Newbie here....finally made the decision to travel.

[hazel drifting]

I've been creepin on this site for about a year now, but I'm finally ready to start prepping to make moves. I'm a 23 year old female from Long Island, New York. I have just graduated college this past spring and am in search of adventure and stepping out of my comfort zone before I continue on to graduate school, or whatever the heck it is I end up doing (haven't thought that far ahead yet). I have grown up in a very unhealthy, mentally, and physically abusive sheltered household with my mother. I met my now ex boyfriend who is a traveler who showed me what the lifestyle is about, and then met even more traveling friends this summer at a few music festivals I went to. I am not growing here. My existence has been so sheltered that I am stagnant. It's so comfortable and protected here that I feel like I haven't seen the true extent of what life has to offer me. I am also in search of spiritual growth.

I am terrified but I am ready to be beaten down and lifted up by the difficulties of the road. I don't have it set in stone as to how I will be getting around, but I am thinking I will most likely be rubbertramping in my honda civic. I have many friends and connections around the country to see. The goal is to go for about a year. I am ready to embark on this journey alone if need be, because I want to see if I can be alone. I want to truly be able to see if I like myself. And if I don't I can see clearly what needs to be worked on.

There's a lot of reasons in my mind as to what I am looking for, and even more unanswered questions as to what I am looking for. Sorry if I am coming off a bit confused. I just know this is where my heart is calling me.

 

[AbsolutelyLost]

Good luck out there. I hope you find what it is you seek. If ever this way you have a place to crash and food,shower.

 

[Bedheadred]

Good luck! I rubbertramped by myself with my dog in a Subaru for 6 months last year, and finally learned to really love and rely on myself. I hope the same for you! Feel free to message me any questions or if you want advice

 

[hazel drifting]

Good luck! I rubbertramped by myself with my dog in a Subaru for 6 months last year, and finally learned to really love and rely on myself. I hope the same for you! Feel free to message me any questions or if you want advice

thank you soo much sister! I will definitely be taking you up on that once I figure out things I need to ask..... <3

 

[creature]

as you travel, make sure you hold all your hopes in temper..

traveling for the sake of freedom & experiencing (as much as possible) the non-differentiation of consciousness is an act of love.
-of yearning for love
-of desiring to give love
& to be available to what love may not merely expect from you
but also demand...

traveling, like love, is not merely something 'done'..
those whom travel not to travel, but to merely have a variety of insulated, pleasant and 'beautiful' experiences .. (which i know is not what you mean) will find that much of what they are lead into
are either gross complications or the incredible appetites of illusion & intentional ignoring..

thus traveling, in itself, is no great distinction..
traveling, to be done well, just as to be a good friend, a good parent, a devoted activist, a good worker who insists upon fairness, or as a lover who will surrender life for their beloved must be done
not merely with hope
& not merely with passion or desire
but with sacrifice.

traveling is not about you.

traveling is about what you can do, with freedom, that changes you into whom & what you are able to be, in such a way as fullfills & verifies you.. that aligns you, as much as possible, to your sense of personal duty..

Matt, for instance, and Caveman & Cornelius & Tude & whomever it is that travels further on their *love* of traveling, travels further than merely the places they may go..

what their efforts produce are more than mere experience..

The people on here who are hardcore (& there are many), KimChee, Highwayman, jimmy the fucking goat whose membername i can't remember...

all these people move with a deep, strong courage & integrity..

do not let your need become a weakness.

frankly?

until you can say "FUCK YOU!" to traveling?

you may not be ready to travel..

there are things far more important than traveling, even if you could breathe life back into the dead, because of it..

in life there is desire
& there is duty.

some duties are derived from obligation, some duties are a consequence of what must be done.

your first duty, if it is not defined by promise or obligation to others (& i do not mean servicing their weakness) is to make yourself as potent as you are able to, in terms of self-definition..

between the two.. freedom & obligation, there is no contradiction..
do not hate yourself because of consequence, if you know what it means to accept duty..

do not travel, if you are free to make the choice, if you do not know what duty is..

let neither guilt nor uncertainty nor desire define duty.

if you can fight those things, you may start to find what faith is..

Duty is, for the most part, what comes out of your mouth.

what you say is, essentially, as binding as your flesh..

or say or imply or ... whatever..


when you can proceed in simplicity, there is only truth.

this does not mean life is simple, or relations are simple or or that you will find any great agreement or peace between yourself & whatever asshole you find to possibly be no more than a lying motherfucker, after you have offered them all the friendship & devotion which you contain..

it means only that you can walk away, with enough strength to incur loss, rather than hate, if you have no duties which otherwise obligate you.

you get yourself into that headspace, & you'll be fine to travel, however & wherever you want..

 

[hazel drifting]

as you travel, make sure you hold all your hopes in temper..

traveling for the sake of freedom & experiencing (as much as possible) the non-differentiation of consciousness is an act of love.
-of yearning for love
-of desiring to give love
& to be available to what love may not merely expect from you
but also demand...

traveling, like love, is not merely something 'done'..
those whom travel not to travel, but to merely have a variety of insulated, pleasant and 'beautiful' experiences .. (which i know is not what you mean) will find that much of what they are lead into
are either gross complications or the incredible appetites of illusion & intentional ignoring..

thus traveling, in itself, is no great distinction..
traveling, to be done well, just as to be a good friend, a good parent, a devoted activist, a good worker who insists upon fairness, or as a lover who will surrender life for their beloved must be done
not merely with hope
& not merely with passion or desire
but with sacrifice.

traveling is not about you.

traveling is about what you can do, with freedom, that changes you into whom & what you are able to be, in such a way as fullfills & verifies you.. that aligns you, as much as possible, to your sense of personal duty..

Matt, for instance, and Caveman & Cornelius & Tude & whomever it is that travels further on their *love* of traveling, travels further than merely the places they may go..

what their efforts produce are more than mere experience..

The people on here who are hardcore (& there are many), KimChee, Highwayman, jimmy the fucking goat whose membername i can't remember...

all these people move with a deep, strong courage & integrity..

do not let your need become a weakness.

frankly?

until you can say "FUCK YOU!" to traveling?

you may not be ready to travel..

there are things far more important than traveling, even if you could breathe life back into the dead, because of it..

in life there is desire
& there is duty.

some duties are derived from obligation, some duties are a consequence of what must be done.

your first duty, if it is not defined by promise or obligation to others (& i do not mean servicing their weakness) is to make yourself as potent as you are able to, in terms of self-definition..

between the two.. freedom & obligation, there is no contradiction..
do not hate yourself because of consequence, if you know what it means to accept duty..

do not travel, if you are free to make the choice, if you do not know what duty is..

let neither guilt nor uncertainty nor desire define duty.

if you can fight those things, you may start to find what faith is..

Duty is, for the most part, what comes out of your mouth.

what you say is, essentially, as binding as your flesh..

or say or imply or ... whatever..


when you can proceed in simplicity, there is only truth.

this does not mean life is simple, or relations are simple or or that you will find any great agreement or peace between yourself & whatever asshole you find to possibly be no more than a lying motherfucker, after you have offered them all the friendship & devotion which you contain..

it means only that you can walk away, with enough strength to incur loss, rather than hate, if you have no duties which otherwise obligate you.

you get yourself into that headspace, & you'll be fine to travel, however & wherever you want..

Thank you for typing this all out.........I'm going to have to read it over a couple of times and meditate on it. It's definitely a lot to think about.

 

[Tude]

Hey welcome to STP! Glad you made an account (nice intro btw) - and congrats on you graduating - ya stuck it out - good! Do read some of the travel stories here - they are amazing and check out one of my favorite subforums, Urban Exploration. Plus we have a lot of other good info on traveling like gear, food etc - do some research and hit us up with questions - lots of knowledge here. Again welcome and enjoy your future travels!

 

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

Welcome, welcome!
I first joined this website to gather information before setting off on my first trip in a station wagon
Traveling is a good way to throw off stagnation if you feel stuck in one place.
Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or anything.

 

[Coywolf]

Being terrified is good. Embrace that. The fright will turn into experience and confidence right quick. Meet good people. Check out that "The no-nos of traveling" post everyone is commenting on. Theres some great advice over there.

 

[Coywolf]

With your level of maturity and bullshit...you'd probably enjoy travellers hq moreso

Wow, what an assshole post. Maybe YOU would enjoy Travelers HQ more than here =P.

 

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

With your level of maturity and bullshit...you'd probably enjoy travellers hq moreso

I hope you have insurance so you can go to the doctor and get x-rays to determine what crawled up your ass. Hope it isn't anything poisonous.

 

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

...

I was actually complimemting her...but welcome to america right? Lames.

If I wanted to be an asshole full of dead things...i would say take your slutty ass to lonely planet or travelers mingle.(but you'd both probably thing in was trying to be nice then with your assbackwardness lol)

Spread love and light n your legs n all that retarded shit. Fucking morons

Haha, okay. I think that'll be my new life motto, "spread light n your legs and shit."

 

[Vanholio]

Sounds like you're starting out sensibly, hazel drifting. Having your own car gives you security and independence (and a place to sleep). Setting out to see friends gives structure to your first big rubbertramp excursion, combats loneliness, and puts you in regular contact with people who can help if something unexpected comes up. Have fun!

 

[Tude]

I was actually complimemting her...but welcome to america right? Lames.

If I wanted to be an asshole full of dead things...i would say take your slutty ass to lonely planet or travelers mingle.(but you'd both probably thing in was trying to be nice then with your assbackwardness lol)

Spread love and light n your legs n all that retarded shit. Fucking morons

Dude that is so bizarre and so unwelcome!

 

[bluebadgerblue]

Welcome to the road life! It took us over a year of planning, getting rid of excess junk, etc before we were ready. I remember the exhilaration/terror of pulling out of the driveway FOR THE LAST TIME. So glad we did, though. It's been all we hoped for, a lot we didn't quite plan for, and a lot of awesome experiences. We've been traveling full time for a year and a half now and we still love it.

 

[hazel drifting]

Sounds like you're starting out sensibly, hazel drifting. Having your own car gives you security and independence (and a place to sleep). Setting out to see friends gives structure to your first big rubbertramp excursion, combats loneliness, and puts you in regular contact with people who can help if something unexpected comes up. Have fun!

thank you friend! your post makes me feel better about the whole thing

 

[Feral1]

Ps...youre all whining and reporting but this was is my ex lol. I was trolling for shits n giggles.