Feels good to feel this free....Ridin the Rails , Canada 2012.

megan

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i had to get away from my hometown. i was stuck there for years wanting to travel but i was on so many bullshit conditions. when i finally got off probation, and community supervision i hitchhiked out of Moncton, with a friend of mine. We were only supposed to spend the weekend there but i ended up staying there by myself for a few months drinking one too many 10 percents. We got picked up a nice trucker, who let us stay in the back of his trailer , we only had a kid sized sleeping bag that we had to share. it was freezing. it ended up snowing , and i was not prepared for Quebec weather. After spending way too much time in Montreal i finally decided it was time for a change of scenery. So I left Montreal and went on my first train with a few folks. We rode a bucket and ended up getting pulled off in Brampton. We had no sweet clue where we were, they just told us how to get out of the yard and laughed and smiled. We flew a sign in Brampton and made bank. I ended up getting a 200 dollar drop which was pretty tits. We slept in the Canadian tire sheds, and woke up to the employees kicking us out, so the next night we just went to the hardware store literally beside the Canadian Tire slept in those sheds, and woke up to the police asking us where are drugs were, told us to pretty much take showers, and leave Brampton. I'm surprised we didn't wake up to guns drawn to our heads haha. We also had the cops called on us for using the Esso bathroom. apparently we were intimidating and we trashed their bathroom and stole all the toilet paper haha. the bathroom was so dirty before we even went in there.

We hitchhiked out of Brampton to Richmond Hill . Apparently there was supposed to be a hop out spot there. But we just ended up staying under a bridge in shitty weather getting shitty drunk, and getting shit on by pigeons. We finally said fuck it and went to Toronto. I ended up staying there longer than I intended to. After awhile I got sick of all the drama in the park, and left with a guy I was seeing.We flew a sign before leaving made 100 bucks for food for the road, smokes, and booze. And we took the go train to Barrie got there too late couldn't get picked up . got picked up the next day got a ride to Mactier to hop out. a train engineer who was grabbin some grub before work saw us when I went to go fill up on water in a restaurant, and he confronted us and told us that he drives a train, and the train was going to leave in 15 mins with units on it. we booted it through a wooden area, i had a skirt on with no leggings on. got scratched to shit, and eaten alive by bugs, and we had to walk over a bunch of boulders. aaron dropped the water in between the rocks which set us back a bit for time. we had to walk through a muddy swamp because there was no way we were getting around the swamp. With every step we took in the swamp we kept sinking further into the mud. We hauled ass on the tracks, our gear was soaked, and we were covered in swamp juice and my skirt kept falling down haha. i was exhausted, and could barely breathe. we got to the curve of the tracks right on time. the train pulled in and we booted it for the unit. Northern Ontario is beautiful to ride through by the way.

We got off on quite a few crew changes to make money. we got off in Thunder Bay. which was boring as fuck. tried to get a unit but there was people sleeping on it, the next train that pulled in a group of people were getting off the unit, and gave us their water. we got off in Winnipeg i believe. made money and drank by the river with a bunch of cool folks. we hitchhiked to Brenden to hop off at Van. but we ended up getting off in Moose Jaw… which was fucking awesome. made a bunch of money, and hopped out . we got out offf in coal hurst… the cops once again (aka rcmp taxi) drove us to Lethbridge… which is a complete SHITHOLE. money was shit, nothing to do, they dont even have pay phones. hitch hiked out Lethbridge got drove an hour south of Calgary (cowgay) got stuck in a hail storm , once again another shithole. we couldn't hop out. got picked up by some creepy guy who made me sit in the front seat, kept staring at me, and asked if my ex was my boyfriend, he dropped us off at Banff. which is so fucking beautiful, kind of hard to make money there though considering its tourist city. i loved waking up to the mountains, we slept in a tent with other travelers, and spinned cider. we got a ride to field, and we hopped a train to Kamloops where me and my ex parted ways.

I didn't know anyone in Kamloops, or where anything was. but i eventually found my way. I think i might have spent a week or so there. I met another traveler there who was drinking vodka with a bunch of home bums outside of the public library infront of cops. we became instantly good friends haha. we slept in a squat by the tracks which was a beautiful house right near the hop out spot. We drank cider by the river and went swimming. We hopped out of Kamloops which was way to easy but sketchy. They have cameras and workers everywhere we slept in a grainer for about 12 hours before it started moving. We got off in Chillawack. We did not have a time there. cops weren't a huge fan, too many druggies, money was shit, even the people at the christian soup kitchen were dicks to us. We even got the cops called on us by a security guard for sitting outside of a grocery store on a public bench not even trying to make money. We tried to hop out but no luck. We ended up hitchhiking to Vancouver. I fucking hated it there also. Money was also shit. there was too many streets kids, crackheads, and buskers panning for money. We left on a ferry to Vancouver Island which was fucking awesome. We ended up staying in a RV, and eating like kings.

I ended up going back to toronto, and hitch hiking to Mactier with a friend (thank god we didn't have to walk through anymore swamps) we just ended up baking in the sun, and getting eaten alive by bugs. i took him on his first train to Montreal. and now I'm back one again. Hoping to hitchhike to Moncton by early next week to visit family and friends, The plan is to meet up with a friend there to do some more traveling before it starts getting cold out. I can't wait to get back on the road! wanderlust is killing me.
 
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Rob Nothing

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all in all sounds like a good time, thanks for sharing.

I get paranoid and chapped like hell when people start breathing down my neck like that, saying I've got drugs, stealing.. from this angle canada don't sound too cool, the way you put it.

Also curious about the passport.
 

megan

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no its not a Canadian thing to ride units, well maybe it is. the person i traveled with was a unit snob. i usually just take whatever is ride able. and yeah you get deported if your from the states and come to Canada, just like you would get deported if you were a Canadian and went to the states. and your more than likely looking at jail time. my friend is from california , and he got deported in canada spent 14 days in jail, and got banned for life from Canada but he still came back anyways haha, Canada is an awesome time, it's really easy to get around.
 

EphemeralStick

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Cool story! My hometown has the blackhole effect on me too. Keep trying to get away but this damn city keeps pulling me back. Have fun on your future travels!
 

Hobo Huck

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whats up with everybody riding units? is this a canadian thing i dont know about?


Nah, it's an American thing too. Incredibly easy to do in rural areas. I try to keep it hush-hush when I meet young riders because I don't want gutterpunks to ruin it. To be honest with you, it is fun for the first few times, but I honestly prefer to ride an open box car or empty junk if its available. Riding a unit is too much like stepping on the railroads toes, and its easy to get caught doing it.
 

wokofshame

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Duude I hold totally the same opinion on every single town you mention in your story.

I got deported, spent 2 days in basically a hostel type place by the Vancouver Airport, eating takeout 3 times a day (kinda crappy egg breakfast,w/ coffee though, Subway for lunch, Thai Express for dinner).
Banned for 12 months. Van ride back to border. Only annoying part was having to sit in a tiny court holding cell in downtown Van for 8 hours at a time 2 days in a row, 2nd day was like a dozen people in this tiny ass cell.
Hotel/immigration jail was pimp though. Some decent books, cable TV, and comfy beds w/ clean sheets and towels. Because there are so many different ethnicities in Canada, no one can really gang up on each other in there.
 
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stoppsine

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i had to get away from my hometown. i was stuck there for years wanting to travel but i was on so many bullshit conditions. when i finally got off probation, and community supervision i hitchhiked out of Moncton, with a friend of mine. We were only supposed to spend the weekend there but i ended up staying there by myself for a few months drinking one too many 10 percents. We got picked up a nice trucker, who let us stay in the back of his trailer , we only had a kid sized sleeping bag that we had to share. it was freezing. it ended up snowing , and i was not prepared for Quebec weather. After spending way too much time in Montreal i finally decided it was time for a change of scenery. So I left Montreal and went on my first train with a few folks. We rode a bucket and ended up getting pulled off in Brampton. We had no sweet clue where we were, they just told us how to get out of the yard and laughed and smiled. We flew a sign in Brampton and made bank. I ended up getting a 200 dollar drop which was pretty tits. We slept in the Canadian tire sheds, and woke up to the employees kicking us out, so the next night we just went to the hardware store literally beside the Canadian Tire slept in those sheds, and woke up to the police asking us where are drugs were, told us to pretty much take showers, and leave Brampton. I'm surprised we didn't wake up to guns drawn to our heads haha. We also had the cops called on us for using the Esso bathroom. apparently we were intimidating and we trashed their bathroom and stole all the toilet paper haha. the bathroom was so dirty before we even went in there.

We hitchhiked out of Brampton to Richmond Hill . Apparently there was supposed to be a hop out spot there. But we just ended up staying under a bridge in shitty weather getting shitty drunk, and getting shit on by pigeons. We finally said fuck it and went to Toronto. I ended up staying there longer than I intended to. After awhile I got sick of all the drama in the park, and left with a guy I was seeing.We flew a sign before leaving made 100 bucks for food for the road, smokes, and booze. And we took the go train to Barrie got there too late couldn't get picked up . got picked up the next day got a ride to Mactier to hop out. a train engineer who was grabbin some grub before work saw us when I went to go fill up on water in a restaurant, and he confronted us and told us that he drives a train, and the train was going to leave in 15 mins with units on it. we booted it through a wooden area, i had a skirt on with no leggings on. got scratched to shit, and eaten alive by bugs, and we had to walk over a bunch of boulders. aaron dropped the water in between the rocks which set us back a bit for time. we had to walk through a muddy swamp because there was no way we were getting around the swamp. With every step we took in the swamp we kept sinking further into the mud. We hauled ass on the tracks, our gear was soaked, and we were covered in swamp juice and my skirt kept falling down haha. i was exhausted, and could barely breathe. we got to the curve of the tracks right on time. the train pulled in and we booted it for the unit. Northern Ontario is beautiful to ride through by the way.

We got off on quite a few crew changes to make money. we got off in Thunder Bay. which was boring as fuck. tried to get a unit but there was people sleeping on it, the next train that pulled in a group of people were getting off the unit, and gave us their water. we got off in Winnipeg i believe. made money and drank by the river with a bunch of cool folks. we hitchhiked to Brenden to hop off at Van. but we ended up getting off in Moose Jaw… which was fucking awesome. made a bunch of money, and hopped out . we got out offf in coal hurst… the cops once again (aka rcmp taxi) drove us to Lethbridge… which is a complete SHITHOLE. money was shit, nothing to do, they dont even have pay phones. hitch hiked out Lethbridge got drove an hour south of Calgary (cowgay) got stuck in a hail storm , once again another shithole. we couldn't hop out. got picked up by some creepy guy who made me sit in the front seat, kept staring at me, and asked if my ex was my boyfriend, he dropped us off at Banff. which is so fucking beautiful, kind of hard to make money there though considering its tourist city. i loved waking up to the mountains, we slept in a tent with other travelers, and spinned cider. we got a ride to field, and we hopped a train to Kamloops where me and my ex parted ways.

I didn't know anyone in Kamloops, or where anything was. but i eventually found my way. I think i might have spent a week or so there. I met another traveler there who was drinking vodka with a bunch of home bums outside of the public library infront of cops. we became instantly good friends haha. we slept in a squat by the tracks which was a beautiful house right near the hop out spot. We drank cider by the river and went swimming. We hopped out of Kamloops which was way to easy but sketchy. They have cameras and workers everywhere we slept in a grainer for about 12 hours before it started moving. We got off in Chillawack. We did not have a time there. cops weren't a huge fan, too many druggies, money was shit, even the people at the christian soup kitchen were dicks to us. We even got the cops called on us by a security guard for sitting outside of a grocery store on a public bench not even trying to make money. We tried to hop out but no luck. We ended up hitchhiking to Vancouver. I fucking hated it there also. Money was also shit. there was too many streets kids, crackheads, and buskers panning for money. We left on a ferry to Vancouver Island which was fucking awesome. We ended up staying in a RV, and eating like kings.

I ended up going back to toronto, and hitch hiking to Mactier with a friend (thank god we didn't have to walk through anymore swamps) we just ended up baking in the sun, and getting eaten alive by bugs. i took him on his first train to Montreal. and now I'm back one again. Hoping to hitchhike to Moncton by early next week to visit family and friends, The plan is to meet up with a friend there to do some more traveling before it starts getting cold out. I can't wait to get back on the road! wanderlust is killing me.
 

stoppsine

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thats coool
i had to get away from my hometown. i was stuck there for years wanting to travel but i was on so many bullshit conditions. when i finally got off probation, and community supervision i hitchhiked out of Moncton, with a friend of mine. We were only supposed to spend the weekend there but i ended up staying there by myself for a few months drinking one too many 10 percents. We got picked up a nice trucker, who let us stay in the back of his trailer , we only had a kid sized sleeping bag that we had to share. it was freezing. it ended up snowing , and i was not prepared for Quebec weather. After spending way too much time in Montreal i finally decided it was time for a change of scenery. So I left Montreal and went on my first train with a few folks. We rode a bucket and ended up getting pulled off in Brampton. We had no sweet clue where we were, they just told us how to get out of the yard and laughed and smiled. We flew a sign in Brampton and made bank. I ended up getting a 200 dollar drop which was pretty tits. We slept in the Canadian tire sheds, and woke up to the employees kicking us out, so the next night we just went to the hardware store literally beside the Canadian Tire slept in those sheds, and woke up to the police asking us where are drugs were, told us to pretty much take showers, and leave Brampton. I'm surprised we didn't wake up to guns drawn to our heads haha. We also had the cops called on us for using the Esso bathroom. apparently we were intimidating and we trashed their bathroom and stole all the toilet paper haha. the bathroom was so dirty before we even went in there.

We hitchhiked out of Brampton to Richmond Hill . Apparently there was supposed to be a hop out spot there. But we just ended up staying under a bridge in shitty weather getting shitty drunk, and getting shit on by pigeons. We finally said fuck it and went to Toronto. I ended up staying there longer than I intended to. After awhile I got sick of all the drama in the park, and left with a guy I was seeing.We flew a sign before leaving made 100 bucks for food for the road, smokes, and booze. And we took the go train to Barrie got there too late couldn't get picked up . got picked up the next day got a ride to Mactier to hop out. a train engineer who was grabbin some grub before work saw us when I went to go fill up on water in a restaurant, and he confronted us and told us that he drives a train, and the train was going to leave in 15 mins with units on it. we booted it through a wooden area, i had a skirt on with no leggings on. got scratched to shit, and eaten alive by bugs, and we had to walk over a bunch of boulders. aaron dropped the water in between the rocks which set us back a bit for time. we had to walk through a muddy swamp because there was no way we were getting around the swamp. With every step we took in the swamp we kept sinking further into the mud. We hauled ass on the tracks, our gear was soaked, and we were covered in swamp juice and my skirt kept falling down haha. i was exhausted, and could barely breathe. we got to the curve of the tracks right on time. the train pulled in and we booted it for the unit. Northern Ontario is beautiful to ride through by the way.

We got off on quite a few crew changes to make money. we got off in Thunder Bay. which was boring as fuck. tried to get a unit but there was people sleeping on it, the next train that pulled in a group of people were getting off the unit, and gave us their water. we got off in Winnipeg i believe. made money and drank by the river with a bunch of cool folks. we hitchhiked to Brenden to hop off at Van. but we ended up getting off in Moose Jaw… which was fucking awesome. made a bunch of money, and hopped out . we got out offf in coal hurst… the cops once again (aka rcmp taxi) drove us to Lethbridge… which is a complete SHITHOLE. money was shit, nothing to do, they dont even have pay phones. hitch hiked out Lethbridge got drove an hour south of Calgary (cowgay) got stuck in a hail storm , once again another shithole. we couldn't hop out. got picked up by some creepy guy who made me sit in the front seat, kept staring at me, and asked if my ex was my boyfriend, he dropped us off at Banff. which is so fucking beautiful, kind of hard to make money there though considering its tourist city. i loved waking up to the mountains, we slept in a tent with other travelers, and spinned cider. we got a ride to field, and we hopped a train to Kamloops where me and my ex parted ways.

I didn't know anyone in Kamloops, or where anything was. but i eventually found my way. I think i might have spent a week or so there. I met another traveler there who was drinking vodka with a bunch of home bums outside of the public library infront of cops. we became instantly good friends haha. we slept in a squat by the tracks which was a beautiful house right near the hop out spot. We drank cider by the river and went swimming. We hopped out of Kamloops which was way to easy but sketchy. They have cameras and workers everywhere we slept in a grainer for about 12 hours before it started moving. We got off in Chillawack. We did not have a time there. cops weren't a huge fan, too many druggies, money was shit, even the people at the christian soup kitchen were dicks to us. We even got the cops called on us by a security guard for sitting outside of a grocery store on a public bench not even trying to make money. We tried to hop out but no luck. We ended up hitchhiking to Vancouver. I fucking hated it there also. Money was also shit. there was too many streets kids, crackheads, and buskers panning for money. We left on a ferry to Vancouver Island which was fucking awesome. We ended up staying in a RV, and eating like kings.

I ended up going back to toronto, and hitch hiking to Mactier with a friend (thank god we didn't have to walk through anymore swamps) we just ended up baking in the sun, and getting eaten alive by bugs. i took him on his first train to Montreal. and now I'm back one again. Hoping to hitchhike to Moncton by early next week to visit family and friends, The plan is to meet up with a friend there to do some more traveling before it starts getting cold out. I can't wait to get back on the road! wanderlust is killing me.
 

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