Nomadic Wolf
The best advice I have ever received regarding traveling, back when I was starting out:
Most of traveling is lonely, a lot of people stumble into the life and only after some time find companions who do the same thing by chance encounter. I really think you'll miss out on the excitement you so desire waiting for something to come along, like a road dog.
I'm the best road dog I ever had, I've met and traveled with some great people sure, exchanged tons of knowledge sure, picked up new tricks sure. But nothing beats the times where it was just me and I had to figure out what to do next. It's sad to see over the years how many people come to this site looking for something and never leave home to find it. I'm being 100% straight up with you, you're not going to like/want to travel with most of the people you meet, especially on the rails. The ideas you have of who some of us are, of some kind of companionship, somebrotherhood, are flat out wrong. It's ok though, it's a common beginner thought process, after all it's such a narrow interest, hopping that is, one could easily think anyone who does it must share a bond. It just isn't the case.
You're cheating yourself by not going to try it. It's a crock of shit what some other people on here share that you should find someone to show you your first train. That someone should be you. Roll around, do some serious bum shit, and maybe one day you'll roll into a yard bleary eyed and road hardened and stumble right into someone who wants to tag along with you. But don't be to trusting of people you meet, there are a lot of nuts/outlaws out there who ride trains, and again back to my earlier point, it's easy to be tricked into stuff when you're looking for company and trick you they will.
I've met a few people from this site, most of them were super chill. Many a traveler on the road and rails despise this site and are no longer or never were members and find the "road dogs, meet up" shit insulting to their "lifestyle". In a way I can see there point, it adds a tour guide aspect to something highly illegal and highly dangerous. This site literally used to be the only place on the internet dedicated to discussing riding freight trains besides the exception of some email usenet type things. That was 10 years ago though, the site changed a lot. Of the people I agreed to meet none of us would have ever agreed to travelling with the other via a cold call message. There is always got to be some feeling out first. To be brutally honest I would be very uncomfortable bringing someone I didn't already have a deep personal relationship with, onto a freight train, for the first time. Way too sketchy. Which is why I really think you should do some adventuring and learning on your own so you have something to bring to the table.
Most of traveling is lonely, a lot of people stumble into the life and only after some time find companions who do the same thing by chance encounter. I really think you'll miss out on the excitement you so desire waiting for something to come along, like a road dog.
I'm the best road dog I ever had, I've met and traveled with some great people sure, exchanged tons of knowledge sure, picked up new tricks sure. But nothing beats the times where it was just me and I had to figure out what to do next. It's sad to see over the years how many people come to this site looking for something and never leave home to find it. I'm being 100% straight up with you, you're not going to like/want to travel with most of the people you meet, especially on the rails. The ideas you have of who some of us are, of some kind of companionship, somebrotherhood, are flat out wrong. It's ok though, it's a common beginner thought process, after all it's such a narrow interest, hopping that is, one could easily think anyone who does it must share a bond. It just isn't the case.
You're cheating yourself by not going to try it. It's a crock of shit what some other people on here share that you should find someone to show you your first train. That someone should be you. Roll around, do some serious bum shit, and maybe one day you'll roll into a yard bleary eyed and road hardened and stumble right into someone who wants to tag along with you. But don't be to trusting of people you meet, there are a lot of nuts/outlaws out there who ride trains, and again back to my earlier point, it's easy to be tricked into stuff when you're looking for company and trick you they will.
I've met a few people from this site, most of them were super chill. Many a traveler on the road and rails despise this site and are no longer or never were members and find the "road dogs, meet up" shit insulting to their "lifestyle". In a way I can see there point, it adds a tour guide aspect to something highly illegal and highly dangerous. This site literally used to be the only place on the internet dedicated to discussing riding freight trains besides the exception of some email usenet type things. That was 10 years ago though, the site changed a lot. Of the people I agreed to meet none of us would have ever agreed to travelling with the other via a cold call message. There is always got to be some feeling out first. To be brutally honest I would be very uncomfortable bringing someone I didn't already have a deep personal relationship with, onto a freight train, for the first time. Way too sketchy. Which is why I really think you should do some adventuring and learning on your own so you have something to bring to the table.
- Location
- Fort Lauderdale, Fl, USA
- Gender
- Male
- Favorite place
- Looking for it.
- Occupation
- Breathing outside
- Preferred method(s) of travel
- Hitchhiking, train hopping
- Are you traveling now?
- Yes
- Spoken Languages
- Spanish, English
- Gender Identity
- Male
- Sexual Orientation(s)
- Heterosexual
- Preferred pronoun
- He / Him
- Relationship status
- Single
- Children
- No
- Pets
- None that will be coming with me, but I am a dog guy.
- Drink
- Never
- Drugs
- Sometimes
- Skills
- Wilderness survival, I kind of play harmonica, and I can learn fast when I'm interested. If it's fun or practical, I'll be interested.
- Instruments played
- Harmonica, clarinet (haven't played in a while, but I was second chair in the band I played in.)
- Favorite curse word
- Go to hell.