Voluntary Homelessness

Have you ever thought about abandoning society and simply living off the land? No worries or unnecessary stresses or problems just freedom.

I have indeed thought of it.

Way too hard.

work all day every day, to find enough to eat. 

even in a beautiful place, full of year round provender, such as Guam.

no clothes to be had if you need, against the weather, wild life, and the sun. 

and what if you get a cut and a staph infection. You might not live a year out there

Read the story of the Japanese soldier on Guam,  who did not surrender, from the shame of defeat, for 30 years after the end of WWII.

He did it, lived out there in hiding, in a cave in the forest, near the shore, cheated sometimes, stole in to town and robbed his neighbors at needs.

But he was hungry, sore, lonely, and miserable all those years.  self sufficiency by oneself is unbearable.

A clan of 20 to 50 persons in the wilderness, now that can be comfortable. But there is no safe place left in the world to do that.

As a homeless you need a skill or a hustle to survive. I would look into something like gardening, it's incredible what they charge for fixing even minor things like trimming bushes and mowing lawns. You seem to be a fast learner. Another great thing with a long tradition where I live is being a journeyman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_years  Craftsmanship is in high demand and often does not need any tedious school lessons - well, at least not in countries where they have apprenticeships.

There are different aspects to this escape from society.

In Japan, the right to disappear exists (for reasons of honor or financial for example) but they do not leave society. These are the “johatsu”, tens of thousands of cases each year.

A very different case is that of collapsologists who flee society, convinced that it will collapse very soon. In this case there are two trends:

1) Retrenchment with weapons and provisions (I'm simplifying) rather reserved for the United States

2) The return to the countryside, to ecological agriculture, with an effort of inventiveness to eliminate (or very significantly reduce) its own needs for oil and gas. We find this trend in Western Europe (where we are well aware of the scarcity of fossil fuels in the near, very near future - Spend some times watching this video) with young urban dwellers with a higher education level who buy a hectare of arable land in semi-mountainous regions. They form a scattered community, linked by the internet and by exchanges of local services (fruit for cereals for example or help in the energy renovation of their homes). They have not left society and often have income from trainers in ecological culture such as permaculture for example. They are generally welcoming even if the most angry among them are furious about having missed the last extinction of humanity on December 12, 2012.

Then you find other cases:

- there are young people whose sabbatical year after diploma graduation lasts a long time, but we are no longer in the days of the “paths of Kathmandu” so most keep a relationship, even very light, with their family and when they return sometimes ten years later, rehabilitation is sometimes difficult, especially since the ecstasy of rave parties takes its toll in the long run.

- there are young people who have broken up with their family and start a new life elsewhere, but it is not to leave society, it is to cut ties with their family

- There is the trend of the film “Nomadland” but I have not encountered it in Europe.

And then, there are few exceptions like Paul Zumbielh who attempted in 1982-1983 to establish a pearl farm on the atoll west of Ahunui and built a small dock in the lagoon. But it hasn't been easy, his project was aborted by the passage of various cyclones which crossed French Polynesia and affected Ahunui. For a year, he lived alone with his wife on the atoll.

In fact, isn't the “freedom” that we could seek by fleeing all life in society a mirage?

There are still plenty of areas in the United States where it's simple enough to live off the grid.  Probably be easiest in the mountain states like Montana and Wyoming, even Alaska.  The thing is, to do it successfully, you need to invest a pretty decent amount of capital to build the homestead.
I could see doing it after retirement.  I'd still want to be within an hour of a decent sized town though, mostly for supplies I can't catch or make myself and medical treatment.

I often think that if I was single, I'd live a different type of house-less life (not homeless).  I would get a large van or small RV to live in.  I would still work and have a job, just no house.  I'd part at a park and ride overnight.  I'd join a gym for $10/month for the shower.
It would save a ton of money not having to pay a mortgage or most utilities.

Did you like the way the “Nomadland” lifestyle is portrayed in the film?

glorkar

There are still plenty of areas in the United States where it's simple enough to live off the grid.  Probably be easiest in the mountain states like Montana and Wyoming, even Alaska.  The thing is, to do it successfully, you need to invest a pretty decent amount of capital to build the homestead.
I could see doing it after retirement.  I'd still want to be within an hour of a decent sized town though, mostly for supplies I can't catch or make myself and medical treatment.

I often think that if I was single, I'd live a different type of house-less life (not homeless).  I would get a large van or small RV to live in.  I would still work and have a job, just no house.  I'd part at a park and ride overnight.  I'd join a gym for $10/month for the shower.
It would save a ton of money not having to pay a mortgage or most utilities.

Although my great great grandfather was from NY my family have lost our right to claim U.S. citizenship so a homestead in any of those states is unlikely. I have though thought about other less well known places where and is cheaper Belarus for example. I would like to live the nomadic life and could still work as I am a writer. Look into freeganism ie free dumpster food. You would be surprised how many people have no permanent addresses and live out of hotels.

Frenchlover

Did you like the way the “Nomadland” lifestyle is portrayed in the film?

Do you know who “Hobo Shoestring” is? I although do not watch films anymore am interested and particularly drawn to road movies so “Nomad land” might be of interest to me.

MBC

Frenchlover

Did you like the way the “Nomadland” lifestyle is portrayed in the film?

Do you know who “Hobo Shoestring” is? I although do not watch films anymore am interested and particularly drawn to road movies so “Nomad land” might be of interest to me.

Nomadland is worth watching

I'll have a look to Hobo Shoestring Youtube channel. We've got a journalist very empaathetic in France who travel by train all around the world for a well known TV show

MBC

I have though thought about other less well known places where and is cheaper Belarus for example. I would like to live the nomadic life and could still work as I am a writer. Look into freeganism ie free dumpster food. You would be surprised how many people have no permanent addresses and live out of hotels.

There is a reason why Belarus is cheaper, but if your income is in hard currency and you don't mind being tight lipped towards regime policies (well, perhaps even agree), then Belarus would be even better than Russia. I'm not sure if a semi-slacker lifestyle is appreciated there.

Hapertas

MBC

I have though thought about other less well known places where and is cheaper Belarus for example. I would like to live the nomadic life and could still work as I am a writer. Look into freeganism ie free dumpster food. You would be surprised how many people have no permanent addresses and live out of hotels.

There is a reason why Belarus is cheaper, but if your income is in hard currency and you don't mind being tight lipped towards regime policies (well, perhaps even agree), then Belarus would be even better than Russia. I'm not sure if a semi-slacker lifestyle is appreciated there.

Belarus is only cheap because the wages are low. As for the semi slacker life well a large proportion of the country live in rural  settings and thus a farm or homestead would be fitting. Some pieces of land can go as cheap as £800 there.  

MBC

Hapertas

MBC

I have though thought about other less well known places where and is cheaper Belarus for example. I would like to live the nomadic life and could still work as I am a writer. Look into freeganism ie free dumpster food. You would be surprised how many people have no permanent addresses and live out of hotels.

There is a reason why Belarus is cheaper, but if your income is in hard currency and you don't mind being tight lipped towards regime policies (well, perhaps even agree), then Belarus would be even better than Russia. I'm not sure if a semi-slacker lifestyle is appreciated there.

Belarus is only cheap because the wages are low. As for the semi slacker life well a large proportion of the country live in rural  settings and thus a farm or homestead would be fitting. Some pieces of land can go as cheap as £800 there.  

Exactly, so you don't want local income in the local currency. Cheap living + low wages = same old.

Living in rural settings in a farm or homestead is not exactly what I would call semi-slacking - it's hard work.

If you want to buy land you need to be a citizen of Belarus, otherwise you're in for a lease only.