Intro/Looking for Advice

[EightyFourThousand]

Thirty years old, been wwoofing/traveling since 2016. Most recently spent three years in California, first in the Santa Cruz mountains on a pot farm/commune, then in the Bay Area where I volunteered for the Long Haul Infoshop and Slingshot radical newspaper. Ironically as soon as I went into homelessness the Long Haul dropped me like a ton of bricks. I spent a few months just rough sleeping in the east bay/sf until I felt claustrophobic and just kinda meandered up the 101 to Oregon... no pack just a blanket. I'm currently back in Indiana where I was raised; farming for a family, and my stay is due to end in a month. I'm kind of going back and forth between continuing this lifestyle of farming for others and going back into the ascetic lifestyle that I discovered while homeless in the bay area. That being said, my folks are elderly and I don't want to be on the other end of the country in the event that they become ill or worse. Michigan sounds appealing but the idea of dealing with the beast that is winter weather is daunting, and a challenge I never had to deal with out west. I appreciate any advice anyone can give, even if it's get yer ass back to the west coast.

84000

 

[roughdraft]

well it sounds like the main factor is that you've got the family thing goin for you, and you wanna spend time with them while possible

why is it your stay is due to end in a month? who is the 'family' that you are staying with? what are other housing options in your area, if spending time with the folks is the priority?

if they're giving you the boot, and you feel like your only option is to hack it back on the street out on the warmer coast to shirk the shittiness of midwest winter, then how could you blame yourself for being out there if they're to kick the bucket?

 

[EightyFourThousand]

I'm not really the householder type, I'd love to spend time with my family but they've got other concerns. My stay ends at the end of the month because that's when most of the harvest will be winding down.

The family I'm staying with now is just some rural family with a shit load of property and no incentive to farm it... they also run a business targeted at yuppies which leads them to less than ecofriendly envrionmental practices which doesn't jive with my sustainability goals and I'm tired of fighting the uphill battle that is pointing out their contradictory viewpoints. (i.e, envision starting a permaculture farm yet they still spray their gravel parking lot with weedkillers)

Very solid point in that last paragraph. The only blame I would feel is that I love to walk, and could easily walk the few hundred miles from michigan down to indiana. When I was in caliornia my biodad passed away and I missed the funeral and all that jazz.

 

[roughdraft]

yeah alright, well I am about your age and have some of the same outlooks, also this same deal with family, and well i am not working in farming but I am in a different line of work albeit a very similar position.

hypocrisy is a massive human force, especially among business owners. it ain't easy to avoid, you gotta keep the business afloat, heads will roll, it's like 'original sin' or whatever

both of my parents are incapable of traveling, they're locked down to their respective houses and safety nets, also fairly old, 60s. while i've traveled more and expanded and all that other shit, they've also become better people and i wanna spend more time with them while it's an option. that's my short-term plan right now, leave where i am, and be there for a while. just a while. of course it is a longer story, feel free to PM with me if you want past this post

you went through the thing with missing the one funeral, did it really bug you a lot? you want to avoid that experience again, but at what expense? is it really that bad being housed up? for how long? just for winter?

who do you wanna spend time with? can you stay with them? even just for a couple of weeks before you roll out? would that satisfy you somewhat?

these are the questions you gotta ask, but only you can figure out what is the right decision and when. and only you will bear the brunt of the consequences. compromise

this is the same for everybody, every situation has pros and cons, that's one thing that cannot be avoided, only the pieces of it can be mitigated