# Killing time on the road



## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

When waiting for a train, or a ride, or just on rainy days or whenever, time can be long on the road. 
What do you guys do to keep yourself busy and kill time?


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## landpirate (Sep 28, 2015)

sewing - mending clothes and reading are my go to for when I have time to kill.


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## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

landpirate said:


> sewing - mending clothes and reading are my go to for when I have time to kill.



I've heard about book exchange stations... are they common?


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## Kim Chee (Sep 28, 2015)

When travelling, the day is far longer than when housed up. I "killed time" by doing those everyday things we normally do. I was careful to pace myself to not free up too much time. Any extra time (aside from resting) was spent cleaning my body, meditating and enjoying nothing more than the wait. I would sometimes contemplate the near past and the near future, but wouldn't spend much time there. 

I could stare at an ant for several minutes...something I wouldn't consider when housed up.

Oooh...look at that bird.

Feel the breeze on your cheek.

Watch the tall grass wave to and fro...but not so long that it turns brown and snow begins to fall.

This is a good time to develop patience.


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## psychofoamer (Sep 28, 2015)

Reading, drawing, sewing, marking cars, rolling dice, napping, dicking around on stp, eating, fucking, picking up trash


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## landpirate (Sep 28, 2015)

Carl Wander said:


> I've heard about book exchange stations... are they common?



oh I don't know, I've not heard of books exchange stations. I usually get my books from friends or charity shops (thrift stores) and then pass them along to friends or back to charity shops when I'm done. i'm a pretty slow reader so I don't really need to carry a library around with me  Oh I do sometimes get free books from the library that you can keep because they are taking out of circulation because they're old tatty copies.


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## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

7xMichael said:


> When travelling, the day is far longer than when housed up. I "killed time" by doing those everyday things we normally do. I was careful to pace myself to not free up too much time. Any extra time (aside from resting) was spent cleaning my body, meditating and enjoying nothing more than the wait. I would sometimes contemplate the near past and the near future, but wouldn't spend much time there.
> 
> I could stare at an ant for several minutes...something I wouldn't consider when housed up.
> 
> ...



Oh man, staying alone with my own mind is a terrible thing to inflict myself

Whick is why I wanna know the best ways to kill time. I might get myself an harmonica before leaving


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## Odin (Sep 28, 2015)

7xMichael said:


> I could stare at an ant for several minutes...something I wouldn't consider when housed up.
> 
> Oooh...look at that bird.
> 
> ...



Very Zen stuff... I like it.

A favorite pastime of mine on nice days is laying in grass and cloud watching.
As a matter of fact... this might make you look a bit sketch but if you bring a pair of binoculars or a telescoping telescope you can watch the skies and animals and all of the out doors.


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## pigpen (Sep 28, 2015)

drink beer, roll smokes for the train, shoot dice, make food, find a book everyone finds interesting and read aloud passing the book every couple pages or so, play Gameboy, look at porn, make music or carry a small speaker or handheld radio at the least for tunes, masturbate, have sex, fix clothes/gear, tell stories, give tattoos, feed your dog, call your mom, change your socks, masturbate.....and that's about all there is to the shrimpin business.....


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## Kim Chee (Sep 28, 2015)

Carl Wander said:


> Oh man, staying alone with my own mind is a terrible thing to inflict myself



Nothing terrible, just another place to explore.

Alone time is not for everybody.

The prison system figured this out long ago and keeps some people solitary to fix them when locked up.


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## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

7xMichael said:


> Nothing terrible, just another place to explore.
> 
> Alone time is not for everybody.
> 
> The prison system figured this out long ago and keeps some people solitary to fix them when locked up.



Oh, i'm a big fan of alone time. Being around people too long just drains me out. But I need to keep myself distracted at all time or I start overthinking and it just swirls up to a paranoia and depression delirium


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## Kim Chee (Sep 28, 2015)

Carl Wander said:


> Oh, i'm a big fan of alone time. Being around people too long just drains me out. But I need to keep myself distracted at all time or I start overthinking and it just swirls up to a paranoia and depression delirium



I just remember that much of the time I spent on the road was alone. Being around too many people or too much conversation wears me out as well.

Have you ever played sodoku?

I haven't, but a person can get plenty of distraction right there, on the cheap.


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## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

I do play sudoku once in a while on my phone but I get bored after 1 or 2


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## kecleon (Sep 28, 2015)

Carl Wander said:


> Oh, i'm a big fan of alone time. Being around people too long just drains me out. But I need to keep myself distracted at all time or I start overthinking and it just swirls up to a paranoia and depression delirium



Ha I'm like that if I start thinking I like drawing even though I'm terrible at it, reading and fixing stuff really neat. If you be a real perfectionist about sewing it can take ages.


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## Odin (Sep 28, 2015)

You know I haven't played it in a while but Mahjong is a real fun game.







I suck with smartphone tech atm... but there should be a version out there you could look into.


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## dirty andy (Sep 28, 2015)

Roll cigarettes. Even if you don't smoke, you can trade them for a ton of shit, and it is art to roll a perfect...delectable stogue. Nom.

Reading is great, but I like writing even better. Even a daily journal sucks up time and some might call it therapeutic. 

Check 'em trash cans!! There's gold in them thar bins! Just watch out for dirty rigs razors and other sharps.

If you're in an urban/suburban area take a nice walk with a trash bag and collect and squash aluminum cans. Scrap prices are down in my area but food grade aluminum is still fifty cents a pound. Make sure you know the hours of the scrap yard you're taking them to! Same goes for insulated copper wire. Free beer for recycling !

If in a rural environment and hunkered down, try to build the nicest shelter you can! Not only can you use it but who knows how long it might be around for someone else to use too! Also it might be there when ya come back and you get to hone your skills. I wonder how many lean-To's I've left under overpasses or in the woods in my life so far...

Do whatever you want. Yer free!


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## WanderLost Radical (Sep 28, 2015)

dirty andy said:


> Roll cigarettes. Even if you don't smoke, you can trade them for a ton of shit, and it is art to roll a perfect...delectable stogue. Nom.
> 
> Reading is great, but I like writing even better. Even a daily journal sucks up time and some might call it therapeutic.
> 
> ...



Love the idea!!! :O Clean the earth, get drunk!!


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## iamwhatiam (Sep 28, 2015)

I always have a guitar with me, so I mostly drink beer and play music. maybe wittle a pipe out of a piece of wood. build shit in the woods like lean-tos. or when all else fails, like others have mentioned - spending some quality time with my cock and balls


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## Preacher (Sep 28, 2015)

With how little internet access I usually have on the road, I'd have lost my mind if I hadn't torrented a butt-load of novels for my kindle before I took off.


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## landpirate (Sep 28, 2015)

I totally forgot about my new favourite pastime, its probably really lame sounding to most but I have got really into colouring in books. You can get them for adults and I got me some sharpies and I can waste hours on it. I find it really calming and some of the books have amazing pictures in them. 

I find I have to have things to do that don't use electricity as I am living on solar power in my van and my battery is on its last legs so I can't waste a load on entertainment purposes at the moment.


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## kecleon (Sep 29, 2015)

iamwhatiam said:


> maybe wittle a pipe out of a piece of wood



Howd you do that? I want to try it but have no idea how you'd hollow the mouthpiece tube to breath through, the bowl I could do with s knife pretty easy I guess.


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## milkhauler (Sep 29, 2015)

Im a gadget geek and ebook reader. I also like tinkering with various mechanical mechanisms. I used to be a locksmith in PHX, so I still practice picking various pad locks I have around. Music is also on my go to list to kill time. I have a few train video's made by foamers. I have this one HD vid that is nearly 3 hrs of freights rolling by. Its kinda relaxing listening to those crossing bells and clickity clack. I've prolly played it 30 times in the last 3 months.


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## Dmac (Sep 30, 2015)

find some cordage and make a sling, like in "David and Goliath". You would be surprised how far and fast you can fling railroad ballast.


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## Deleted member 2626 (Sep 30, 2015)

Yeahhh slingshot. Guitar. Reading, writing. Grooming or fiddling with my dog. Sewing gear or clothes of making my leather craft stuff. Whittling sometimes. Drinking. Smoking pot at times. Other things at times.


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## Deleted member 363 (Oct 20, 2015)

Books....lots of books.


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## wombatt (Oct 25, 2015)

Read books. Throw rocks at stuff. Play with your dog. Sew clothes and gear. Practice embroidery to make kick ass patches.


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## Hillbilly Castro (Nov 7, 2015)

I talk to myself a lot. It's really good for ya to verbalize all your deepest thoughts and ideas as if you were explaining them to the grasshoppers next to the highway. After a while of doing that, I'll start singing. Then whistling. If hitchhiking, I can't tell ya how many times I've been belting Iron Maiden as theatrically as possible and have gotten picked up much faster - or did the time just go by easier? 

Another good thing to do is to chat up random folks everywhere you go. Risk free socializing - eats away whatever anxieties you had about other people back in days housed up..


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## etpyh (Nov 7, 2015)

Throwing rocks at random targets.


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## RovingGale (Nov 11, 2015)

I have a journal that I've been carefully transcribing song lyrics into slowly but surely - it's useful for helping me memorize lyrics and it's a cool little thing that fits in a pocket. I also do some sewing, if I've got something that I want to ornament or that needs repairing, and I want to get a small but good embroidery frame so I can work on making new patches and stuff.


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## VeganAnarquist (Nov 27, 2015)

7xMichael said:


> I just remember that much of the time I spent on the road was alone. Being around too many people or too much conversation wears me out as well.
> 
> Have you ever played sodoku?
> 
> I haven't, but a person can get plenty of distraction right there, on the cheap.



Sudoku is awesome


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## Anagor (Nov 28, 2015)

Hmmm, learning to play guitar (if I have one), learning song lyrics, repairing stuff, reading ...


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## buffalobill (Nov 28, 2015)

Don't forget thrrowing rocks it's awesome u can get really good at it too 
I've been slinging for 6 years now


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## Dmac (Nov 28, 2015)

@buffalobill nice sling, I have made several. After a while, it becomes a hunt for the best sling stones. rr balast rocks fly funny, but hit hard. Great pastime, and have never been hassled for having it with me.


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## Deleted member 14481 (Nov 29, 2015)

*::singing:ANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING!::joyful:::layful::*
Read comic book. Play video games.​


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## Coywolf (Dec 14, 2015)

I usually just smoke a shit-ton of crack. That always gives you SOMETHING to do......more like, everything to do...


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