Finally going to hit the road. My Story and more to come!

After years, and I mean years, of thinking about dropping off the grid, or even just traveling the United States. I am finally ready, or I think so at least. At first I was going to buy a van and travel and live in it, then I changed my mind to a camper trailer. Once again, I have changed my mind, now I am either going to travel by motorcycle or just on foot. Anyone with experience have any suggestions on what they prefer?
I have been dreaming of this for years and have always had something holding me back. Well now I am done with school, single, renting out a room in an apartment with no lease and work a low paying job. I have lost everything that was keeping me here, besides my job and my family. When I think about it the only thing that has kept me here has been fear of the unknown, fear of just leaving and failing and coming back to the same life minus my job, and also I don't know if I want to travel alone. Has anyone on here traveled alone or with people before? Any thoughts?
I have all the supplies I need, a great pack, a nice non cotton sleeping bag, I have made a list over the past several months of everything I need and I am confident that I have the necessities. I did want to try something different and instead of using a tent use a small travel hammock. Any suggestions?
I do not know how long I want to go for, or my exact destinations. I just know that for the longest time my soul has been telling me to do this. There has been something making me want to explore and see different parts of the world and not be stuck in the same town forever, working the same job, with the same old routine every day. I want to wake up one morning on the beach, and fall asleep that night somewhere completely different! Like I said the main thing that has kept me from just doing this has been fear, and my relationship, which is now over. So I figure what do I really have to lose.. Besides my job. Another thing that I stress about is running out of money on the road, so any suggestions on making some extra cash, pretty much just food and gas money, would be very much appreciated!
If anyone is interested in traveling and just seeing whats out there, please send me a message! I have no destination or time limit, heck, if this is what really makes me happy I might never come back. I just need to do this, my body is telling me to just go, and has been for years and years. Thank you for reading, and I promise I will keep up with this thread and keep it updated with more details and pictures when I make my journey. Maybe one day this thread will be a sticky like TwoDogs! If you have any advice, questions, or would like to join in feel free to reply. I love meeting new people and having discussions about this! Thanks again for reading.

 

go on foot and have a simple soulful gift to give along
the way . this is spirit talk . don't talk to me about wanting
anything just because you are nervous . go on , do it or don't .
once you're gone , gone , it won't be bad at all . it's the first
hour on the road that may have anxiety , then poof!

be supplied with appropriate gear for the weather . if in the north
it's warmth for sub-zero right now . this can be done .

you have a family ? better take them along . eh ?

 

Going on foot does seem like the most enjoyable way to do it, but I feel like the traveling will be slow and stressful. On a motorcycle I can take off anywhere, but it will also limit where I can go and sleep. I can't bring my family, they are too locked down by the system and would never want to do something like this. I wish though. As each day goes by I think about it more and more, and am closer and closer to just doing it without looking back. Thanks for your words tikoo.

 

sleeping free and peaceful will give you health .

 

Ive got to say reconsider the van. It's the perfect medium, To be happy you have to be able to get out of the weather and at least have some comfort. Also, too many hassles from humans. Sadly in today's society a single man alone with a pack is considered a menace. Get an old white work van, rig a bed and become invisible as needed.. good luck

 

Yeah I still have that thought in the back of my mind. My only problem with a van is the expensive gas process, and the low mileage a van gets. I know I could rig up solar panels or even a dual battery setup and have nice luxury's and what not, but the damn gas prices would kill me to drive from one side of the country to the other. On a motorcycle I get about 50 miles per gallon, and on foot, its free! If I could find easy ways to make some cash on the road I would not hesitate to invest in a van though. Thanks for you advice!

 

Godspeed .

 

Yeah I hear ya man, Gas is a killer but you tend to limit your travels. Hang at one place longer... You have to think of the van as your home, not your ride. But I hear ya bud,, we all have to find our own way. I've been working on my van 3 years. 2014 will be a "road" year for me if things go right...

 

I'm by no means an expert. These are just my 2 cents.

I think that there may be a bias toward people saying "just go man", cause it sounds the coolest. It may also be the best advice.

However, you have to be ready to deal with the shit that happens, and if you're on the road long enough, I'd say shit's gonna happen.

One thing to consider is that once you've dropped out of the system, it's not necessarily so easy to drop back in. Future employers may wonder what you've been doing, and generally they like to hire people with a work history. This is not to say "don't do it", but it might be worth thinking about before hand so that you don't get surprised by it.

I guess that the level headed thing to do is to put away some cash, like $1000 if you can, and have a debit card with you. When the summer comes around, check out the rainbow family for a bit, learn some stuff from them, and get a better sense of whether or not this is something that you want to do.

I guess that there is probably a lot more to say, but I'm not sure what to say.

 

If you are travelling and need some quick cash as well as a meal, go to some restaurants and see if they need help. Restaurant workers tend to be very unreliable, quit on short notice, don't show up for work, etc. and these places often need help with washing dishes and other work, sometimes just for a few hours. They usually pay you in cash and will always give you a good meal as well as food to take with you. I have done this many times.

 

Awesome keep us informed of your travels

 

So after a few days of thinking and looking around on the internet I have decided I am going to travel by van, I found a pretty sweet camper van on craigslist that hopefully I can snag and start my preparations for my travels.Its a 1987 Ford E350 Hightop Conversion Van, 460 cid, 97,000 original miles. Looks like a pretty solid van, I am hoping to go take a look at it the next few days if I can get a response from the owner. As far as where I will travel and for how long I do not really know, I guess I am going to take this one step at a time and just see what happens. Talk to ya soon!

 

Traveling ON FOOT can be very challenging!!


I wish you luck my friend

 

Best of luck with the van Freedom. Send me a pm if ya want. I know tons of van groups that can give you a lot of advice.

Here is my blog

http://homelesszillionaire.blogspot.com/

 

I was heading out to look at the 1987 Ford E350 Hightop Conversion Van and as I was leaving the owner called me and told me that they had sold it. :/ I guess it just wasn't meant to be with that particular van. So my search continues, I have found another one, a small motor home about 20' long, located an hour or so away and plan to look at it in the next few days. I will keep ya updated and decided if this is the one I am going to take it home with me! Whoo!

 

just a quick warning about the vehicles you've mentioned - mileage can drain the pocket.

 

I do understand that oldwolf, but there is not much I can do about that! What would you recommend?

 

So a friend of mine put the word out that I was looking for a vehicle to travel in and found me a vegetable oil run school bus that is already converted for the most part! I am waiting to get pics and this could be the one!! Just keeping yall updated, big things could be happening soon!

 

good luck Freedom

 

all right you got the bus...sounds like a good deal...happy to see you continue the wonder of highway child