How to prepare for vagabond life?

[Mordecai]

I will spare you all my reasoning for wanting to choose this lifestyle. I'm sure you have heard it all before. I'm currently a Junior in High school, with a job. I plan on leaving this town behind the day I graduate next year, and what should I do to prepare for doing so? Besides making enough money to leave.

 

[Benny]

It really all depends on what you want to do. A vagabond lifestyle is a wide term.

 

[Mordecai]

Train hopping, city to city. Maybe rubber tramp in a vanagon.

 

[Benny]

The best advice that i can give you is to read every forum on this site on what you are intersted in. Ask questions in the threads you are reading. Nobody can just give you all the answers. Everyone has there own preferences in gear etc. You need to find what works for you.

 

[hiveranno]

What Benny said. Learn it now when you can make mistakes and still go back to mom n dads and eat, get warm, and sleep in clean sheets. Learn busk'n/fly a sign/, eat a few road kills, do some dumpstering, go campin in the rain, get wasted and tell people you have a 100$ in your pocket and they can have it if they can get it, look up picking locks, popping padlocks with a beer can, food scams, load ur pack the try hop a freight then ditch the heavy unneeded crap, the list goes on. Easiest would be road up with somebody and pay attention.

 

[wizehop]

Ya man focus on getting away as your primary goal and make shit like hopping the odd train secondary. Hitching is a great way to get going and you don't need to know much to get started.
Also if you don't have much cash learn how to find soup kitchens and shelters. I'm not a fan of sleeping in them (never have) but finding the places in a town where you can eat properly is a good skill to have. You may also meet other kids there. At your age your young enough to take advantage of the youth drop in centers too. There are some sweet ones out there.
Other than food or shelter, your just going to have to get out there and experience it and learn as shit comes up. But man that's the best part!

 

[thapoet]

you are either green and growing or brown and dying bro.... benny and hive gave the best answers you could have ever hoped for in this thread. i will add this, the life you are seeking is one of adaptation and improvision... you will never "know" everything, so itmis therefore a mental life. strengthen your mind because it is the most important tool you have. not just with knowledge of camping, killing and scavenging for food, and such, but psychologically. be ready for the best and most invigorating hard times you can expect, and then understand that even then you aren't ready. thats where adaptation is so important. give you an example, several years back, hiding out in a swamp not 2 miles from town. hurricane season. floods came in and literally trapped me on a new island that was about the size of a small house. spent 3 wks there living on snails, a few fish, and some slimey green mush that floated in... none of that bothered me, but after deciding i was to proud to signal the only helicopter that passed overhead, my mind tried its damndest to turn to fear and desperation. but then after a few hours of psuedo panic, i realized, if i die right here, right now, in this beautiful seclusion, then i will never get to see the next beautiful seclusion Two weeks later, wnd twenty pounds lighter, with the water subsiding to knee level, i hiked out... now, heres the funny thing... with all of my outdoor skills, with all the trees floating by my little island, and all the vines, and even plastic jugs and other useful items carried by flood waters, my psyche blocked my logic and knowledge.... that was a wake up call for me.... so, train your brain bro. your psychology can overcome circumstance... if you allow it

 

[Dmac]

read, ask questions, decide what equipment you really need. good, no, great shoes and plenty of socks. pack a pack and go hiking till your tired of lugging it around, then re- evaluate what you are carting around with you. just because you have a big pack, does not mean you have to have it full. i found that a 4-way key for water faucets is a very handy thing to have. go do some stealth camping and get out of your comfort zone, like try to camp when it is pouring rain and cold out. cuz it'll happen out on the road.

 

[hiveranno]

"found that a 4-way key for water faucets is a very handy thing to have." Lol you would never think of this till u need one.. I traded for one of these years ago and still cherish it like a lump of gold.. This and a gerber multi tool are my two favs..

 

[Pappy]

You cannot dream yourself into a character (or lifestyle); You must hammer and forge yourself one

 

[MFB]

If you are a junior I assume you'll have a summer break before your senior year.

I suggest you use this summer break to do AS MUCH TRAVELING AS POSSIBLE.
While I agree with every post above; you will learn far more by doing than by reading.
You'll learn all the who's, where's, and how's on a personal level.
A few test runs this summer will also allow you to go back to your parents when you find yourself stuck and lost. Go back to mom and dad's and refine your techniques and gear.

This summer set a goal to head out for 5 days, then 10, then 15. This will give you an understanding of the fortitude you will need when you head out for good.

Benny said it well, everybody is different. Find what works for you. To me it is all mind over matter. People have laughed at me because I carry 40lbs on my back (I wiegh 140); but I sleep warm and dry, and eat well! Plus I gots some sexy legs because of my hefty pack!

 

[Ilikepie]

If you are a junior I assume you'll have a summer break before your senior year.

I suggest you use this summer break to do AS MUCH TRAVELING AS POSSIBLE.
While I agree with every post above; you will learn far more by doing than by reading.
You'll learn all the who's, where's, and how's on a personal level.
A few test runs this summer will also allow you to go back to your parents when you find yourself stuck and lost. Go back to mom and dad's and refine your techniques and gear.

This summer set a goal to head out for 5 days, then 10, then 15. This will give you an understanding of the fortitude you will need when you head out for good.

Benny said it well, everybody is different. Find what works for you. To me it is all mind over matter. People have laughed at me because I carry 40lbs on my back (I wiegh 140); but I sleep warm and dry, and eat well! Plus I gots some sexy legs because of my hefty pack!

This is what I'm doing, I'm in a similar position to you OP.

May even want to bring a friend a long. Another good thing to do, is use this time to get familiar just being around trains especially, you'll have the summer to get over the fear of hopping the first time. Give yourself a couple of days observing trains going in and out a nice yard (this is advise given to me by a friend). Go camping on your own or with a friend too.

And hitchhike as wizehop suggested, hell, try traveling by any form available to you (knowing how to ride a regular bus can come in handy at times, I only say this because I do know grown adults who don't know how to make sure you're going to the right place while riding the bus). The only thing is, do your parents care much for you? (I don't mean this to be mean either), as getting away from rents without them worrying for you maybe a considerable problem.

 

[KnowOneGnome]

This has to be one of the more informative posts I've read so far on the site. I hope things go well for you OP. And to everyone else that posted I'd like to say thank you for the advice as its great information to anyone new to the site such as myself as well.

 

[MisterGraves]

remember you cant reqlly plan or prepare for life in general, what you can do is deal with it. that comes with experiance... watch your back and have fun, every thing else sort of works its self out in the end. life never gives us more than we can handle.

 

[outskirts]

Everybody above had great advice! During your little excursions this summer try exploring and camping in both an unfamiliar wilderness and an unfamiliar city. It's a good instinct to develop... that is getting your bearings as quickly as possible in new places. Whether it's roads, rails or trails, good navigation skills are helpful. And between now and when your finished high school absorb all the knowledge you can and practice all the skills you learn. Read books, watch DIY youtube videos, make shit outta trash, test different gear, dumpster dive, hunting & fishing, learn edible plants, etc. Yes, experience is the ultimate teacher, but a multitude of skills are the lightest and most handy thing to pack.
What was said above about both the hitchhiking and buses is so true. Hopping trains can't take a person everywhere.