Fit to reenter society • ISO room anywhere

[outlawloose]

The last 8 months circling the continent by rail, thumb and vanlyfe have been an incredible experience full of important challenges, but I've come to realize that to keep drifting from town to town is becoming easy and unrewarding. The real challenge now is to renter society, commit myself to my new goals, and build connections with people and places that last longer than a few days.

So to move past the self indulgent background story, I ask ye community does anyone know of a room going in the Pacific NW? I don't care where but preferably a medium sized town on a RR line. Eugene OR is my ideal location, but really a share house anywhere that's cheap, dog friendly & rad people of course. A city would be sick too but more expensive.

I'm on the Craigslist crawl but figured I'd extend my reach to this community.
Let me know if you have any leads plz !

Alternatively if anyone has any advice from past experience dealing with the anxiety of reestablishing themselves after living nomadically I'd be interested to hear how it worked out

 

[Deleted member 125]

as someone whos settled down a bit i feel yer struggle. it takes some time to kinda re introduce yerself into a more "normal" living situation, i dont personally know much about the west coast but alot of folks do seem to house up there and im sure theres good reason, but personally im a east coast person and ended up falling in love with richmond va. i found a way to make money without punching a time clock or resorting to flying a sign (living somewhere and flying a sign just seems cheap to me, maybe you dont agree). im not sure what you did for work before you started travelling full time or if you know a trade but those are things that really do come in handy when trying to get back into the "real world".

as far as dealing with the anxiety i dont know what i could tell you because im lucky enough to be self sufficent enough that when i get the itch its not a problem for me (or my partner) to take a few days off and go camping or take a day trip to rocky mount just to ease those itchy feet a bit.

 

[wizehop]

I feel you man, for me its repetition that I am always trying to avoid. Even travelling becomes a repetitive pattern after a while. Once you "re-enter society", or at least spend your time doing what most people do, it will end up being the same problem. I guess I can only speak for myself, but the reason I go away constantly is to avoid thinking on myself.
New and fresh means my mind isn't focusing inward too much, same for cold and uncomfortable. Its easier to deal with physical discomforts than accepting I exist.
But like you said, it becomes routine and then your right back where you tried to get away from. The house and a job routine, is a mirror to roaming from town to town. Same thing day in and day out causes us to go into auto pilot and then our brains turn in on themselves.

Anyhow if your not like me and running away from yourself and truly want to set roots, I think the trick is to just take it one step at a time. It doesn't have to happen over night. Get a safe place to live, get an easy shit job (at least till your grounded), and take it day by day. You'l meet people over time and things will progress naturally.


I have a feeling though, you will probably end up taking off again at some point. Because for those who roam, there is nothing else.

 

[outlawloose]

Thanks for the words, guys. Very meaningful advice to hear right now and gives me cud to chew.

Wizehop, yes repetition is certainly a cause for us to disconnect from living in the moment, but I'm not sure avoiding repetition is the means to an end.
I think a better solution is the positive opposite of avoiding repetition; therefore, embracing change.
When we challenge ourselves and become adaptable to change our senses are lit up. That change can happen within any lifestyle, nomadic or stationary. It could be taking a different route to work, or it could be ditching the GPS and start riding trains without a map. Theres infinite new ways to find adventure in any lifestyle or town.

Like you're saying, the important thing is to challenge yourself in the ways necessary.

Its easier to deal with physical discomforts than accepting I exist.

This has a lot of powerful resonance. Last month I was hitchhiking around Alaska not because I wanted to see Alaska but because I thought suffering through the freezing nights snow camping, wet socks and lack of rides would lead to further enlightenment. (In fact I was recalling your Winterlust series gave me confidence to endure the huge holes in my own boots! haha). I came to realise that I was pursuing the wrong challenge and should seek my next journey where my passion lies. I look forward to building a network of friends, focusing on making art/ comics/graff, and generally finding ways to give back to the world after taking a lot while travelling.

i found a way to make money without punching a time clock

Thats awesome that you have a way to maintain your individual freedom of time and adventure while living the stationary life. That balance of freedom and discipline is just what a true explorer needs. I pay my own way as a freelance graphic designer - a highly paying creative job I can take on the road - but travelling doesn't give me enough time to focus on the work that I love. Being settled I'll be able to channel that discipline while also easily find time to take the occasional 4-day high iron holiday out and back!

Thanks again for the perspective, guys! Gonna go walk the dog and think it over

 

[Whereamiwhatdoido]

Hey Outlaw! Just wanted to say that I'm in a situation currently that is in ways similar to yours.

About two months ago I returned to my hometown, squatted up a place and was begging on the street, there an old friend of mine had seen me, and as his mother is in a position at a cleaning firm where she can hire people I got a job the next day.

Next thing I knew I had a place to live(a fairly cheap room with a girl a little older than myself) and a regular job. So time goes and I find myself totally longing for the road, going almost mental and infact breaking down at work crying for myself in a corner.

Turns out that I wasn't soo much longing for getting on the road, for as I quit my job sonce friday, I'm still here and no longer in a rush to leave, I have money from that job to pay rent a couple of months and just all the spare time I want.

Even if I do decide to trip on the road, I figured I might try staying stationary keeping the payment on the room each month and slowly becoming more grounded as I make new friendships and have a home to return to.


- It's quite testing and I've used all the resources of anonymous counselling and anybody really worth talking to, to just be blatantly honest about my ups and downs. That really helped. It's like an anchor, trying to grab a pebble or a rock, it holds for a minute and maybe releases again, but instead of pulling the anchorchain back on my boat each time, I keep pulling to see if I might hit something solid.

 

[mightyb]

i think even if settlilng down is your goal and its not going smoothly enough your probally not ment to,,,just like you get options to get off the road when your not ready,,then it seems like no options when you are,,,,,,,im just kinda saying dont beat yourself up,,,,,,stay cool,,