Yo, name's Sarge, and I live in a bin house | Squat the Planet

Yo, name's Sarge, and I live in a bin house

binhouse

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
5
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Location
South Dakota
Hi everybody, I'm Sarge. No, I wasn't in the military, I fucking hate war. But my parents shipped me off to a military style boarding school for a while and when I came back with a buzz cut and stuff all my friends called me Sarge. And it stuck. I love everyone who's nice and doesn't take advantage of other people. I believe in the power of cooperation. I believe in kicking out the people who don't cooperate. I believe everyone should be free to be themselves and express themselves. There's enough room on earth for everyone. Maybe I don't want to live with those people because they do things very differently from the way I'd like, but that's fine, they can do that over there somewhere while I do my thing over here. I'll help them out if their village experiences a catastrophe, and hopefully they'd help me. I know, that's pretty idealistic. But it would be nice, wouldn't it.

I'm not really an oogle or a dirty kid but I have done my own sort of traveling in my car and made a lot of friends who are. Also the kids who named me Sarge are rather well known train hoppers but I don't wanna name drop. Honestly it's 50/50 when I'm on the road. A lot of people think I'm a square and won't engage with me because I try to blend in so cops don't hassle me. But whatever.

My travel has been mostly in the Great Plains, the southern Rockies, and the Sonoran desert. Right now I have a little Hyundai Accent that I took all the seats out of and made a sleeper. I'm not much of a city person, I try to stay away from the cities and most of my travel is just to hike and camp and enjoy nature. Except for Tucson. Tucson is fucking awesome and I don't get there every winter but definitely every other or every third.

Lately I've been planted in South Dakota. I spent my early childhood here on a little piece of property in the middle of fucking nowhere. I don't have much money (just lots of medical bills) but technically my dad owns this and he pays the property taxes and shit so the debt collectors can't take it from me. I built a house in a steel grain bin when I still had a bit of money and I ran out before it got finished but it's comfortable and dry. I still shit in a bucket of sawdust and haul it out every day though. I'm working towards living completely off the land. I'm very anti-capitalist and I want to have nothing to do with the system. Unfortunately I need money for now but once the system is built it should be self sustaining. I think I'm about $30,000 away from that point.

I've spent the last five years gardening here learning what grows best and how to do it. I'm great with plants but I learned how to garden in Minnesota which is much different. It is semi-arid here and can be very hot and dry. I've kind got a groove going now. I understand why the Lakota didn't garden here. They ate wild fruit/vegetables (perennials) and meat primarily. We have domesticated fruit that produces a lot more than the wild, so we have that advantage now. The way to live off this land is from perennial fruit and vegetables, and livestock. No tilling the dry earth, no planting seeds every year that might not germinate. I'm getting a well this year so I can get some livestock and start learning how to work that end of it. I already hunt deer but that's not enough to live on for a year. Does make a good contribution though.

I'm at a point now where I can start thinking about what it would look like to bring other people on board. I'm getting running water this summer, and recent changes in South Dakota's laws have given me some opportunity to legally use my talents to make money. Maybe I can get the cash flowing again and continue improving the property. (Covid totally fucked my job, I have no money right now.) Some people here may be semi-permanent and others may just pass through. I'd like to get it to where I have people I can trust to run things while I'm gone so I can do some more traveling myself. This place is gorgeous and I love it here but a person has to get out and move every now and again. Summer is when I garden outside and winter is when I garden inside, so it's hard to really get away. I had no idea this place existed until a friend of mine told me about it yesterday. I was talking to her about how hard it is to find like-minded people who might be interested in this place when I'm stuck here taking care of stuff and can't travel very much. So, here I am. Nice to meet you all. I'll start another thread somewhere with pictures and more info about my place here.
 

Matt Derrick

Retired Wanderer
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What do you like about Tucson so much? Also, welcome to StP!
 

binhouse

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
27
Location
South Dakota
Hi all, sorry for not being super involved. I have been having autoimmune disease problems that makes use of my hands difficult and it kinda fucked up my program. We're getting it sorted out but it will take some time. Thanks for the welcome and well wishes.

Tucson is just so free and full of life and absolutely itself with no shame. A mecca for all kinds of folks not traveling the beaten path. Spectacular mountain views everywhere. Easy to live in your car or in a tent. Good public transportation, great bike paths, decently drivable. There's a little bit of everything and you can do something wildly different with very different people every single day. Lots of natural space within the city. Gorgeous desert camping less than an hour away in every direction. Cheap kind bud.

I lived in a motorhome in walmart parking lot up by the Rillito river for a couple winters in a row and I was afraid of the security lady for months until she pulled up to talk to me. I was afraid I was getting kicked out but said she was looking after me and my shit too. Some gay tweakers that lived in the tunnels nearby were still friendly after we politely declined their invitation to tweak and jerk, and brought us some dumpstered bread whenever they got a good score. I learned how to play didgeridoo and got to go to a sweat lodge. Great place.
 

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