He’s not wrong. It’ll be a really shitty journey as it’s just voluntary homelessness, but you can choose to live as a hobo if you’re brave enough. And if you’re brave enough you can cross borders without permission. Not a good idea at all, lots of walking, hunger, sleeping outside, and hiding from authorities, but hey, you can.
That’s great and all but please take a few step to the left, you are blocking the sunlight
Oh, sorry Diogenes!
Choosing homelessness when you have any other option isn’t brave, it’s fucking stupid.
Depends on your definition of homelessness. Living in a shitty, broken down van probably counts. But what about living in a $200k Mercedes Sprinter van converted to a camper, with a stable job that lets you work remote? What about a retired couple living in a 40’ RV, after spending their working lives dreaming about traveling around the country?
The line that separates courage and stupidity is always very thin, be it warfare or… Checks notes… TRAVEL
They weren’t being literal with the homelessness. And anyway, that statement is still a bit close-minded, while it obviously wouldn’t be a comfortable experience, it is possible and not everything needs to be the smartest decision ever. Sometimes challenging yourself to do something extreme with lots of risk keeps you more alive than comfort could.
Lots of people walk or bike around the world.
What’s more valuable to you? Having an experience that sounds outlandishly amazing? Or paying rent? We might not all agree.
“Homeless” can mean different things. It could mean “can’t afford a home, can’t keep a job” like the typical assumption, or it could mean “between homes but capable of getting another” or it could mean “has plenty of money but no home base, just sleeps in hotels or camps and can afford food and clothes when needed”.
It’s not a lifestyle I’d want right now, but it doesn’t automatically mean one can’t thrive. Humans were nomadic for millennia before agriculture gave us a reason and the ability to just stay in one spot.
People do this all the time. Typically it’s people on bikes, crossing something.
$5 a day? Pure luxury!
I don’t think that is “travel” in the spirit of the discussion.
Only rich people say stupid shit like this.
Only stupid, rich people say stupid stuff like this.
Edit: added comma.
I’m convinced that people with excessive levels of wealth have fewer brain synapses than the rest of us living real lives of constant work & negotiating & constantly coming up with creative survival strategies.
have you tried just asking your parents for spare money??
How much could one courage cost? A million dollars?
In the USA all we have to do is tell ICE that we are not a citizen and bam, all-expenses-paid vacation at some random spot in the world.
Tip to the wise: to facilitate re-entry when you are done, simply ensure that your passport is stored securely in your <ahem> “travel wallet”.
Brave of you to assume they wouldn’t accuse you of forging the passport with some twisted logic to keep you out of the country
You wouldn’t be in jail if you weren’t a criminal right?
It’s true, if you get arrested, obviously you do crimes.
Just board the plane without paying.
If you violate enough mobility laws you can get anywhere for free!
A nomadic life can be cheaper than a sedentary one.
What do you do, exactly, to earn money for food/clothes in that lifestyle? That has always puzzled me
People that wander for a living usually live by a combination of charity and payments for odd jobs. For example, a small farmer might gladly part with some old clothes and provide a few meals and a bed in exchange for help with some tasks, and I’ve heard about people with a preternatural ability to couchsurf from city to city.
Whatever you want to do. Go spend a season helping out ona farm in Hawaii, then go help build an ecovillage in Australia, then spend some time walking around New Zealand washing dishes and bussing tables, then off to India where you’ll build rope bridges and tree houses for a sustainable community. After that, you can go to Thailand or Vietnam and teach English for a little while, before making your way into the Mediterranean and spending a year and a half on the island of Bozcaada helping an old man repair out building and herd goats.
That’s literally what my friend did for over 5 years after one day he just decided to leave and had just enough money for a plane ticket to Hawaii from San Diego. Everything else was work and accommodations he found along the way. The only reason he came back was because of covid, and now he’s an RN and makes a bunch of money and he hates his life and is in and out of rehab.
Try doing that with a passport and the typical access to Education from, say Burkina Faso.
Eto wi’de noon e ɗemngal laawɗungal leydi Burkinaa.
But since the rest of the thread is in English, I hope you’ll forgive me for thinking of this in the context of predominantly English-speaking countries.
No no no, it’s the courage to leave without caring about losing all your worldly possessions 🙃
My worldly possessions are lots of debt
How lucky, you’d have it wherever you go!
True, if you believe you can survive the border guard shooting at you you don’t need any money at all.
“Dickes Ticket”-Moment (for those who understand German)
Have the courage to pay in other ways.
NOT MY MR.BEAN COLLECTION!?
My wife got rid of my Mr. Bean VHS collection
That is a tragedy.
"SIR YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH COURAGE POINTS TO FLY ON BRAVE AIRLINES, you must go to delta. "
Does Brave Airlines mine Courage Coins without your consent?
Ya goddamn right it does.
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Go out your front door.
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Keep walking.
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?
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Joy.
Isn’t this the plot of LotR?
And the Hobbit
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The guy is right. You are all missing the point. How do you think prehistoric humans traveled? How did the humans travel from what is now Russia to North america to become the “Native Americans”? You think they charged it to their Amex? Or took out a second mortgage. No. If you want to travel, use your feet, hop a train, get a job on a ship and use it as free travel then quit. Traveling takes money, or courage, the less money you have, the more courage you need, the more money you have the less courage you need. Its not complicated.
The difference is restrictions didn’t exist as much. I can’t just go to my local port and get a job on a ship without a resumé and experience, without a passport etc. The main lodging in modern life is buying or renting, so it’s also pretty much homelessness unless you have a job lined up already. Even travel within the US, the best bet to sleeping without money is sleeping in a car/van (if you have one!) in something like a Walmart parking-lot (or a rest area)… even then it’s going to depend on the area and you still might get hassled by cops (or now, maybe ICE).
And hell, if people lived the old way, I probably could do that. I can peel+chop+fry a potato (or most other vegetables) no problem. I’ll sweep the floor, I can carry things, I’ll help with important/risky things, and if I have food+shelter I don’t particularly care about money. Admittedly, I would be higher risk of death at sea though (either heat-stroke or that I can’t swim).
Though this is completely different in the EU… because of: Freedom To Roam, the Schengen Area, hostels.
EDIT: Also going back further, many humans could survive travelling that way likely because they were part of a group. Solo-travel this way is possible now, but I’d say it’s a bit more than courage. It also takes knowledge and preparation, likely health, and again navigating risks. Not to say any of that is new for travel, though I’d say getting arrested or maybe ran over are. And this also falls back more into survival rather than travel for leisure as people think about it now.
