17 and homeless for about 2 months now... any tips?

[Nathen Reyna]

Uhm hey lol Im open to suggestions cause winters around the corner. Im in michigan so that kinda means Im fucked if I dont figure something out. I can carry my own weight pretty damn good but I have no idea on how to get started Ive gotten this far and idc what I have to do to survive. Any tips or ideas?

 

[CdCase123]

i was on the streets at that age as well. i spent the winter on the west and gulf coasts mostly. my advice; dress smart, you'll get hassled less and last longer. i spent lots of my times on campuses pretending i was a student, sneaking into gyms, and cafeterias. spent lots of my times in libraries. occupied my time also with travelling and short term destinations/goals. dont fall into the drug scene. ive seen to many desperate kids who had nowhere/one to turn to and just fell into apathy. i dont know if you're a run away, but play it cool with cops and pretend you're overaged, you can get away with it. stay safe, stay low, stay clandestine. good luck

 

[Nathen Reyna]

im legally an adult in this state and 18 next month so the cops arent shit here just a bunch of dumb hicks ive been out witting them for awhile

 

[Cardboard]

Head south, or find a house for the winter. Being on the streets in MI is pretty much out of the question.

 

[dharma bum]

search this site and look through every forum you come across. you'll learn everything you need to know. but definitely head south! i'm in GA right now and the weather is awesome. i'm heading to dallas in a couple of weeks for a little while though... but good luck, man. that search bar does work wonders.

 

[Fungus]

Thankfully I couldn't afford the cocaine and shit I do now when I first started off (at seventeen), but I just found a shack out in the woods and squatted there. It was soooooo cold that year (even though it was southern TN), but it's better than being on rough city streets at that age. But if your staying urban alone than make friends, look up shelters and missions, find free services and above all IMPROVISE.

 

[Cardboard]

AVOID MISSIONS AND SHELTERS! Honestly, I have never even met a homebum that wanted more than blanket form these places. They are good people with good intentions, but in my experience, they are THE number 1 place to get lice, scabies, or robbed. You are young, use couchsurfing.org, make friends at universities (like CdCase said), find punkhouses... You need not turn to the shelters that are there for the hopeless.
Sorry Fungus, but I have never had a good experience with a shelter or mission. Not bad to stop by for a feeding, or if the give out clothes or blankets, but sleeping there is bad news.

 

[Cardboard]

Also, there is a ton of good info on this site, but nothing (save experience) will teach you "everything you need to know". I imagine you didnt mean this literally dharma bum, but we gotta take care with the info we give to people who are new to the streets...

 

[dharma bum]

you're absolutely right. i did not mean that he/she should take my advice literally, but they can learn a lot than from just asking people. i would listen to cardboard's suggestion to not stay at shelters and missions. unless you sleep on top of all of your shit, it will most likely get stolen. if you can't find a good squat, "urban camping" is very easy. find the downtown area of where you are going (there's more money to be made there if it's a good town). you can also find a lot of easy places to sleep there, too. if you can reach fire escapes, try and sleep on top of buildings. if you can't, try and find some good bushes to sleep behind or just some blind spots where people can't see you... behind dumpsters, convenient stores (make sure there are no home bums there first), or boarded up houses. with those, you can usually find a way inside and if it looks like no one's been there, make your bed! be careful with fires inside of squats... the carbon monoxide can kill you in your sleep (or even if you're awake). if you need things, look to find them in dumpsters behind the store where you'd buy them in... ei. if you need some patches, go behind a fabric store or a shoe/cobble store. they usually have good, strong fabric or leather that you can use. same goes with anything else you need. 90% of surviving is mental, so if you can adapt easily, then you won't have a problem. if you get worried or scared, just think of all the people who have done it before you, with NO help from anyone else or some fucking website. good luck to you and i hope you find what you're looking for (if you're trying to escape something, traveling will not solve that. you are carrying all of your problems with you in your mind, and they/it will be with you wherever you go).

 

[Auto]

Definitely head south, one of nights up there outdoors could be enough to freeze you to death, bums end up frozen to death a lot more then you hear about. Not sure if you plan on being homeless for a while or you are wanting to get a job and place to live, or travel around or what, but try to find a way south quickly. Good luck.

 

[Nelco]

it's going to be a cold winter..you can tell by the way the air the air is crisping before halloween
i think it's going to be freezing in the south also
words of advice
stay away from home bum camps-they're usualy nut fuckin bat shit crazy-violent-chomo's
don't sleep by water in the winter, it'll make it colder for you
heated water bottles or those heater pads they sell at hard ware stores, could be what keeps you from freezing-you can heat a water bottle at a gas station, in the micro wave-and sleep out back, hidden away, so when it looses it heat, you can go warm it back up
i wish i was still free to roam, i'd come get you and show you how to survive
hopefully someone will grab you up
you can ask the clerks at gas stations at shit change if they're throwing food out...usually it's hot and they'll give it up, unless they're dicks
if the clerks are nice....you could hang around and open the door for incoming customers and spange the customers on the way out
you don't want to hit them up before they go in though, more of a chance they'll rat you out
If you get up at sunrise and just sit out front of a gas station, close to the door, but not looking directly at ppl or bothering anyone, someone will probably throw you some money, withoutyou having to ask..always worked for me, just make sure your gear is sitting close by, so they can see it, or you look dirty, your young, so you shouldn't have to try to hard
cuddling with a dog in a sleeping bag, will keep you warm too....just make sure you can take care of it

 

[Dishka8643]

Invest in some polypro thermals and wool inner layers. No cotton next to your skin.

 

[katbastard]

slab city

 

[bryanpaul]

dress smart, you'll get hassled less and last longer.

 

[Fungus]

Nothings a better investment than some winter proof full-bodied work suits/coveralls or overalls. They're comfortable to sleep in, protect you from broken glass (sometimes), getting curbstomped (sometimes), and thorns and snakebites if your traveling via woods (sometimes/never), provide much insulation and they usually have "handy pockets" for easily accessible handjobs from mysterious whores without undressing. Dickies, Walls, Carhartts, etc. Expensive new, but can probably be found cheap used in thrift stores/army stores.

 

[Fungus]

And don't bring a damn dog yet. Talk about an unnecessary weight for a culture statement. At least in the beginning.

 

[Sauv89]

I'm going to Chicago November 5 -15 then to SC from whenever I get there till I leave. I've got places to stay & you're welcomed to come. I'll end up in Mexico City or Baja California for the winter. I do speak fluent Spanish

 

[Nathen Reyna]

And don't bring a damn dog yet. Talk about an unnecessary weight for a culture statement. At least in the beginning.

me and my dog stick together all i got

 

[Earth]

Yeah, well you better not fucking cause that dog any undue suffering by making it your choice to be out in the cold.
We were out last night for only 10 minutes, and me dogo was shaking.
***But that's on me, because I did not have her winter gear out****
It's out now............

Dog comes before everything.
Including trying to be cool.
Remember that............................

 

[bryanpaul]

find yerself a nice sweater at a thrift store that will fit on your pup....not too loose..... the excess that will hang down below your dogs belly you can trim and sew up so it fits more snugly....