Why does there seem to be a lot of addiction in traveling?

Ichor

Ichor

the only time I drink heavily is when im shopping.
Hello! I wanna go out on the road, but I am a little concerned about one thing in particular. It seems like a lot of travelers have addiction issues? Is this a coincidence or a symptom of traveling? Is there something within traveling that causes people to desire drugs and alcohol?

I don't want to wrongly declare causation when there is just correlation. I just simply want to understand what exactly can happen if anything, so maybe I can prevent it.
 
People run away, physically and mentally, either volitionally, out of a need or out of their pain and suffering

just so happens people who are predisposed to facing away from their problems, not facing discomfort, ignoring issues and so on, find solace in things that numb the mind and when things get too much they can always leave everything behind and move. Its like a fire is burning under your ass and you need to do something. But what you dont realize (or you do and you have to numb yourself even harder) you are carrying all the baggage, hurt and pain with you anywhere you go, the physical location means nothing when all your demons are always hitching a ride with you in your head... hence drugs and addiction to quiet down the voices and to have some rest from the pain

I write that from experience, I was heavily addicted to dopamine as a kid, just needed it to survive and keep moving, at the end when I was out of the turbulence of my childhood and young adolescence, it turned into a wicked conditioning to move for the sake of moving, because that was what felt comfortable
I mean "moving" as progressing in my case, but I could see how physically moving could be equally stimulative, new areas, new people, new sights, new opportunities, turning a new leaf

We are all running from something... I have no need for stimulants or numbing, since finding Dhamma (Buddha's teachings on understanding and taming the mind) but I symphatize a lot with people who are addicted, looking for a way out. I think everyone is like that, just at different points on the spectrum
one smokes cigarettes, one does hard drugs and one studies and analyzes the mind, all looking for their own liberation... what we are wishing to control and manage is the exact same, pain and suffering...
 
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It can go in both directions.

People who are addicted might seek travel as a way to try get away from the problems those addictions caused, perhaps hoping that travel can be a clean break. In my experience that works insofar as if you aren't close to your connect or the triggers that led you to reach for the bottle, you might sober up for a bit. But because the scene is full of addicts you're bound to meet more potential connects along the way, and booze is easy to get anywhere even if you fly solo, so it's not hard to fall back into it.

On the other hand if you head out sober to begin with, maybe you have a bad experience, you don't have any friends or family to lean on, maybe you'll try find comfort in the bottle, or you'll just use it as a social lubricant to get some kind of human connection, or you'll become curious about another drug that's available, because why not, right? You're free, you're on the road, no attachments, no responsibilities... until you get hooked, and then freedom is just a distant memory.

End of the day i don't think you're especially more likely to get addicted on the road than you are housed up, and i don't think heading out on the road is a long term cure for any addictions you already had. Bad shit is always going to happen that you might want to try escape or block out, and no matter where you are the temptations are always going to be there to seek chemical relief, no matter how damaging it might be to your health or the people around you. Whether on the road or housed up, resilience is a good skill to cultivate.

Of course there's no right or wrong way to deal with this. It's going to be different for everyone, we all have our own experiences and see the world in our own context. What works for some doesn't work for others. What might have worked for you 10 years ago might not work today. All i can really suggest is that you try be honest with yourself about your struggles and your desires, and that you stay true to the person you want to be. If you really want to stay clean on the road, just do that. It is possible to largely avoid people who are using if that's something that will make it easier for you. If you've dealt with addicts before (or been one yourself) you can hopefully recognize reasonably quickly when you're hanging with the types who lie about being sober when actually they're not, and then you can just move on. One of the best things about being on the road is exactly that you don't need to stick around if something's not working for you. Walk the path you wanna walk.
 
ali said:
It can go in both directions.

People who are addicted might seek travel as a way to try get away from the problems those addictions caused, perhaps hoping that travel can be a clean break. In my experience that works insofar as if you aren't close to your connect or the triggers that led you to reach for the bottle, you might sober up for a bit. But because the scene is full of addicts you're bound to meet more potential connects along the way, and booze is easy to get anywhere even if you fly solo, so it's not hard to fall back into it.

On the other hand if you head out sober to begin with, maybe you have a bad experience, you don't have any friends or family to lean on, maybe you'll try find comfort in the bottle, or you'll just use it as a social lubricant to get some kind of human connection, or you'll become curious about another drug that's available, because why not, right? You're free, you're on the road, no attachments, no responsibilities... until you get hooked, and then freedom is just a distant memory.

End of the day i don't think you're especially more likely to get addicted on the road than you are housed up, and i don't think heading out on the road is a long term cure for any addictions you already had. Bad shit is always going to happen that you might want to try escape or block out, and no matter where you are the temptations are always going to be there to seek chemical relief, no matter how damaging it might be to your health or the people around you. Whether on the road or housed up, resilience is a good skill to cultivate.

Of course there's no right or wrong way to deal with this. It's going to be different for everyone, we all have our own experiences and see the world in our own context. What works for some doesn't work for others. What might have worked for you 10 years ago might not work today. All i can really suggest is that you try be honest with yourself about your struggles and your desires, and that you stay true to the person you want to be. If you really want to stay clean on the road, just do that. It is possible to largely avoid people who are using if that's something that will make it easier for you. If you've dealt with addicts before (or been one yourself) you can hopefully recognize reasonably quickly when you're hanging with the types who lie about being sober when actually they're not, and then you can just move on. One of the best things about being on the road is exactly that you don't need to stick around if something's not working for you. Walk the path you wanna walk.
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I have never dealt with addicts before. I have friends who do drugs but really just psychedelics. I don't think they are an addict. I'm not particularly good at spotting dangerous people or understanding others. Social situations in general are quite hard. Do you have any tips for weeding out the people who do lie?
 
There's not really a sure-fire checklist of "if a person is doing X, then they're probably lying" - if that existed there would be a lot less grifters in the world. Unfortunately a lot of con artists are good enough at getting people to believe them that they can make a living out of it. At the same time, there are lots of reasons why a person might choose to withhold the truth that are not related to addiction, not least for their safety - people aren't always going to trust strangers they meet on the road with their personal shit. So be aware if you follow certain rules of thumb to steer clear of potentially sketchy people, you are are also going to have a lot of false positives and potentially miss out on meeting cool people too. And no matter how hard you try to avoid drama eventually you'll get it wrong and may come out feeling exploited or (more commonly) just disappointed by someone you trusted, and that fucking sucks. You live, you learn, you move on. In the end you will find a balance of openness and trust that works for you.

With those disclaimers in mind... Some things to look out for are extended violent outbursts over stuff that shouldn't be a big deal, unnecessary lies that are easily disproven, things going missing, regular attempts to solicit money - more than what's needed to get by, casual use of emotional blackmail, sudden interest in being charming or sexually open, creeping paranoia and conspiracy theories, unexplained disappearances and then defensiveness and/or caginess when asked about it, etc etc. Just living on an emotional rollercoaster and exhibiting a tendency toward abusive behavior, the kind of stuff that anyway is not healthy to have around you, although you might choose to tolerate if it is someone you care about. (Don't get it twisted, though, you won't be able to save someone who is hooked - they'll have to figure that shit out on their own.)

All that said it's totally possible to have fun times with addicts. If you're on drugs yourself you can find a kind of hyperreal connection that feels realer than real life, like you're sharing some deep inner truth or authentic human experience that nobody else understands. Imo people who do psychedelics and pretend they are some kind of elite club of enlightened drug users are just snobs because that sense of great insight or oneness with the world is totally something that people who do "low class" drugs can experience too. But in the end it's still a risky path to walk, and there's still plenty of wonderful experiences you can have in life while steering clear of it all, plus as a bonus it will cost you less money and will take much less of a toll on your body. Also don't forget there are plenty of manipulative, sociopathic assholes who claim to be "straightedge" or "feminist" or "Christian" or whatever other virtuous bullshit, so again... don't focus in on addiction by itself. Better to just do your best to avoid generally abusive people.
 
I actually don't see that as an issue. Living in a van for more than a decade and squatting on public land I've met many many people without this issue. I would think that addiction would interfere to the point that those who have become professional rubber tramps would virtually become a failure. Living in a vehicle which needs constant maintenance. Managing this lifestyle is a full-time job.
Sorry but all this time I just don't see it!!!!
I consider myself a professional traveler and the many people I've met and camped with don't appear to have this problem.
My experience tells me there is no such thing as a functional addict. To be a success in The nomad lifestyle you have to be extremely diligent and are always taking care of business.
 
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Ichor said:
Yeah addicts are everywhere. I feel like they also exist in the military. Idk was this just sarcasm? My bad if my post is annoying.
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for sure, but at least the culture veers away from it and everyone there, that belongs there, are legitimately trying to improve themselves both physically and as adults
 
Many people traveling are trying to escape something. Traveling for that reason frequently doesn't help them to escape, and, in turn they turn to drugs and alcohol to escape. All that is, is a temporary illusion. And worse, if one gets addicted, they just created another "prison" they will need to escape from.

If a person traveling falls into the wrong crowd, they too can get addicted, especially if they have a personality prone to it, and for most people they won't know that until it's too late.

I have seen many housed up people fall into the "party" crowd, then go right off a cliff.

I've also seen people housed up but drowning in debt become addicted, trying to escape their reality. You know, the kind of debt where, after a certain point you realize that you don't own anything, but everything you thought you owned actually owns you. Many people in that situation, rather than dig themselves out financially, turn to substance abuse, just digging their early grave in the process.

Sometimes getting out of a bad situation by hitting the road can do just that, get you out of a bad situation, but it can also get you into one, if you aren't prepared for it.

I don't think traveling itself is a problem causer; the problem is when someone is trying to escape something without dealing with the issue(s) head on first.
 
A lot of people have monkeys on their backs before they hit the road. I can't count the number of schwilly train kids I've known who were basically riding and drinking to stay off dope.

Meth can be a real slippery slope cause it makes a lot of the boring parts of travelling into a fun game. Collecting bottles/dumpstering for 8hrs and then sitting in a bush all night waiting for a train is way more fun spun, no 2 ways about it. Sadly lots of people fall for this and 6 months later they're pushing a cart around bakersfield picking invisible ants off their skin.
 
Beegod Santana said:
A lot of people have monkeys on their backs before they hit the road. I can't count the number of schwilly train kids I've known who were basically riding and drinking to stay off dope.

Meth can be a real slippery slope cause it makes a lot of the boring parts of travelling into a fun game. Collecting bottles/dumpstering for 8hrs and then sitting in a bush all night waiting for a train is way more fun spun, no 2 ways about it. Sadly lots of people fall for this and 6 months later they're pushing a cart around bakersfield picking invisible ants off their skin.
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This is so like, astonishingly true, it make me want to give you a fucking medal 😂
 
Beegod Santana said:
A lot of people have monkeys on their backs before they hit the road. I can't count the number of schwilly train kids I've known who were basically riding and drinking to stay off dope.

Meth can be a real slippery slope cause it makes a lot of the boring parts of travelling into a fun game. Collecting bottles/dumpstering for 8hrs and then sitting in a bush all night waiting for a train is way more fun spun, no 2 ways about it. Sadly lots of people fall for this and 6 months later they're pushing a cart around bakersfield picking invisible ants off their skin.
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Hmm im just trying to prevent this from being me. I think a good precautionary measure is a buddy. Having some kind of good company. Staves off the boredom and allows for a bit of emotional support when shit hits the fan. From what I've heard people often travel alone, and that's not the best thing always.
 
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