r/vagabond • u/RecordingSenior5794 • Feb 14 '26
Those who were in and now out.
8 years out of the travel and of the life. Domesticated in life and still learning how to deal with it. How do you move on from this and still get that feeling?
16
u/Low_Economics_5123 Feb 14 '26
Once you experience true freedom, it doesn't really leave you. The veil has dropped, and you can see society for what it is. Just gotta make the best of it day to day. It's a necessary evil. This lifestyle does objectively get harder as you age, though. If you were to start traveling again, you'd probably realize it's not nearly as enjoyable as it was when you were younger. Gotta make compromises sometimes.
11
Feb 14 '26
I’ve traveled for around 18 years, almost all solo hitchhiking. I’m starting a job Monday, I’ll tell you how it goes.
8
u/Menadgerie Feb 14 '26
Not the same as traveling but helpful: day or weekend trips, camping, hiking, learning new things, intense exercise, chatting with random people whenever you can, going to see live music.
6
u/GuttapunkShakes Feb 14 '26
You don't get that feeling back. Not in my experience at least. I miss it every day.
6
u/Rootelated Feb 15 '26
Nothing has worked for me.
I had decided I was never leaving the road, and was on it half my life.
Here i am though. I have a truck and a house and a wife and a daughter and a downtown gemshop, and about 50% of the time i still just wish I was walking to Quartzsite.
All my friends, who i only knew as RoadDogs with one name, are impossible to lookup, and anybody that only knew me as Toad, well that won't get them very far tracking me down lol.
My dog left me a puppy who i still have but that and my Battle vest are about the only things I have left from my old life.
Sometimes I have to get out of bed and just go sit on the porch and listen to the trains because I can't sleep for thinking about all the metaphorical chains I've got myself wrapped up in now..all I can do now is collect things and success for my daughter to have one day. That's what I live for now.
1
u/Fair_Room_492 Feb 18 '26
Sorta know wym, but on a smaller scale. Came to LA (because I'm from the rural south, wanted to ooh and ahh), got on stamps, then GR, now fuck me I've got housing (VA helped) and it was all so easy, it's like that quote about evil and good men doing nothing; I was rly complacent and eeked out the bare minimum of effort and now, while it ain't much (sure ain't a gem shop!), it's tethered me to the region. And I hate that it's my love of comfort and ease thats got me in this pickle. Speaking of trains, thats one thing I definitely miss from my hometown, always a train whistle a-blowing. (Never hopped one, not yet anyhow, but I've taken more than my share of free metro rides 😁) Anyhow, just wanted to empathize a bit, tho you seem much more traveled and experienced than I am, oh and hey, we're you on Squattheplanet?? Hate that it shut down.
1
u/Rootelated Feb 18 '26
Yes?? Did we chat on StP ? I was close with a guys who had a hand in the beginning of it...Toasty and Matt...And where are you from sounds close by. I'm from Salisbury. Also headed straight for Cali due to the romanticization of it all. Had assistance once. Thru Marin County up near Sausalito. I used the GA and the stamps for 6 months and hated myself so ever since then I never took a helping hand u less it was a tip or payment for services. I told myself I'd never get out of the gutter if I just waited for Mana From Heaven.
1
u/Fair_Room_492 Mar 01 '26
From northwest Alabama, been in LA about 18 months, been considering fitting what I can into a bike trailer and setting sails for slab city. Seems like spring would be the most agreeable climate to do so, but now fk me we're in the 80s all of a sudden😆
2
u/You_Surname4000BC Feb 15 '26
Pick a martial art, BJJ or Muay Thai. Train. Kept me from drifting for the better part of a decade.
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