Mental health: How do YOU deal with loneliness on the road?

[Unslap]

Being alone = independence, but are you personally able to be happy while on the road by yourself for long periods of time? How do you deal with being alone?
Don't forget stupid things like having a stuffed animal

 

[flashinglights]

I deal by tuning into the universe... it helps that I normally recharge my batteries while alone, so to speak. Social butterflies may wish to travel with friends.

Also, I never feel alone with animals and birds everywhere... try talking to them, you'd be surprised.

 

[foxtailV]

What's that paddymelt quote from? Sounds like a movie? Dude a paper smock? Dead of winter? Haaahaaa. That's loco shit... I gotta love it. If it wasn't loco they wouldn't be in the crazy house... 1that flew over the coocoo's nest? I have had stuffed animals. I love having a real one though. Survived a long time by myself and its hard but there are pros u can travel faster and hide easier. My stuffed animal is always barking at the brakemen. Its thanx to a dog that I am free.. so its a universal balancing act. Birds are great wish they had 4 legged ones a griffen nice pets but very mischievous like telling me to check locks when the cops are coming around the corner. Never trust a fairyTail character. Singing helps alot. Ultimatlly we need some kind of connection to another world so we aren't isolated in our minds.

 

[blackswan]

And the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride
So in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied
Gives me all I need

 

[Hatta]

I always have a fantasy book on me, talking to the trees, singing songs and a good ol' 40. I wish I could get a dog but the 40s tend to be a prerequisite to overnights in jail. I figure I still have some calming down to do.

 

[1544c]

reading, screaming lyrics to shitty songs, drawing, smoking, sleeping, sacrificing insects to aggressive ant colonies, throwing rocks at something
yeah there's always drinking too

 

[LeeevinKansas]

I crave loneliness like a mad man. im sick of the voices... the voices.. everywhere... traffic, people, cars, stoplights, buildings, workers, people, problems, drama, life, its everywhere....but they get to you. women stealin my souls, dying inside, life changing experiences.....gotta get away. fuck being lonely. i love it. mmm freedom, ecstasy. Just me and the blue sky....the long green rolling hills and yellow corn fields... goin down country roads into another time...another world. not seeing a soul for days, weeks on end. fuckin hell yea. fuck modern life. just be happy with my convictions and ways and take delight in everything., get high off life. even if it kills me. risk my life everyday doin crazy shit, just for the adrenaline and thrill ride i get off life. damn. ramblings of a man mad longing for solitude. give me my peace away from this damn screwed up world.

 

[bryanpaul]

as fun as those moments singing and shouting poetry and talkin to yourself are, it sucks being lonely... and out on the road you dont really get to develop strong bonds..you meet up with people, hang out for a lil bit and go your separate ways, i've found myself babbling incessently at gas station attendents just cuz it's a human to interact with....... on the flipside if you got a roaddog or romantic interest, if you dont find some time apart...things can get bad......i spent like over two years basically only interacting with one other person all day every day (besides the occasional travelin folks)..... that aint healthy...... but yeah i've heard if a baby isnt held by a human, after a while it will die...... social creatures.... loneliness sux.........

 

[Vonuist]

I've spent years without human company, but I'd go out of my fucking mind if I didn't have a dog.
Even though I don't spend much time with people I still don't want to be completely alone in the wild and all of us, no matter how fucked up we are, need some love somewhere in our lives.

 

[Menyun]

I rarely get lonely. I acknowledge that the way I feel is just in my head a chemical inbalance or whatever and choose to not let circumstances dictate how I feel. I tend to talk to myself and keep myself company or just start singing whatever comes in my head. It does get weird though if your thinking of jokes and you make yourself laugh... thats normally when I stop from fear of developing some kind of mental disorder. (doesn't always work though... while being sad or lonely seems to be realitivly easy to fight off; anger is alot harder to control... for me anyways)

 

[kyle]

I'm with flashinglights. I'm never alone with nature as company. Sometimes I feel like just another animal in the woods

 

[1544c]

did anyone mention masturbation yet?

 

[Kim Chee]

Great thread. I've been alone for extended periods. In jail I often end up in isolation (not because I'm a bad boy, just their way).
I have a shitload of memories in my head I can reflect upon. I can fast. I can ignore every single human that comes my way.
I can breathe clean air and exhale garbage. Let it out. Breathe. Meditate. I am happy this way. I did this for a few years until
I finally broke down and purchased a radio. I've become to rely on the radio and I've been weaning myself off of it the last few
months. Great time to heal and grow. I love my alone-time, but yes a little company would be nice every now and then.

 

[Vonuist]

did anyone mention masturbation yet?

I find that masturbation requires far too much optimism.

 

[Donnie]

We are a social species. Strange things happen to the mind when you go to long without social interaction.

It, like everything, is about finding the right balance. We need to relate to other people/beings, but we also need personal time to process and digest the things.

Although, some people are fine with limited interaction, while others need more.

zombiechase123

 

[Earth]

I find being being with people to almost always be a problem.

Everything becomes a compromise, all this bullshit of doing things together as opposed to what you really want to be doing...
(my ex would be proud of me for saying that)

This is exactly one of the main reasons I suddenly got back into kayaking after a 25 year break.

I can do it alone, and find great comfort in being alone - be it in a marsh, on a tidal river, doing white water (have a backpack boat for the white water stuff so I hike in and kayak out) - or even out in the middle of the Long Island Sound at the Middle Grounds / Stratford Shoal Light
(now that's a place worth Googling......)

Ican't for the life of me wonder why nomads want friends.
Those living on the river banks here avoid all contact with humans, because it ruins what they are about.

People will always let you down in the end.
Nature on the other hand, never will..........................................

 

[HUMANCONTRAST]

I usually always travel alone, it's actually gotten to the point where I don't like traveling with other people cos I like catching out my way and don't wanna hear peoples opinions or sit at the spot they claim is the spot and watch trains pass for days when I already know the spot and they wont listen. Never really lonley but my dog helps. And if I do get lonley, narcotics!

 

[HUMANCONTRAST]

, i've found myself babbling incessently at gas station attendents just cuz it's a human to interact with.......


I do that to, I actually was at a truck stop once somewhere in the midwest and had some personal problems and babbled on to the attendant about what I should do. They gave me some decent advice haha.

 

[Rolling Blackouts]

Indeed - we are inherently social creatures, but the benefits of riding alone are blatant enough - rapid mobility and practicing radical self-reliance.
I do my best to avoid 95% of people I run across on the road - typically, they are lousy conversation or just straight trouble.
That being said, unless you're are a particularly introverted individual capable of solitary psychological survival, it gets rough being alone.
No matter where you are, the road is an isolating place. I've found its best to practice something; a game, sport, meditation, an instrument, whatever. Something to focus your energy.
And nothing warms the soul like screaming lyrics on the side of the road.

 

[river dog]

i like to smoke lots of grass when i'm riding. i think the sound of the wheels of a train are very hypnotic and can lead to very manageable trippyness. i guess that doesnt do shit for lonliness but its a coping tool in that scenario. as far as being out and about in a foreign city, booze helps. my banjo helps alot too. walking around in the woods is good.