Planning a mutli-month trip to anywhere

[CondorTheRed]

Hey, everyone. My name's Connor, I'm 23, and I'm from Texas. I've always loved traveling, and soon I'm planning on going on a multi-month trip. I've never traveled too far from home, even though I've always wanted to. So in light of that, I've been studying and preparing for this trip, and I figured I'd make an account for tips and advice. Anything helps, thanks!

 

[WanderLost]

So what are you using for transportation? Where are you gonna go?

 

[CondorTheRed]

I'm not sure about where I'm gonna go, but I do have places I'd like to stop and visit on the trip. As for getting around, mostly train hopping.

 

[WanderLost]

Looks like its either your first time or one of your first times on the road. I think the best advice i can give you is do your research, have some cash saved up, be prepared to hitchhike, use good judge ment, be very patient and safe.

In my experience you gotta get acclimated to this style of travel before you trainhop as primary transportation. Its a learning curve.

When i say get acclimated I mean know how to sleep outside, wait long periods of time, have atleast a general knowledge of freight trains, dont freakout if youre low on cash or completely run out. Get EBT if you can and do a little dumpster diving.

As of this year i trainhop almost all the time for getting around, but i know full well i could get there faster and cheaper hitching.

But im sick of hitching and im used to those long wait times for trains. You definitely need to be set on catching a train though or else youll give up and catch a ride somehow. No shame in it though.

 

[CondorTheRed]

I appreciate the advice. I'm pretty used to sleeping in weird and/or outdoor spots. Waiting for long periods of time is one of my specialties. Haha not really, but it's certainly not a chore.

I'm saving up money and buying everything I'm gonna need as we speak. I'm still learning as much as I can right now, but I'm looking forward to getting out there. Again, I appreciate your help.

Thank you,
Connor

 

[Koala]

When i say get acclimated I mean know how to sleep outside, wait long periods of time, have atleast a general knowledge of freight trains,

@CondorTheRed good to hear you're used to rough camping/sleeping in weird spots, that's probably what helped me the most when I first started riding was that I started hitching/dumpster diving/squatting/sleeping rough for a while beforehand so sleeping at yards and on the trains wasn't weird. But I can't imagine just going fresh straight from normal life to riding trains, it would just be too much all at once.

Other advice for the trainzzzz, if you haven't already, go sit at your local yards and snoop around and watch and listen for hours n hours n hours n get used to the trains and figure out ops in your nearby yards, itll help you so much for when you first get started

 

[CondorTheRed]

I kind of figured it'd be a lot to take in all at once, haha. I've never ridden on trains, but I've been around them for a good part of my life. Seeing them out of car windows, climbing over them to get to the Salvation Army, watching them come and go in the train yards, etc. Even as a child, I've always loved trains and always thought about riding on one.

I'm going to be working for a little bit, then heading out hopefully this summer. I'm honestly surprised people actually comment and share tips and advice, its been extremely helpful.