aus solo femme coming 2 the US

[Minnie]

Need some advice on how to go about this..... generally i'm happy to learn as I go but the continent jump is stirring some unease.

first up some background..
I've been hitchhiking around Australia since I was 15 and have done a full loop of the coast and lots of runs through the centre using only my thumb. Australia is roughly the same size as america [when excluding alaska n hawaii] with a population of a tiny 23 million. thats a lot of room in the outback desert with no one for hundreds of kilometres around. basically i'm saying i'm positive i can handle myself when it comes to navigating and surviving. ive done a little train hopping [400km at max] and im mainly interested in that being the mode of transport over hitching. i dont know the ropes at all as i never met any other person jumping trains in aus
the first thing im worried about is my safety as a solo young woman. i'm good with a knife and very willing to defend myself with it but hand to hand combat is nothing in the face of a gun. are guns/gun violence common within tramp/crusty communities? what the fuck do i do about THAT shit, ive never touched a gun let alone had one pulled on me....
Where can I meet people to travel etc etc. is it possible to find someone willing to show me the ropes? where's the best place to start? any advice?
Cheers =]
P.S if youre gonna be discouraging please back it up with something more than 'ur a girl and ur too young'

 

[EphemeralStick]

First off, yes it is legal to own a gun in the USA but in my experience I have never seen a traveler with one. That being said, anyone who owns a gun responsibly wouldn't brandish it around for people to see, it's just not proper etiquette. You are more likely to have a gun pulled on you in a major city but even then, that likely is low. Unless you're in Chicago. Fucking Chicago...

The best place to meet people in my opinion would be right here, on StP. If you're looking for a more face-to-face instant moment meeting then it's going to vary depending on where you are. Out in the country it'll be more difficult to meet like minded people since there's not a lot going on out there socially speaking. Meeting people in cities is another story; almost every major city has a place where the dirty kids congregate. San Diego has Ocean Beach, Austin has the Flats, even Chicago has Wicker Park. With a little digging through the Destinations Sub-Forum you could probably get a good idea of where to go in what city.

What route will you be taking across the country? What are some sights that you're wanting to see? That'll help narrow down the information you're looking for. Welcome to SquatThePlanet!

 

[Koala]

Welcome!
Cool as to read your post and hear about hitching the desert as I'm planning to hit Adelaide > Alice > Darwin by hitching come the end of the month

I haven't done as many miles/km on the road in the states, but have never seen any traveler or hitching pick up pull a gun on anyone.

The US is pretty cool in that there are quite a few places to meet other travelers, there's quite a bit more of a sort of 'dirty kid traveling culture' in the States. (It's probably proportional to in oz but the states has 10x the population, so). I've met a heap of people in New Orleans and just while out on the road. StP has also been amazing for meeting folks but I've mostly only used it here in Oz.

I don't think you should be too worried about your safety, you've got loads of kms under your belt, you know your shit. The states will be a new land to wander for ya but I think you'll see it's not all that different to Aus!!

 

[VikingAdventurer]

When will you arrive in the US? If you'd like to meet a bunch of us fellow nomads in person, depending on timing, you could hit up the Dirty Scouts Jamboree near the end of October. It's being held in Slab City, California.

https://squattheplanet.com/threads/official-jamboree-information-for-2017.31057/

I would HIGHLY recommend attending if you can, because it's gonna be a fucking BLAST!

 

[Swamp womp]

I'm in the same boat. Im an australian About to embark on 5 months travels around Canada and the states. I've done a bit of train hopping in Australia and plenty of hitching around Europe and Australia but keen to explore the Americas by rail. Good luck and enjoy your travels. Maybe seeya on the rails somewhere.

 

[Minnie]

Welcome!
Cool as to read your post and hear about hitching the desert as I'm planning to hit Adelaide > Alice > Darwin by hitching come the end of the month

I haven't done as many miles/km on the road in the states, but have never seen any traveler or hitching pick up pull a gun on anyone.

The US is pretty cool in that there are quite a few places to meet other travelers, there's quite a bit more of a sort of 'dirty kid traveling culture' in the States. (It's probably proportional to in oz but the states has 10x the population, so). I've met a heap of people in New Orleans and just while out on the road. StP has also been amazing for meeting folks but I've mostly only used it here in Oz.

I don't think you should be too worried about your safety, you've got loads of kms under your belt, you know your shit. The states will be a new land to wander for ya but I think you'll see it's not all that different to Aus!!

cheers for that. yeah yeah sweet!!! have fun on the stuart highway, i love that stretch of road. usually takes me usually two or three nights to get from melbourne to alice via adelaide if im pushing it. im gonna be in alice for the intervention conference at the end of this month and then ill be heading about 300km towards darwin from alice in early july. i'm gonna be the one driving for the first time in my vagabond life so give us a yell if youre passing through around that time.
anyway good luck aye

 

[Matt Derrick]

you'll definitely almost never, ever see another train hopper with a gun in the usa. it's illegal for so many reasons that anyone caught with one on the rails would instantly go to jail, so you won't have to worry about that. if you have any other questions, just let us know. welcome to the states, you'll have a killer time, and come out to the jamboree if you can!

 

[RoadFlower33]

You are on the right forum as far as genuinely good people and intentions go.

 

[Minnie]

you'll definitely almost never, ever see another train hopper with a gun in the usa. it's illegal for so many reasons that anyone caught with one on the rails would instantly go to jail, so you won't have to worry about that. if you have any other questions, just let us know. welcome to the states, you'll have a killer time, and come out to the jamboree if you can!

yeah makes sense.. i guess they could try and pin you with wild charges for having a gun anywhere near government property while trespassing. i'm not gonna be flying over in time. but i'll be for sure checking out slab city at one point. thanks for calming of my fears. guns are almost mythical in Aus. some farmers have them but there are laws that they have to be in a huge special safes haha spooky stuff

 

[Chris Watson]

Legal warning: getting caught train hopping can land you on a terror watchlist. Being a foreign citizen, I can almost guarantee deportation. You're safer riding your thumb or hooking up with a hippie caravan.

 

[Chris Watson]

Hippie black holes – Travelers all want to go there, but then can't get out:

• New Orleans
• California's Mohave Desert
• Seattle
• Every bit of Florida

Others, feel free to expand this list.

 

[astortx]

Legal warning: getting caught train hopping can land you on a terror watchlist. Being a foreign citizen, I can almost guarantee deportation. You're safer riding your thumb or hooking up with a hippie caravan.

Not that guaranteed: check this out. Cops are more nicer to foreigners, I can imagine much more to girls w/Aussie accent.
https://squattheplanet.com/threads/crazy-russian-trainhops-in-the-us.30990/

 

[BadBoBo]

Your odds of seeing a gun while train hopping are almost zero... If you happen to be camping on someone's property in texas...Ehhhh you might find yourself looking down the barrel of a 12 gauge.

Do you have a smartphone? So many people do a rideshare on craigslist these days. Many of them do not even want money. They just want someone to talk to for the next 12-40 hours of highway. The fact that you are a Aussie and have experiences on a different content makes you all the more ideal for a travel partner.

Welcome to the forums