What is up with all of this lack of preparedness in travelling the roads. I understand fully that kids need an out n wanna wander n travel but at the same time have absolutely no clue about how to go about it all... There is info out there nowadays,,,, technology is at our fingertips most of the time and yet many fail to use it until they are told exactly how to go about it... n then expect the answers to come from someone else,,,, How n the hell do folks expect to make it out on there own when everyone else is expected to figure it all out for them ? Kids in the woods,,,, barefooted in the winter???? not a blanket one.... absolutely no food on hand for an emergency , absolutely no contacts for when in need etc etc etc absolutely nothing n yet think its gonna be all fun n games along the way..... i love footloose n fancy free n all that but one also has to take some responsibility for self at some point along the way n would make more sense to me if it was done at the beginning rather than when we find ourselves stuck in a ditch along the highway...
i totally 100% agree. just look at howmany times people ask for help find a commune. jeeze if they would read just a few of the threads they would see ic.org and so on. or just do a simple search on google or yahoo and it pops up. and what you said about people not hacking it is true also. almost all who come down here to use are just here for a free vacation it seems. they want to lay around on the beach and be searved meals with no input. and we catch alot of grief from people because untill recently we only wanted older people instead of kids. another thing that gets me on here is all the talkers and not very many doers. a few actually do what they say but most just keep finding an excuse why they cant.example we recently got another property that is open to all even the younger crowd. but its wide open and empty if they want to live there good go for it but they will need to work and build shelter. but people want us to already have it built and make it easy for them. i just want to know who the hell made things easy for me? its like younger people think they are too good to do the things or go through the things some of us older people have had to endure. its terrible to feel this way but untill im show otherwise its how i feel.
This new generation, I came in at the tail end of the begining, Grew up in the Plastic age. They have had it easy. We div e in head first, and find out how hard it is doing it. I live in a community, it is a loose one but I live here. It Is really hard when ever we accept a new mem. It seems we support them for at least the first 8 weeks and then they get the idea. It ain't all roses and nakedness. It takes ass loads of work and tears and disagreements. It takes having something in the first place. It is hard as hell to start out with nothing and come out in a good place. We all know or I would sure hope that everyone knows that once your in poverty it is hard as hell to get out of it. It is a steep slick slope that is built to keep you where you are at. That is what is up these kids are trying to build a life and it is hard and many just do not have skills.
sometimes you dont always have the resources at your disposal to be prepared. i was lucky to own 6 cars the day i became homeless.by giving them away and selling a couple i was able to eventually be pretty set up as far as homeless wandering hitchhiker goes. but when i was younger and only had one bus, no shoes, 20 bux and needed to build a motor, hey i had to make do with what i could. the tight spots and mistakes i made wehn i was young are what really prepared me for survivng homeless, not any amount of shoes or blankets or money could replace those experiences. i think its up to us to share our knowledge with the younger roaddogs, patiently at that, cus you know better than I that when your young, you dont want to be told anything. "dont trust anyone over 30" remember?
My partner and I traveled around for a while. We had a well stocked camper and it blew our mids how many road kids we'd talk with or pickup that had absolutely nothing. No money, no packs, no tents. Nothing to really make it long term. You at least need a backpack!
it doesnt take long to learn those lessons you speak of, idealisim is fun but can be very stupid .... winter is cold...hmm seems like an easy enough thing to understand eh? we travel on THC with children, with food stocked for at least 1 month in the woods, many blankets water purifyers, ect ect...I know its stuff ...but its hella usefull!!~! happy highway drew
Kids will be kids we all do stupid things when we are that age. But as for moochers at communes thats always been a problem. Some people are just lazy and want a handout. I came from a group that everyone worked even the kids no one got out of daily chores. It was for the good of the community.
I think that one of the big attractions for many folks is figuring it out as you go. That doesn't mean of course that you can't think things through first of course. Just geting out there and doing it rather than coming up with some stuffy rigid plan is half the fun. Some kids though do have a tendency to take it too far the other way and stop using the ol' brain box.
I started thinking about doing this today... going out for half a year, in about half a year... I'm taking the time now to plan it out. I'm not planning the destinations or the route, but I am planning survival and what to do after the journey concludes, actually I'll have a thread up in here in a few days once I figure it out. EDIT 10/5: heh no thread yet but this is taking a lot more work than I expected, I start work soon
I have spoken on these subjects in past times in my posts(yall remember the big format change?) and I still wonder how some of the kids survive. If it weren't for begging(flying cardboard) and raping small town foodbanks many would parish. I traveled for years and I worked my way across the country several times. I also stayed clean and took care of what little I had. I gave up on gatherings after watching what kids were doing to the forrests. Have you seen the piles of stuff (tents,packs,etc) left behind and whole green charred tree trunks laid on fires. They don't burn, its waste. People, take some responsibility for yourself and your actions. Start taking care of the resources you have out there... stop being so wasteful and sloppy.
Btw..Gringo, I wrote to you about a year ago about coming down there. Got no answerfrom you. Did talk to someone who said the same you did ...people laying around...not what we were looking for.. Hope things are better for you now.
Hawk who rides the wind great to see you old one (O I just love saying that) Some day in the not too distant, I will have to see if my wings still support me, been tethered too long. Walk in Joy my brother - stay Whole May the wind fill your sails were I one to envy - ...... winter coming on up here, days gettin shorter and colder - wood still to be gathered, then the long sleep turning inside - to be reborn again in the spring. Enjoy Seeing you again Blessings Namaste (my spirit bows to your spirit)
i personally say fuck technology, fuck planning..its all about going with the flow and spontaniety- i love the unexpected...and when your young you can get away with being a roudy, unkept ..nomadic traveller! so its whatever, i respect those who believe you must plan out every step- but for me i like watching things unwravel in front of my eyes and just totally enjoying the complete, irresponsible ...and insane beauty of it all..idk yea
That may be true but you know basic planning, so you don't get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food and water and freezing to death, is really helpful. Another important consideration is not becoming a burden on anybody, since nothing really entitles you to fall under someone else's good graces. It's fine that you have that attitude, but just know sometimes things aren't so easy to just work out.
Ok, I don't really know anything about communal living (or living on the road), but - just as an observer - it seems like it might be a good idea to put a sticky thread at the top of this forum, and use it to list resources such as ic.org, the Intentional Community Database and so on - and then just suggest that people might benefit from searching these databases before posting threads here. And maybe mention other resources that people can refer to in order to 'prepare' themselves for any trips etc. that they might be thinking of. Just a thought. Peace
true, i mean..when you trust your luck TOO much you can get stuck in some insanely uncomfortable situations but i absolutley hate knowing whats going to happen (like some folks do) and so what if you have to starve for a day- or get stuck somewhere..ive been in those shitty situations and they may have sucked while i was experiencing them but now that they are in the past they just make me laugh. ofcourse you have to use common sense but some people make planning too much a part of travel and it sucks fun right on out in my opinion.
