THE STORY BEGINS...
I suddenly realized that I was wasting my life, filling it with things that didn't matter. The next morning I threw some clothes into my pack and left. I never looked back...
| Aug
6, 2001 Los Angeles, CA |
SO THIS IS PORTLAND
I found myself in Portland, where I could crash on a stranger's couch and explore the town. This is where I met Dave Tedder, and together we decided to hop a train east to Chicago.
|
Aug 18, 2001 Portland, OR |
PORTLAND, CHICAGO, NOW KENTUCKY?
In five days we had made it halfway across the country just in time for the Permanent Autonomous Zones (PAZ) conference in Louisville, KY.
|
Aug 29, 2001 Louisville, KY |
SETH TOBOCMAN AND LEARNING TO CUDDLE
A week later we were back in Chicago. I ran into Seth Tobocman while taking Liz to the hospital. Liz and Jakie left for Philly that night and I waited for Tasha to pick me up on her way to Minneapolis.
| Sep
5, 2001 Chicago, IL |
BRAZEN THEFT AND THE FALL OF ROME
Six hours after leaving Chicago we got to Mankato, MN, home of Tasha's boyfriend, Tick. We spent the next few days dumpstering and robbing the corporations blind until we heard the horrible news...
|
Sep 11, 2001 Mankato, MN |
COLLEGE SCAMS AND CAFFINATED RANTS
We spent the next few days dumpstering, sleeping under bridges, sneaking into college dorm cafeterias, and hanging out at the Hard Times cafe. This is where I hammered out the first few pages of Squat The Planet.
|
Sep 15, 2001 Minneapolis, MN |
THE ULTIMATE DUMPSTER DIVE!
Tasha drove us back to her hometown, Lansing, Michigan. We made the rounds in the dumpster diving scene, and discovered one of our biggest finds yet...
|
Sep 18, 2001 East Lansing, MI |
DETROIT = HELL
Natasha dropped me off at the Trumbull theater in Detroit. My plan was to hop a few junk trains to Philadelphia, but instead I got stranded in downtown, sleeping in a junkyard in the cold and getting the worst flu ever.
|
Oct 1, 2001 Detroit, MI |
PHILADELPHIA, PUNK ROCK WONDERLAND?
I arrived in Philly to clear skies and a warm sun on my back. After seeing Jakie again and meeting a few people, I eventually moved into 1503 squat in west philly. But every mecca of activism has it's problems...
|
Oct 7, 2001 Philadelphia, PA |
BIKE MESSENGERING IN NYC...
I took a bike messenger job in lower Manhattan. What followed was mountains of cash, booze, drugs and the best new years party ever.
|
Jan 15, 2002 New York, NY |
NEAR DEATH AND LOST LOVE ON THE RAILS...
I hopped a train south to Baltimore, and after a few weeks I knew almost everyone in Towson. I even convinced quite a few to hop trains with me down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
|
Feb 10, 2002 Towson, MD |
ESCAPING THE BILLBOARDS...
A few of the kids went to Atlanta while Fode, Tick, Natasha, and myself stayed with AJ and Curtis for a few days until we left to hitchhike down to the regional Rainbow Gathering in Ocala, FL.
|
Feb 24, 2002 Ocala, FL |
FUCK THE BIBLE BELT
After two and a half months of waiting for court dates, I was finally free. I felt really lucky to meet so many great people while I was there, but god, Savannah is such a fucked up weird place...
|
May 1, 2002 Savannah, GA |
DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A HOBO
I was welcomed back to Towson with open arms. It felt so good to be back in the only place that had felt like home. It was at this point that I met the most signifigant love of my life...
|
May 15, 2002 Towson, MD |
CANADA OR BUST?
Things got a little slow in Towson, so a few friends and I made plans to join the protests at the G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta. The entire trip was a disaster and we never made it past Philly.
|
Jun 1, 2002 Towson, MD |
DUMPSTER DIVING AND THE DAY IT RAINED BEER
A lot of our hijinks were spawned from our passion for dumpster diving, which eventually led to something I never thought possible...
|
July 01, 2002 Towson, MD |
SQUATS, NATTY BO, AND TWO WEEKS OF CHAOS
The squatting scene in Towson was somewhat shortlived, but the parties were something made of legend. Fueled by National Bohemian... of course.
|
July 15, 2002 Towson, MD |
WESTBOUND!
We decided to hit up the west coast for a while. The going in Philly was pretty slow, and some of us gave up and went home. Darkstar and myself eventually prevailed and we were on our way to western Maryland.
|
Aug 01, 2002 Philadelphia, PA |
ON TO CHICAGO
We got stuck in Cumberland for a week, ran into a few kids from DC hopping west, and with them ran into some other hobos just as we were running down the hill towards the train that would be taking us to Chicago.
|
Aug 10, 2002 Cumberland, MD |
FROM THE HOT SWAMP TO THE COLD CITY
The Croatan Earth First Rondevous in North Carolina would be the last big blast for us that fall. We headed back to Baltimore as the winter slowly took over, and forced us into hibernation.
|
Oct 05, 2002 Elizabeth City, NC |