter one's take on life. then the question begs that if the person is changed into a squatting state of mind is it really that bad?


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## nobo (Sep 9, 2009)

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this thread conjures up some interesting ideas ive been rolling around in my head for the past couple of weeks. im actively trying to "settle down" for a minute....but its so tempting to be on the road. it feels like its physically draining to even think about not traveling. i need a traveling support group or something! its an addiction thats really hard to break im finding.


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## bote (Sep 9, 2009)

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In the United States, for the time being, there is work for those who want it. Travelling doesn't somehow make you inneligible for any jobs- if anything, you'll be more open to trying your hand at new things and genuinely excited at switching things up by the time you start working again. Or maybe not, but I always told myself that if I was gonna pump gas, I'd rather do it somewhere new where I was learning something than in the town I grew up in, and that has served me well I think.

case in point, I just roled into Buenos Aires a week ago and the first day I started doing worktrade at a hostel for a free place to stay. I was posting an ad for the hostel in english on Craigslist and looked through the job offers, and now I have an audition for a movie. If I wasn't travelling, I never would have even thought to try and be in a movie, but here I just figured fuck it, and you never know, it might work out... and if it doesn't something else will.


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## Matt Derrick (Sep 13, 2009)

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jahducky, if you want more responses to this post, please use a more descriptive title! i have changed it for you.


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## usuallyonthefloorsomewher (Sep 13, 2009)

valid question. valid responses. not everyone can just show back up at their parents/friends house. its vacation vs. way of life. different for everyone im sure.


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## oldmanLee (Sep 13, 2009)

Depends on the "tool kit" you pack.If you have spent the time out in the world learning and doing,dropping back into rest of the world will seem confining,but you may find it easier than most folks that do not venture out.Emotionally and physically,you took a risk and stepped off into a place that you were the source of your own salvation or damnation.What you do/did out in the world has shaped you,and it will always be a part of your reactions.It may be that you might find it harder to step back out than step in,but that's the risk.


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## Gypsybones (Sep 14, 2009)

yeah as for myself I don't have any fam so I dont have a home base where I can come and go as I please. you can only use favors from friends for a little wile and sometimes no one can help.

now I'm with nobo,


> it feels like its physically draining to even think about not traveling.


 I don't feel right not being on the road but I'm also lonely and finding a date on the road isn't really one of the things that happens very often.
so really its what you want more and there is nothing worse in my option than being in a city where you are well know and feeling lonelier than you do with no one around.

as for work it can be found last time I hitt nola I got a job cooking on the third day I was there. see I don't beg so I have to work to eat and I do have a skill (cooking) that helps me out. there are always dish dogs positions needing filled, I know it sucks but hey you get to eat for free in most restaurants. 

the road can be very had and unforgiving at times but wonderful at others.
I feel a call to just run, to just give up everything and be a fucking gypsy, my grandmother used to call it having itchy feet. 

so getting back on your feet is not that had of a thing to do its just an laborious task. 
its the mental work thats hard on me./ a bird in a cage sort of thing


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## Mouse (Sep 14, 2009)

just don't tattoo your face or get killed and you should be ok lol


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## Winter (Sep 14, 2009)

I've been stayin in GA with a friend for about a year now...but it is not, nor will it ever be MY home. I also do not have family I can run to whenever I please. I'm currently saving for a car to rubber tramp it around awhile. Why....am I not settling down and permanently working? Cuz I'm just not done yet. Cuz there's more out there that I want to see. Cuz there's places I haven't made it that I wanna go. Cuz I'm only going to live once and I want to experience as much as I can before I die. Yes it's dangerous out there. Yeah...alot of nasty shit can happen to you. But....it's my life. Everyone has to choose for themselves. Be smart, use your head and try to learn from every situation life throws at you. This is the first time in a LONG time that I've had any kind of stability and I admit I'm also itching to leave. Hell I've been doin this since I was 15 and I'm 32 now so I guess it's all I love and know in a sense. Sure I will settle down one day. When? Who knows. Not yet. If I had had other options when I was in my 20's...family...school...maybe I would have turned out different..but I didn't. But you know what? I don't think I turned out so bad.


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## wartomods (Sep 14, 2009)

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ArrowInOre said:


> I can tell you , err your friend, that the first weeks of acclimation to in-the-box can be a bit disconcerting for some. Depending on how long they were 'out there'. Ducky, we've met face to face, talked a bit, and I have spent PUHLENTY of time 'out there', but as you , and most of StP knows, I am a indoors living momma now, and I whole heatedly miss my past life... But after the first 5 years...it was as if my previous life were an excerpt from some kaotic version of a Kerouac book. How it works out is based strictly on how much effort you truly invest in 'living on the grid' again. I would love nothing more than to roll up and head out every time I hear the train...But I have also made my choice to be a mom and live indoors.... The bad news, I am no longer nomadic like I was. The good news, never hungry and never cold...It is what it is...



you can always pick a rv in the future, i see tons of retired people riding rvs around europe.


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## dirtyfacedan (Sep 14, 2009)

I tend to do both. I travel, bum around for a couple years, then go legit for a while. Then I hit the road again. It works well for me.


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## Gypsybones (Sep 14, 2009)

so not with you on that one Winter about the whole you only live once crap.
shit I'm already on my third and Im just sick of working my life away. 
I was rich to start out with then I became a full time solder and now I'm a bum... funny how that turned out.


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## finn (Sep 15, 2009)

I guess it's sort of like doing acid. It might scare you into going straight, it could do the opposite, it might kill you or something bad, but it will almost always change your perceptions of living. I have the feeling that your friend is probably too risk-averse to enjoy that lifestyle.


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## drun_ken (Sep 15, 2009)

all i can think ta say is....my life is and always has been normal....and then what i guess i wake uo cuz i was dreamin....what the hell ya talkin about yo.....take 2.5 times what ever ya took fer realittly ta melt away......and call someone who cares....sreriously aree ya fukin kiddin me?.........................
/........................
..........................
......................i will not type it....
much less say it......
really seriously?


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## veggieguy12 (Sep 15, 2009)

JahDucky said:


> ...just becasue your traveling and squatting it doesnt mean your stuck doing that for the rest of your life.



I see you made it quite a way since I recognized you in Arcata...

Well, I don't think anyone's stuck doing anything for the rest of their lives. Except perhaps imprisonment, but even then, you can decide what is "the rest of your life". Nah'mean?


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## Angela (Sep 15, 2009)

I think this really depends on the person in question alot. I've never had any trouble finding at least seasonal jobs and living in non-squat housing from time to time when I want to although never really what you'd call a mainstream lifestyle. Honestly I don't find 'normal' by societies standards normal for me and I think traveling and squatting have made it harder to live a traditional lifestyle but only because I don't want to. Some folks however have alot more trouble going back and forth, especially if they've gotten into drugs/heavy alcohol use, etc. If your friend wants to ensure her future employment/housing prospects tell her to stay away from the hard drugs, alcoholism, major tattooing/piercing and don't burn bridges with folks that would let her surf their sofa while job hunting.


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## Mouse (Sep 16, 2009)

yeah, I got my neck tattooed when I ws 19, I love that tat but it is a deal breaker in most jobs.

but a traditional lifestyle is not for me, so I'm ok with it. when need be, mcdonalds will alsways hire me and I know I can climb up to managment because i've been asked to in the past and they don't care about tattoos. hopefully, I wont ever have to do that, but it's still a job. otherwise, I'm getting edumacated so I can work for myself 

or sell drugs. 

whatever floats ya checking account!


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## logan714 (Sep 19, 2009)

Well the long and the short of it is, 

I'm 45 now, started off fairly well off. Ended up on the streets with nothing at 14. Rode trains, traveled, lived outdoors. Followed the Grateful Dead for a while. Made a shit load of money, bought a house for cash. Walked away from it 3 years later with just my pack on. Spent a few more years on the road. Made some more good money. Lived in NYC. Went back to San Francisco and became a street junkie for a while. Went to prison. Went to Tucson, got drug back to CA off and on for 10 years. Finally got clear of them. 

Met my wife in Tucson 8 years ago. When we first got together we were sleeping in a ditch. Now we have a nice house. Flat panel TV. Stereo, couple of laptops. Two kids, a dog and a cat. A king size bed. And my wife's enrolled in Classes studying Linguistic Anthropology.

You can do anything you want, but I will say this. From the life style I've led I'm suffering from lots of health issues now. But then again, do I have more health issues than somebody who worked in a steel mill all their life? I don't know. I did get a trade in my early 20's so when I wanted to make legal money I could. But when I was released from Prison I wouldn't enter a building for 6 months. My friends would have to go get me coffee in the AM at Circle K.

Never was that much into alcohol. I shot smack. 

Still enjoy getting out on the road every now and then, but to be honest, the way I like to do it now is in a converted diesel coach. That's what we're chasing now. 

So what can I say? If you want to fit in you can. If you don't you won't. Whatever. Whatever it is you're chasing you have to REALLY WANT IT to make it happen. 

I will say this about getting back into "indoors". We did a lot of research to get to where we are, and it's pretty fucking comfortable. If something breaks we just pick up the phone and someone comes and fixes it. They even mow the front yard, I just have to do the back. And I don't have to lock up my kids bikes. There's a 250,000 dollar playground for them right around the corner, and the beer store is a 2 minute drive. And New Mexico has Medical Marijuana, So life is good.

Take that as whatever

Logan


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## Mikael Runefoot (May 13, 2015)

It depends on your situation. everyones situation is different. not everyone has a job to fall back on.... some do. some people have no place to stay no address means no I.D card. No I.D card means no job. etc etc. someone might not help you while another traveler on this sight has a friend to help em. someone may not have an email or interent access to fill out that shitty online application. its all different for eryone.


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## intoxnito (May 20, 2015)

i flip in & out,i can tolerate a normal life 4 bout 1&half to 2yrs b4 the motony,wanderlust or cabin fever sets in&i start feeling trapped,angry,then depressed&b4 i just say screw u guys,im going home&i know my real home doesnt have 4 walls.even during the moments i am lying to myself&content paying rent&goin to work,bla,blah.in my heart i know im wild animal in a cage.


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