bored and adventurous.

[yyyoshiii]

Hey guys. im pretty stoked that this site is pretty active, vs other hookup sites...
im also stoked that i already found someone who lives in my city. crazy.

anyway. I'm Kelly. I'm not in college. I have the four-ish months until college to do watever the fuck i wanna do.

I have only traveled along the east coast, and that was with parents and family.
freight hopping sounds awesome. tho way above my experience level.

So yea i live in Gainesville, fl.
I would love to go to Cali to see a friend, but it seems like a long way. So maybe i could meet up w somone and just travel locally...



oh, btw, thats not a tattoo.

 

[Ravie]

welcome. well, if you want to go to cali and back your going to need more than a couple months. well, some people can travel fast as hell, but i wouldnt count on it allways being a smooth ride. i allways hate deadlines. hate to sound like a bad infulence, but why not make college wait if you want to explore freight and traveling?

 

[veggieguy12]

Yeah, you could hitchhike up to Atlanta and then go to the AirTran or JetBlue (whichever is there) booths and ask for a standby ticket. That's only available for people 19-22 or 24, so take the opportunity while available. Go see your friend in CA, and hitchhike there with him/her, the atmosphere is more accommodating to hitching. And more StP people are out there.

 

[yyyoshiii]

I hate my life.

First of all, pls dont ban me cuz im posting twice *cowers*


Seriously. I really do.
i want to do all of the things that i spent my time daydreaming about in high school classrooms. I don't want to wish anymore, i want to do.
I feel like i can't move on unless I do these things.

All i need is someone experienced who lives around here [being north florida] that i can tag along with. PLEASE. Oh God, please. I'm so desperate to get out of here.

I can go ANYwhere. ANYwhere you wanna go. I'm a newbie, yes, but i learn quickly and i can be a good buddy/friend. I swear i won't be annoying.

I WANT. to HOP. TRAINS.

*breathes*

ok.

Do you hear that?
I'm looking for someone EXPERIENCED [hitching/hopping/traveling] who LIVES around here.

Destination can be anywhere. I'm willing to see any part of the world that i havn't seen.

I'm not picky about who i go with, just someone open-minded and willing to get to know me before the travels. preferably a pot smoker.

hear that my soon-to-be travel partner? i know youre out there SOMEWHERE *cries*

 

[stove]

I hate my life.

Hey, I'm hella far away and gonna be busy for a while, but there are a few others in the area whom are good with trains...I know I'm a bit out of place speaking for others, but you might want to look up some of the waystations in/near TN and KY...


Good luck! Don't be afraid to just hit the road, but don't go out half-cocked. Bus to somewhere w/friends if necessary, but if you really can't take it, TAKE OFF.


Good luck chica.

 

[Angela]

I hate my life.

I'm nowhere near Florida right now but I wish you the best of luck in your travels. The only suggestion that I might have for you is to at least consider some other modes of travel as at least options that would allow you to travel even if you don't find someone to go with you. At least in my case, I didn't start off hitching or hopping. I started traveling and seeing the country many years ago on Greyhound buses long before I moved on to other modes of travel. Nowadays there's also a few other options like Craigslist's rideshare section that can help get folks out on the road with little or no experience traveling.
Again best of luck in your adventures.

 

[wartomods]

I hate my life.

two rules about trainhopping:
trains pass through rails
trains wont stop if you step on the rails

 

[stove]

I hate my life.

I would totally agree with Angela, hitching and hopping are not always the easiest ways to travel. Though more expensive and [usually] less adventurous (not always), greyhound/[h]amtrak/rideshare etc are good ways to start travel. I started out like most people, family vacations, driving interstate to see friends, busses, trains, rideshares etc. I've been travelling for years, just started hitching a lil while back. Jumping head first into something might get you there quicker, but it's not always the easiest/best way to go. Find your own groove...

 

[wartomods]

I hate my life.

I would totally agree with Angela, hitching and hopping are not always the easiest ways to travel. Though more expensive and [usually] less adventurous (not always), greyhound/[h]amtrak/rideshare etc are good ways to start travel. I started out like most people, family vacations, driving interstate to see friends, busses, trains, rideshares etc. I've been travelling for years, just started hitching a lil while back. Jumping head first into something might get you there quicker, but it's not always the easiest/best way to go. Find your own groove...

i concur

 

[veggieguy12]

I hate my life.

Hey yyyoshiii, have you met a lot of people who travel more-or-less constantly, without much money?
I'm just thinking, if you're in N. Fla., you can get to Gainesville or Jacksonville and easily see a ton of kids with packs (and, perhaps, dogs, maybe even guitars/banjos) and figure that they're doing what you want to. And you can talk to them, maybe even help them out, maybe even join them.
If you have the essentials - sleeping bag, water, toilet paper, earplugs, warm clothes, some canned food or nuts & dried fruit, knife - what's stopping you from putting your thumb up on a highway, or waiting in the bushes near the tracks for something to jump on and ride?

 

[Poe Boy]

I hate my life.

Seriously, listen to these folks.
I started by jumping the 'Hound. It's a lot safer and easier, albeit less glamorous, than hitching an hopping rails.

I assume the avatar picture is of you. You're a pretty girl, and not to try and scare you, but I've seen a lot of bad things happen to inexperienced girls.

Couple pieces of advice to add to those above:
1.) Get off the dope. You're missing half your life. You're better off with all your faculties in tact. I understand the attraction of getting wasted, but, believe me, life was much better after cleaning up.
2.) You seem to at least have a place to stay now. Try and get some self defense training. Try to find a place near you that teaches WWII Combatives. Reason being, they are easy to learn, hard to forget and effective. Not something you have to spend years studying to get good at. If there is no place, Google "Kill or Get Killed.PDF" there's plenty of free .PDF versions of the book. read it and practice the stuff in it. Fact of the matter is, road life is tough and some times you just have to bust heads to stay alive, especially as a female.

Finally, what do you like? Figure out things you like to do or see, or if failing that, what you think you'd like, do some google work and figure out a travel plan that will put you in proximity to places to do these things. Probably the best way to start a road life is to go somewhere you actually want to go.

Other than that, read as much as you can here, find out what you need, and what you need to know, meet people and network. Sometime in the future, you may well meet some of these people. Maybe one of us will be in the vicinity and can hook up.

Making a plan will help your life outlook a bit. Just keep in mind that life deals out bad luck sometimes and you can either fold up or kick it in the ass.

 

[finn]

I hate my life.

The dirty dog or greyhound is a fine place to begin, though it does cost some money. But before you do that, brush up on the essentials, like knowing how to camp in the woods, squat in a building, run from the cops, busk/play an instrument, back a friend in a fight, fight for yourself, spin a good story, patch yourself or a friend up... you know the drill right?

If you can take care of yourself, it means that someone can't take advantage of you so easily, because you can always walk away. This won't be the case if your hand is being held by an asshole. You don't want your only options to be around people you don't want to be around.

Be strong and prep yourself to move, figure things out, but don't let it be the hard way- at least not most of the time.

 

[IBRRHOBO]

I hate my life.

Your words seem pretty sincere, so that would lead me to ask a question: Do you want to ride trains because you want to travel on the rails; or, are you running from something that you don't want to deal with anymore? Doesn't really matter to me, but it should to you.

Hoboing is far more than catch a train, get a 40, smoke a joint and do it all over again. Now, being that you're still in school according to your post, you should finish your schooling. Why? Because the percentage of folks whom make this a way of life is VERY small! So, chances are that you will eventually want to do other things like most other folks. If you can't change (and this is my supposition that there's something driving you other than a desire to '...hit the ground running...') what's fucked up around you, then do yourself AND others a favor and read the posts on here. Get some background. Recon some trains.

Let me tell you a bit about greenhorns (which is exactly what you'll be). Oh, some folks are all into putting the greenhorn under the wing and shit, but there's ALWAYS an underlying motive. Sex, good @ panhandling, etc., all come to mind. I never liked dealing with outright greenhorns as they were a liability. When I first started riding there wasn't any StP or CCG to speak of. I think if they were around AND the greenhorns learned their shit a bit, I might have been more tolerant. Anyways, until YOU know the road, you're at the mercy of those who(m) you ride with. REMEMBER that! The more you know; the more you understand, the more you can determine what goes on both TO you and AROUND you!

Finn has some good points, as do others. If you always keep in mind that NO ONE owes you shit (including the railroad) and conduct yourself accordingly you are ready to BEGIN to research.

Gear is one of the most important things out there. Let me tell you I NEVER had any respect for some broke dick tramp who drank all their money and all they had was a bedroll. I'm not saying get North Face, but be versitle in a three-season kind of way. All goes back to reading the threads. You either have the time to do it, or you'll be wasting someone else's time and that will get you a really miserable experience.

Good Hunting!

 

[Angela]

I hate my life.

Oh, some folks are all into putting the greenhorn under the wing and shit, but there's ALWAYS an underlying motive. Sex, good @ panhandling, etc.,

This has generally been my experience also, that's why I travel solo and started out with modes of travel that I was comfortable with and worked my way up from there. Those that are too eager to help you out usually have a less than honorable motive. I'm not saying that's always the case but far too often it is, especially for gals. I've had far too many folks offer to travel with me, which I've always refused, simply because I tend to do quite well when I occasionally fly a sign. I've never been in the market for a "sign pimp" as I call them. This is why I recommended earlier that you maybe consider some other modes of travel to start with if your just looking to get away from your current life and go see the world.
Confidence in yourself is pretty much your best defense against anything that the world will throw at you. I know it may sound lame but it's not.

 

[mkirby]

I hate my life.

God I know that feeling...too bad I'm across the country from you.

 

[katiehabits]

I hate my life.

all i gotta say is read the minors and runaways tread. this life ain't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[veggieguy12]

I hate my life.

yyyoshiii = M.I.A.

 

[compass]

I hate my life.

No matter where you go, there you are.

 

[tunnel]

I hate my life.

The road can be a horribly LONELY place. Hopping a train's not gonna cure you.

 

[tunnel]

I hate my life.

On the other hand listening to Bob Marley likely could help!