Cold feet :/

[Juerito]

I'm at a crossroad. To hit the road or not to hit the road. I've been thinking of this for like six months now and I still can't make up my mind. This site is an inspiration, but when it comes to actually giving up a warm bed and shower for the open road of the US, I guess there's nothing to it but to do it. But really, should I do it?

I've been working hard on the grind for 4 years now, and it got me out of my parent's house soon after high school. I'm a cook. A fucking good cook. But I hate it. Long, hard hours make a good bit of money, yet every time I step into the hot, glaringly fluorescent kitchens to stand for hours making food for dimwitted, ungrateful, and rich white people the check is not gratifying. Then seeing half of it disappear to an 800$ rent is even more depressing. The only thing I'd miss is my fellow cookies (keep it hard and fast, you dirty fucking scoundrels).

I realize I do have it better off than most of the kids on here. If I don't decide to go, I would have a nice room in a little apartment in my uncle's house, in buttfuck central valley, California (hate this place), with endless opportunities to work and next to nothing in rent. I can save money, drink, party, relax, yoga, find love, go to shows, and generally live a decent life here with all the creature comforts one could ask for. And, sitting on this giant couch watching Star Trek under a fat down blanket I feel like there's no fucking way I would be out there in a ditch huddled under a tarp nursing frostbitten feet and eating baked beans and trail mix.

But something's out there. Every time I'm out walking around town, something tells me to keep walking. To stick out my thumb. To party with friends on the west coast, southwest, middle states, to see the east coast that I've never laid eyes on before in my life. To look for work and couch surf in cities I'd never thought I would see. To camp in Yellowstone, visit the Maine forests, see the Everglades, swim in the Rio Grande.

I was out there for three whole days, bumming it around Modesto/Stockton and it was cold. Everyone there is kind of shitty. I met a junkie who told me to stay indoors at night, saw black tar heroine for the first time, and two tramps who seemed like they were having the times of their lives, despite being in middle California. It was fucking lonely.

The only way I feel I would have the balls to do it is if someone was with me. A road dog.
Help me decide, oh wise travel bloggers, for I know nothing of this shit.
My feet are cold, but my soul is burning with what y'all call "wanderlust"

 

[OstrichJockey]

If you actually want to do it, you will do it. If you don't want to do it, you will make excuses.

Having a good time or not will fully depend on your outlook on shit.

 

[Tude]

heh - I am thinking of a collective document on the responses the seasoned and new to the road travelers have input on threads like these. Will bring it up with the team.

But I'm sure you will have some of these people chime in here perhaps - in the meantime look at what we have to offer. And it is purely your decision.

 

[spectacular]

Sounds like you wanna do it. It's worth a try. If it doesn't work out you can always change it up, talented as you are already to be a cook in a swanky restaurant at your age.

 

[iamwhatiam]

but when it comes to actually giving up a warm bed and shower for the open road of the US, I guess there's nothing to it but to do it. But really, should I do it?

Yes, I think you should. You obviously feel something burning inside you for the unknown open road, and you will never know what adventures are to be had if you don't go. I would not worry about a warm bed and a shower. Warm sleeping bag/pad + solar bag camping shower = answer to that. Since it sounds like you might have a few dollars saved, why not buy a cheapish van if the idea of living out of a backpack doesn't interest you as much?

If I don't decide to go...... I can save money, drink, party, relax, yoga, find love, go to shows, and generally live a decent life here with all the creature comforts one could ask for.

My friend, I don't see why you cannot do all of those same things on the open road if you so choose. I'm sure lots of kids fall into a habit of doing nothing but sitting on the sidewalk and spanging up enough change to buy booze/dope to stay drunk/high for the day before heading off to one of the numerous daily bum feeds and do it all again in the morning, but that doesn't have to be your routine. Nothing wrong with shivering under a bridge eating baked beans and trail mix every now and then.....and in fact, it's good to struggle through hard times here and there....it makes you tougher and more well rounded I think, but that doesn't have to be the only thing you ever fucking do....and you won't.

The only way I feel I would have the balls to do it is if someone was with me. A road dog.
Help me decide, oh wise travel bloggers, for I know nothing of this shit.
My feet are cold, but my soul is burning with what y'all call "wanderlust"

You will meet many other travelers out there and eventually find someone(s) you want to travel with for a while. I like what Mark Twain said: "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the things you did." Having experience as a cook, you will have no problem finding work somewhere else when/if you choose to settle back down. So get out there on the open road while you're young and able. That's my opinion on it.

 

[Tude]

Some very good people here

 

[landpirate]

Just do it. Try it. You'll get another job and another apartment if you need to. If you're questioning it, it's time to bite the bullet. Up sticks and try out life floating. Be brave it'll be fine. I promise...

 

[LostHobo]

Work as a cook comes in every town, so if you choose to go, you could ease into it by going from one job to the next, telling your boss that you want to learn new techniques or what ever the fuck you feel like, and that's why you keep getting new jobs. See how things evolve, were your confort zone sits, were it expends.

Since it sounds like you might have a few dollars saved, why not buy a cheapish van if the idea of living out of a backpack doesn't interest you as much.

The idea of rubber tremping can be real nice for that, you are mobile and independant, you can sleep virtually anywere if your van looks like a work truck. If you miss your warm shower, treat yourself at the local public pool. I lived in a chevy van 20 for a year, until itgot crushed by a school bus. I got around bc that way, t'was nice to live in a place of my own for the first time in my life.

What do you have to loose?

 

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

When I first left home a few weeks ago, I was petrified. I was giving up so much control and regularity. I barely even knew where I would sleep... and then, something happened to me. It was a sort of nudging realization; I had NEVER really been in control of life. Life is a thing that happens to you, it is something that experiences itself through you. You can pick which flow of the river you want, but never how the river flows.
So, which flow do you choose? Star wars and blankets, a comfortable current? Or do you choose night sky cathedrals and deep canyon mesas?
On a more practical note, it sounds like you could find work almost anywhere with your cooking skills. Why not try it? Force yourself to stat out for, say, two weeks, see how it feels.
Wouldn't you regret never trying at all? How would you feel if you took the safe route to the grave? It's up to you. Make the choice you can live with. Good luck, man!

 

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

You will meet many other travelers out there and eventually find someone(s) you want to travel with for a while.

This is another good point. I'm traveling solo in my station wagon. I won't lie, it can get lonely as FUCK. But I meet kids. Nobody to travel long term with, but people to at least chat with and maybe drive to the next town if they're stranded. Just give it time. They come out of the woodwork. Plus, if you have friends who live out of town, you can always drop by to visit. It may take some time before you find a log term road dog or a crew, but you can stay sane in the mean time