Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

[WeekendWarrior88]

Great, now I've got that song stuck in my head. So I've been in the same damn small town all my life, and it just feels like it's getting smaller. After my last trip, I drove down the west coast and across the US on I-40. I had the time of my life on that trip. Then I came back home about 3 months ago and I'm pretty much miserable here again like i was before I left. I've got a job working with my dad, I've been living with my folks since I got back, and now I'm feeling the same pressure that makes me want to explode as I did before I left. So now, I'm at the point where I wonder if I should just quit my job just before summer and help my dad train a new crew member and head out, or if I should stick it out until winter. and I haven't been coming up with much reason to stay. Even though I feel like I'd be abandoning my dad, I know that he could easily train somebody more efficient than me. I'm off my game here, I've got my head in the clouds and can't even focus on work. I make good money, but everything I buy breaks so I'm not feeling like putting in 40hrs/wk for that. Also, When I was on the road, people were noticing things about me that people have never noticed before, I was noticing things I hadn't noticed before. I was practicing guitar nearly every day, I was learning, reading, socializing, walking TONS, and having a blast.

I feel like I've already convinced myself, I don't know why I feel the need to post it here. I suppose it'd be nice to talk about it to somebody from a travelers perspective because nobody in my home town can relate.

Maybe if somebody's on the west coast and wants to get out as badly as I do, we could plan on teaming up. I tend to prefer traveling via automobile, subaru wagons are my preferred vehicle of choice. I'm pretty damn good at gas jugging, sign flying, and I love finding a nice place to busk. Also, I'm pretty good at hitchhiking, forget putting out a thumb, I'll walk right up to a gas station and find a ride WAYYY quicker. I've never hopped trains, but I'm sure somebody will talk me into it one day.

I'm 23, live in Washington state, wanna get the hell out. what d'ya think?

 

[REDRUM]

why don't you just say fuck it and go?
i regret not traveling a little earlier in life. passing up opportunities, and not making small sacrifices for the sake of travel; leaving my comfort zone.
once you obtain the care free/fuck it mindset everything changes. if you have any doubts and you can't bury your skepticism things will be tougher for you.
save you're money, semi-formulate a plan, and fucking do it!

what's gas jugging?

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

gas jugging is how you get gas when you have no money. walk up to a gas station with a gas jug and ask for gas.

 

[REDRUM]

aka: bottom feedin'

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

If I could ride a horse, it'd be grass feedin. but I don't think that's exactly an option for me. and if gas jugging is bottom feeding because it relies on others, than so is hitchhiking, dumpster diving, spanging, busking, flying signs, couch surfing, yada yada.

 

[EphemeralStick]

"Gas, Grass, or Ass"
Really, if leaving is what you want to do then just do it. Formulate a plan or go on a whim. Do whatever you want and whatever works best for you.

 

[REDRUM]

if someone came to me asking for gasoline, because they're trying get get to the next town, i'd tell them to fuck off, politely. i'm only helping you if youre trying to help yourself. you can ask me for food, water, shelter: yes. you're entitled to those things. i'll give you a lift if it's on the way, of course.
some able bodied fuck sitting on the corner asking me for money when they're not starving, no way, fuck off. selfish, lazy, feeding off others only to benefit themselves. fucking complaining.
i want to help you, if you want to help me or someone else. random acts of kindness, yes.
dumpster diving, csing, rideshare, hitcihing, trash humping is different. i wouldn't exactly call it bottom feeding.
when you ask someone for money out there pocket, it becomes personal.

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

That's why I don't ask for money genius. I carry the gas jug with me, so I can fill it with gas, not money. sometimes when I say "Can you spare some gas?" they reach for their wallet (I have yet to see somebody pull gas out of there). I ASK FOR GAS!!!!! Hence: GAS JUGGING. you think i'm asking people for money. YOU go fuck off.

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

and by the way, selfish, lazy, feeding off others only to benefit themselves sounds like what you do by NOT giving a dollar. you're selfish because they want a dollar and you don't want to give it up, you're lazy because you don't wanna work for another one, you're feeding off others only to benefit yourself by getting a job, working, getting that dollar, spending it, and thinking you've achieved something. So face it, WE ARE ALL BOTTOM FEEDERS. we depend on eachother. but you'd rather be so fucking independent (lah dee dah) that you'd rather associate yourself as higher class than the joe who just asked you to spare some gas.

 

[REDRUM]

come on now, we're all friends. i wasn't personally attacking you.
what makes you think your entitled to some pertrol, mate?
there would be so much time wasted! bummin' around the gas station asking people to put gas in your cute little red can. 'Fund my travel expenses'. People are assholes.
The last thing I want to do is ask some asshole that's already pissed off about paying $4.50 a gallon if I can have some of his precious, rationed fossil fuel.

Fuck Bitches, Get Money.

 

[REDRUM]

fuck you, man. i'll give Joe $5 toward his next crack rock or pack of cigarettes if he really wants it and has no means of getting it. a true gift is to make the recipient happy, not me. if anything i strive to separate myself to anyone who has some sense of entitlement or superiority. there's is a difference between helping someone and granting them a favor. but do i have to give joe my hard the money i made at my shitty min. wage job, no. if joes in the same spot as me i feel less inclined to help him out with something that's not a necessity. i'm willing to help someone who can't help himself. why should i pay it forward if youre not going to?

I'm not going to suck off the general population who already feels superior to me only to be spat upon and labeled as scum. Fuck that. If anything join others and be innovative.

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

It's one planet and we're one people, it doesn't owe anybody anything. no energy is lost nor created, merely transformed. there is no debt except what you imagine.

I've got the need to travel, If I stay in one spot too long, I start going crazy. I can hitchhike perfectly fine, but rather than standing and walking for hours on end to get across downtown wherever the hell, I'd rather drive, It's much quicker, and you can go ANYWHERE you'd like in a much more comfortable schedule. Plus, it's storage and shelter, much more room than a backpack. Therefore, I prefer driving. Once I'm out of money, sure I can get a job and make money, but as soon as you get a job, you're investing valuable time into it. PLUS, you spend a portion of money just making the time pass from day to day. Therefore, I view THAT as a waste of my time. So you get a job for 2 weeks doing landscaping making $10/hr, 40hrs/wk, that's $800 before taxes, not including gas to get to work, food, smokes let's say that's $5 each/day being $15/day would be $150 for those 2 weeks. then the taxes, I usually figure it's around 20%, you make $640 minus that $150 that you already spent which brings your net total to $490. So you just made $490 in two weeks (bummer!) THAT'S A WASTE OF TIME. Right now, I make $17/hr, I'm working my way up to rolling in the dough. But money doesn't do shit for me, I want to enjoy life as God so intended. therefore, I say "fuck it, I'll gas jug while I'm on my way there" I get there in a week. that's how it worked out when I drove XC. it took us 10 days to go from Slab City, to Pheonix, to Flagstaff, to Albuquerque, to Taos (stayed a couple days), to Memphis, to Forida.

As for the assholes, they live in Pheonix. I didn't really encounter many assholes. I dress nice while I travel. I LOOK CUTE, not the gas jug. I do this so that I can eliminate any preconceived notions that people LOVE to make about travelers. I politely pull into the gas station, park off to the side where the attendant can't see me, get out, wait for a car to pull up to a pump, wait for them to put the nozzle in their tank and that's when I approach, I say "Excuse me." and I wait for their full attention. "Could you spare a gallon of gas? I'm driving to Florida" This is when you either get a yes or a no. If they're an asshole, they'll just tell you no before you're finished talking and to them I say "alright have a good day". Sure you can get a lot of no's, but it only takes like 2-5 yes's to fill up your jug, and two jugs to fill up your tank. and then you're golden for about another 400 miles.

 

[Pheonix]

I'm looking for someone to travel with to but my problem is I got a Chevy Astro van and no license. So if you got a license and insurance and want to drive from Stockton,CA to Columbus,OH for me to dump all my crap into a storage unit in Columbus,OH, then I was thinking of going to the gathering. If your interested I got another thread in the Ride Board about it.

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

There's a lot less about it to be skeptical of than you'd think. Some people have a problem with it, but seriously, it's not a sin to ask for gas. It's not going to affect my karma so long as I tell the truth. To produce gas without money, is a practice of faith. To produce gas with money, is without faith. Anything without faith, is sin. How could you remember that you are a man if you're just making another pit stop for fuel? How can you remember what you came from when you buy anything. To have nothing and know the hunger, the greed, the pain of dealing without, is what makes you feel alive. do you feel alive while doing the same things day after day for years at a time? buying gas at a gas station is part of that regular routine. but you don't know what you're doing there until you've experienced it so deeply that you realize exactly what lengths you can go to to get it. And then, once you understand the action in itself, it's almost humiliating how simple it really is, but we pay soooo much for something that's really not worth that much. the prices we put on things weren't put there by God, therefore, it is not natural.

 

[ped]

It's one planet and we're one people, it doesn't owe anybody anything. no energy is lost nor created, merely transformed. there is no debt except what you imagine.

I've got the need to travel, If I stay in one spot too long, I start going crazy. I can hitchhike perfectly fine, but rather than standing and walking for hours on end to get across downtown wherever the hell, I'd rather drive, It's much quicker, and you can go ANYWHERE you'd like in a much more comfortable schedule. Plus, it's storage and shelter, much more room than a backpack. Therefore, I prefer driving. Once I'm out of money, sure I can get a job and make money, but as soon as you get a job, you're investing valuable time into it. PLUS, you spend a portion of money just making the time pass from day to day. Therefore, I view THAT as a waste of my time. So you get a job for 2 weeks doing landscaping making $10/hr, 40hrs/wk, that's $800 before taxes, not including gas to get to work, food, smokes let's say that's $5 each/day being $15/day would be $150 for those 2 weeks. then the taxes, I usually figure it's around 20%, you make $640 minus that $150 that you already spent which brings your net total to $490. So you just made $490 in two weeks (bummer!) THAT'S A WASTE OF TIME. Right now, I make $17/hr, I'm working my way up to rolling in the dough. But money doesn't do shit for me, I want to enjoy life as God so intended. therefore, I say "fuck it, I'll gas jug while I'm on my way there" I get there in a week. that's how it worked out when I drove XC. it took us 10 days to go from Slab City, to Pheonix, to Flagstaff, to Albuquerque, to Taos (stayed a couple days), to Memphis, to Forida.

As for the assholes, they live in Pheonix. I didn't really encounter many assholes. I dress nice while I travel. I LOOK CUTE, not the gas jug. I do this so that I can eliminate any preconceived notions that people LOVE to make about travelers. I politely pull into the gas station, park off to the side where the attendant can't see me, get out, wait for a car to pull up to a pump, wait for them to put the nozzle in their tank and that's when I approach, I say "Excuse me." and I wait for their full attention. "Could you spare a gallon of gas? I'm driving to Florida" This is when you either get a yes or a no. If they're an asshole, they'll just tell you no before you're finished talking and to them I say "alright have a good day". Sure you can get a lot of no's, but it only takes like 2-5 yes's to fill up your jug, and two jugs to fill up your tank. and then you're golden for about another 400 miles.

Well if they're such "assholes" then why don't you stick around getting overpaid by daddy for a year or two and save up your own money to fund your trip? Then, when some snot nosed shits constantly ask you for gas at $4+ a gallon you can be totally awesome and give huge chuncks of it to them. Personally I would tell you to fuck right off before you even got near me with a gas can and if you passive-aggressively mumbled anything at all towards me I would promptly jack you in the face. Then you will you will know what a real asshole is.

Sitting back asking for change and letting others choose to give is a whole lot different than approaching someone and essentially backing them into a corner with no good way out and exploiting them for $5, $10, $20. Then if they have the courage to say no they're labeled an asshole.

You have a need to travel? So do I. Welcome to reality. I've had to work for years at half what good 'ol dad is paying you to do it. And you have the gull to expect me and everyone else to give you gas justifying it with vapid dime store philosophy? The narcissism is unbelievable.

 

[WeekendWarrior88]

Ped, you're an idiot. I'm just throwing that out there because I'd rather tell you that then make a valid point against what you just said. I'd love to tell you why everything you just said is wrong. But I think your world is dark enough with you in it and I don't need to add to that. So I just want to politely say this in response to the way you regarded my dad so rudely. "Go fuck yourself"

 

[Pheonix]

Back to the point of the thread, are you looking for someone to travel with? cause if not then this is just another pointless rant thread that shouldn't be in the "Ride Board" section.

 

[smellsea]

hm, i guess ped isnt wrong in his own sense, but in a hole, he's absolutely wrong, because that's just not how it is. look, if some one's mooching change and you don't want to give it to them, just fucking don't. it's as simple as that. god danm, it's not like i'm asking for your daughters hand in marriage or anything like that, and if ethir one of us feels offended because you had to say "no" and i had to accept "no" then we are both socially retarded. if you think you have more integrity than i because i'm a spanger, you can suck it, because i obviously wouldn't be asking in the first place if i gave a shit.

 

[ped]

Well fuckit then, I need someone like you to ride with and get us gas. We'll get a 55 gal drum and wheel it over on a dolley.

Sir, spare some gas?

"NO!"

Spare some change then?

 

[Teko]

DO IT. I spin fire and that shit brings in good busking tips.