how many of you are out here by choice

[creature]

Arguably not choice, but a consequence of choice.

God knows I would do it differently, or remain closer to one place, but as all here note, 'civillized' existence is too complicated for some of us. It isn't that we *wouldn't* be a little more centralized on terms of where we homebum from, it's that as a consequence of not being able to centralize *enough* that we are *forced* into the choice of a more consistent transience..

 

[AnOldHope]

I chose this life and have been at it 1.5 years or so. But already I can feel the slide into what roquetrader said. To even take on vanlife, I was already a bit outside. But now straight society is looking stupider and stupider. Current politics don't help.

I have to admit, "normative" society is building up some fairly inescapable credibility problems.

Obey the Law! ("Um, most of our elite class appear involved in astronomically profitable fraud, corruption, and insider dealing. The lawyers aren't obeying the law, they're selling it to the highest bidder.")

Work hard! ("Well, you've stagnated wages so severely and ramped up consumer appetite so much, the hard workers are drowning in debt and falling further behind, you mismanaged their pensions, you collapsed their housing market and hustled their savings away. They worked really hard, you left them with nothing.")

Be civil and polite! ("Our national political discourse has devolved into dishonesties that compete purely by magnitude of absurdity, and you've pumped so much fear into the system that its collapsing.")

Respect the system! ("That would violate both what respect and a system is.")

I hope I live at least another 20 years, I'm interested in seeing what the young people do. Emerging technology is giving them far more power, and as the rate of acceleration and associated technoshock increases, the old (like me) will be at an exponentially widening disadvantage against the young.

I wonder what they'll make...

 

[Vagabonds Photography]

Choice. Me and the wife got sick of the same bullshit. Sick of the 9-5. Loaded up the car, donated the rest, and hit the road. Been at it since April. 46 States, 2 Countries, 40k miles and so much more to do.

 

[rooster831]

i was thrown out to the streets, but when i realized how much i love and need traveling i chose to keep it up

 

[ChezaRose]

Both. The first time I was freeing abuse, the second time I was fleeing depression and the last time I had no other place to live more than a couple months. But that only lasted a couple weeks so...

Honestly I just follow my heart and experiences I haven't had and to see what I learn from there, be it in a house, in a car or in a sleeping bag.

But at that point I could argue it is neither a choice nor an obligation but a nature.

 

[zipty6425]

I dont want to say I was forced to live on the streets. After all, nobodys got a gun to my head. I

 

[zipty6425]

I made alot of bad choices when I was younger, which lead to some pretty serious social problems. As a result, its nearly impossible to keep a job and grasp my sanity at the same time. Not to mention, my family still hasnt forgiven me, and possibly never will gor the stuff that yook place 8~12 years ago. To sum it all up, all of that, forces me to live the way I do. If I could maintain a steady job and live in a house, I would absolutely love to... It's far more complicated than just being too lazy to work. Most people wouldnt understand.

 

[AnOldHope]

I made alot of bad choices when I was younger, which lead to some pretty serious social problems. As a result, its nearly impossible to keep a job and grasp my sanity at the same time. Not to mention, my family still hasnt forgiven me, and possibly never will gor the stuff that yook place 8~12 years ago. To sum it all up, all of that, forces me to live the way I do. If I could maintain a steady job and live in a house, I would absolutely love to... It's far more complicated than just being too lazy to work. Most people wouldnt understand.

Hey man, its not my place to say, I don't know you, but I respect the way you phrase your situation with your family. Most people say "my family are dicks they fucked me over", but you seem to be pretty honest about it being you, and I respect that.

I saw a post by you a while back, saying you needed to park your truck somewhere. If you still need a place to be for a bit, I've got some land in Arizona. PM me if you're interested, there are some rules on my ground (no violence, no hard drugs, you peacefully go if asked, etc).

If you need money for your vehicle insurance, I probably have enough work around the land that you could make a couple hundred dollars. I've got internet connection and stored water. If you can do vegetarian survival freeze dry, I've got food.

If not your thing, no problem. Don't give up.

 

[stormrider66]

For me, it was either hit the road or stay in a slave job driving for a small expedite company out of the Atlanta area....after 5 years of crap, I had enough. Right now I'm trying to get someplace where I can see about getting some photography work. I have an online store, but it has only been operational for a few weeks.