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Dazedandconfused

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First and foremost, hello! I hope you are all doing well. You can call me Dais. I’m 22 years old. Currently residing in upstate NY. I guess I made the executive decision to join this site as am heavily considering leaving my current life behind to be free and explore the world.

For a bit of background, I have always had a deep love of traveling and just going on adventures in general. I’ve been to most states here in the US (I moved from Cali to NY as a kid) and I’ve been to some beautiful destinations in the Caribbean a couple years back. I prefer to go to places with warmer climates and BEACHES! I also love being in the south/west if that matters! The winter weather here in NY is awful. Aside from all that, my travel experience is limited. I just know that it is my goal to get out of my sleepy town and see what the world has to offer.

I apologize if this isn’t the correct forum to post this on, but I was hoping if anyone had tips for embarking on solo travel. I would also be open to finding someone to travel with, but unfortunately, my friends are not into this lifestyle. Granted, I will need to turn to friends and people along the way for some help. I have a few ideas I’ve brainstormed. I’m thinking of traveling to Florida and possibly settling there, but my resources are extremely limited as of right now. I’d imagine I will do a combination of taking trains, buses, hitchhiking, walking, couch surfing, among other things.

I want to be as safe as possible and do as much research as possible before I make any permanent decisions. I’m not taking this lightly. I’ve been very unhappy for many years with my home/personal life, as there has been a lot of drama and tension that has prevented me from reaching my potential.

If anyone at all has any resources, ideas, or general tips for how I could make this dream come true, please feel free to leave any comments or messages. I’m thinking about leaving soon and I want to be smart about it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! And if there are any forums that you feel would be of benefit to me, feel free to let me know! I’m still figuring out how to use this site.

Peace!
 

ali

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Welcome. This is the correct forum to post on!

If you are able to be a little more specific about your situation, people will be able to help you better.

For example, do you have savings? If you have no money at all and want to travel on a shoestring, then your planning will be different from if you have a few thousand dollars saved up and want to travel lighter than the average tourist but still with the ability to crash at motels or paid campsites from time to time.

Do you have a way of earning money on the road? Whether you start with savings or not, your life will be much easier if you have a way of finding at least a little bit of income to cover you when you are in a jam. That could be busking or making/selling jewellery or just a regular short-term job like waiting tables, tending bar or working construction/labor. If you plan to try to live without doing any traditional work, you will need to learn skills like panhandling and dumpster diving instead. In that case it would also be worth learning how to navigate the social support system for poor and/or unhoused people (shelters, food banks, benefits etc).

Do you prefer cities or the countryside? The main difference the way i see it is that in cities it's easier to find work and food, but in the countryside it's easier to find free or cheap accommodation.

If you just want to go to Florida and settle, you could get down there in one hit with a cheap flight or Greyhound bus, no need to fuss about other forms of transport. Traveling the other way usually ends up being more expensive in the long run because it takes longer, you need more food along the way, and so on. So really it's only worth doing if the process of traveling itself is a thing that you enjoy. If you just want to get to another place to try something new, the "conventional" method of getting there is usually the best one.
 

Matt Derrick

Retired Wanderer
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Welcome @Dazedandconfused! I sincerely hope we can help you find what you're looking for. This is a good place to find folks to travel with as well, check out the road dogs section and maybe post your own ad looking for travel partners there. If you have more specific questions, please use the search first, then let us know if you're having a hard time finding the answer you're looking for.

Best of luck and let me know if you need help with anything!
 

mellowedout

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Mar 13, 2022
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Birmingham, AL
Traveled on foot and on freight, so I've got some alright tips.

Don't be afraid to fly a sign, (and this is just my opinion, but I think it is more respectable to offer work, even though 99% of people won't ask you for a service), don't be afraid of strangers, most of them are actually ok (use your freaking instincts on this one, though, it's not to say everyone is nice; you're a woman, too, so that changes things).

Keep water on you at all times; you should literally have at least 3 days worth of water on you virtually all the time, even if it's just smelly, sulfuric tap water from some backwoods house you snuck onto during a train siding...

Travel buddies help with just about everything, at least the ones I've had. Just don't let anyone weigh you down in your experience, try to find some folks who are looking for some of the same things you are.

FLOSS. You need lots of floss. Dental floss. It is useful for so many different things. My favorite use for it is to sew with it; you're going to rip some clothes and you're going to want to sew them at times. There are easy ways to get clothing, admittedly, but I tend to get attached to certain articles.

YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PACK A BAG WITH EVERYTHING YOU WOULD NEED. You should be doing this now, long before you set out.
Get a comfortable hiking bag that can fit everything you would reasonably need, and if you're me, make sure there is plenty of extra room for all the dumb things you can't help but pick up along the way.
Hobo roll your clothes, btw. (fold them like once and then burrito that bitch)

Lastly, if this is your first time traveling, get ready to get dirty! Every time I have ever traveled, I get pig-ass sweaty and my socks could be used to gas a small family...
...maybe there is a trick to this, but for me it's just gettin' dirty.
If you're really concerned about hygiene, (some hygiene you should be concerned with, especially your teeth) be sure to bring toothpaste and a toothbrush in a little container.
I prefer carrying Listerine anti-septic, because it packs a punch and makes my mouth feel like it's clean and fresh, especially after a brush.

If you go on foot, expect a whole lot of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere for long periods of time. This definitely depends on your route, but even on an active route there were times I was stagnant for almost a week at a time. Admittedly, I was goofing off a lot, because I was enjoying my time there, but the point remains.

Money seems like it could be an issue, too, but bring a ukelele (they're dirt cheap, even a crappy one works) and just learn like 3 basic chords. Stand there and strum those 3 basic chords and act all cool, like you are really into a groove, then when they come by and ask you to play something just play those same 3 chords at them anyway. They will probably say "wow, you're so good at that" and still give you money.

That last part pays you the same whether you actually know how to play an instrument or not, I've learned...
 
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Irish1984

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Mar 15, 2022
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I have alot of info on the traveling side of life. I just read one thing in your post that worried me. Do not hitchhike alone as a female. I have almost gotten myself in really bad situations as a male hitching alone. Feel free to message if you have specific questions. I have been off and on the road 18 years
 
Joined
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Feel free to message me with any questions. I am a male, but have a bunch of females around on the road right now to get those type of questions answered. My main concern as other people is, I would refrain from traveling solo as a newer traveller. There are some real sketch balls out there. Being from NY you must have visited the big city. I am heading back up that way soon so message might be sparing at times! Hope to hear back, cheers and be safe!
 

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