Hey, I'm from WA too. I want to do some of that sort of travel eventually, as soon as I can (possibly with my best friend, but I don't know if he's serious about it). Most of my questions you've already answered, but I want to know if you carry toilet paper with you or do you shit in public restrooms most of the time?

Also do you carry a weapon?

At 4/17/14 10:34 PM, Tremulos wrote: Hey, I'm from WA too. I want to do some of that sort of travel eventually, as soon as I can (possibly with my best friend, but I don't know if he's serious about it). Most of my questions you've already answered, but I want to know if you carry toilet paper with you or do you shit in public restrooms most of the time?

Sidenote, if you're from wa, I suggest you actually try starting your traveling career in oregon, just because it's the easiest place to hitch in. I carry tp but prefer restrooms if possible, for obvious reasons.

Also do you carry a weapon?

I used to, but don't currently. I've never had more than a knife. I have a multitool with a small knife on it, but its in my pack and even when not in my pack its rather unthreatening and clunky to access the knife on it in a high stress scenario

At 4/17/14 08:32 PM, CiviLies wrote: This is something that I've honestly been wanting to try out. I think I'll wait till I graduate college first. It's pretty cool hearing about your experiences, though. I remember some time last year there was another guy who was living with his parents and made a thread about deciding to just travel the road. I don't know if that was you or someone else entirely, though. I think he said he'd refuse all types of handouts; my memory is pretty hazy.

Sorry if this is a weird question, but...

What do you do if you need to shit and there isn't a toilet nearby?

I find the most discrete set of bushes

At 4/17/14 06:35 PM, Captain-Slugworth wrote: do you smoke to pass the time while sitting on the train for several hours?

I do, but not tobacco. I smoke a lot of weed, but only after I'm on the train and not so much before.

also, if you do.. what tobacco do you smoke?

Most of my friends are preferential to american spirit, for whatever that's worth.

usually when guys like you come through where I live the BNSF snatch you guys up and get the police to put you in county.

At 5/2/14 06:21 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote: usually when guys like you come through where I live the BNSF snatch you guys up and get the police to put you in county.

Yeah, but if he was Mexican, it'd be more like catch and release. The problem with America is that everything has to be quantified and controlled, no gray areas, or ways to make a buck without regulation. Industrial thieves are on their own :p

If you're a legit migrant worker, or just a poor person who wants to see America (maybe find a place to settle down), every penny counts. Plus, they have no rights to sue should anything go wrong... back in the day, everyone had some kind of healthcare, so local hospitals could absorb it well, with a charity chaser of dough for good measure.

At 4/17/14 01:01 AM, Ass-Crumb wrote: So hit me with some questions

i just wanna say u got the beetus

-bees

At 5/2/14 06:21 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote: usually when guys like you come through where I live the BNSF snatch you guys up and get the police to put you in county.

the police force everywhere is on the whole pretty prejudice towards travelers, I have been detained, ticketed, arrested, had my friends dog threatened with being shot (it was a 3 month old pitbull mix whose small enough to fit in her purse), for things that most people would describe as inconsequential, such as drinking in public, 'criminal trespassing on state property' (I was under a bridge hiding from the rain), busking without a permit, and other shit that most people would probably describe as a waste of time at best. The police do things like this with the intention of getting us to leave their town.

I consider the american police force to be a joke to which the punchline is tragedy.

I don't know or care where you live specifically but I wouldn't be at all surprised if what you say is entirely correct.

At 5/2/14 07:03 PM, beheadedbymuslims wrote:

At 4/17/14 01:01 AM, Ass-Crumb wrote: So hit me with some questions

i just wanna say u got the beetus

-bees

I at rally's for three meals last week

Probably, yeah

I've been skipped, so I'll repost the question.

Have you ever had blaring alarms that aren't easily explained come from your gut or intuition? Like, a sudden tension when you know somebody is just bad news and to avoid them at all cost? Any kind of gut instinct / pcychic stuff happen like that on your journeys?

Let us know when you finally slip and get your legs cut off by the train (unless it' worse) so I can laugh my balls off.

At 5/4/14 04:29 AM, Phobotech wrote: I've been skipped, so I'll repost the question.

My b my b

Have you ever had blaring alarms that aren't easily explained come from your gut or intuition? Like, a sudden tension when you know somebody is just bad news and to avoid them at all cost? Any kind of gut instinct / pcychic stuff happen like that on your journeys?

All the time, actually. There's this sort of comraderie that homebums (anyone whose homeless but just spends their time occupying some park with a shopping cart or something, as opposed to someone who travels and does mildly productive shit) feel with travelers, so all sorts of random tweaked out bums will try and hang out with me and my friends. Its usually pretty obvious whose sketchball as fuck and who isn't, but occasionally I meet people who sort of trigger my intuition. There's also a lot of serendipity involved in traveling, I just ran into someone I met in eugene oregon in the middle of downtown asheville, nc for instance, completely unplanned.

At 5/4/14 03:33 PM, wildfire4461 wrote: Let us know when you finally slip and get your legs cut off by the train (unless it' worse) so I can laugh my balls off.

To date, I've only met three people seriously injured due to train hopping, two due to being drunk as fuck trying to hop, and one because his dog fell under and he saved it. Just because you're a spineless pussy whose afraid of something big and loud doesn't actually mean its dangerous. There are basic things I do to ensure my safety.

Hey Ass-Crumb, baby when are we gonna be together again babyyyy i miss you

At 5/7/14 12:30 PM, Ass-Crumb wrote:

At 5/4/14 04:29 AM, Phobotech wrote:

All the time, actually. There's this sort of comraderie that homebums (anyone whose homeless but just spends their time occupying some park with a shopping cart or something, as opposed to someone who travels and does mildly productive shit) feel with travelers, so all sorts of

@ass-crumb how ya been lately? Noticed in one of your more recent posts, not so good... hope that's changed.

At 5/4/14 03:33 PM, wildfire4461 wrote: Let us know when you finally slip and get your legs cut off by the train (unless it' worse) so I can laugh my balls off.

hey pal still here, still got my legs.
i kind of wanted to retouch on this by saying, truth be told there isn't a huge risk of riding trains if you respect the train. you probably have more of a risk of dying by, say, skateboarding, snowboarding, really any sort of sports in general, bike riding, simply walking along a relatively busy street, etc. than you would by riding, i'd imagine. to date i've only heard of 3 people dying from train related incidents (this is in the past decade or so, as well) and i've only heard of or met about 3 people who have lost any sort of limbs from riding.

truth be told as a rider you're probably more likely to lose your feet from alcohol related diabetes or frostbite than you would from getting pulled under a train.

At 6/4/14 05:08 PM, VicariousE wrote: @ass-crumb how ya been lately? Noticed in one of your more recent posts, not so good... hope that's changed.

it's been good, tbh i don't think i ever posted about it being really bad, but i actually quit traveling for a moment to live in cleveland ohio.

At 6/4/14 05:27 PM, exudaz wrote: Any tips you'd like to give a train hopper that's just starting out?

it's honestly hard to answer this question without either tapering off into really generic advice (My kneejerk answer would be to just have patience, it's better to get on a train that is more likely to go to your destination after a day or two of waiting than to chance it on a less sure thing and end up going the wrong direction, or to get on a train without a safe ride; the most common answer you'd get with most riders would be 'trust your gut') or without just sort of tapering off into life advice based off whatever stupid mistakes i've made

my advice is not to really go out of your way to travel for women / love interests. that has been my chief problem so far in life really, either it doesn't work out because they meet someone else in the meantime, or you get there and it isn't quite what you expected it to be, be that awkward, forced or what have you.

anyhow sorry for the bump, fam, but 100% of all my notifications on this here site are because of hobo shit at this point, so i figure

What is your favorite Bailey Jay video?

At 1/7/16 01:26 PM, Bit wrote: What is your favorite Bailey Jay video?

fuckin all of em, fam

At 1/7/16 01:34 PM, Ass-Crumb wrote:

At 1/7/16 01:26 PM, Bit wrote: What is your favorite Bailey Jay video?

fuckin all of em, fam

Good answer.

Mad respect, bro.

So would you consider yourself a crust punk or 'crustie'? If not, do you meet a lot of them?

What are the typical group sizes and what's the largest group you've seen? Are there any "bases" around the country? (Like, common rest stops particular groups use to recuperate or common recruitment areas, etc...) Obviously leave out any specifics of location as that could possibly compromise a safe house.

I like buskers. I would listen to you play your music and probably give some money and I might even bring you a hamburger or hot dog or something. Your kind is alright -- it's panhandlers I don't much care for, but I like buskers. This is of course assuming you have talent (which yes I am assuming).

The way I look at things, talent is everything. Have talent or skill and I respect you. Lack it and I won't care to interact. I would say I am a kind of punk although not any particular type (more just independent and DIY mindset and fuck the mainstream because they only care about money and superficial shit and not talent or value) but I definitely get along well with most kinds of alternative people.

It'll be interesting, right up to the moment you make a goof and fall under one and get your legs cut off, or worse..

At 1/7/16 04:33 PM, NeonSpider wrote: So would you consider yourself a crust punk or 'crustie'? If not, do you meet a lot of them?

I wouldn't particularly call myself a crustie, though I meet them constantly. Definitely no stranger to being called a crust punk though, and it's not too far off the mark; i've done plenty of drinking in the gutter and eating out of garbages and staying at punk houses and shit

What are the typical group sizes and what's the largest group you've seen? Are there any "bases" around the country? (Like, common rest stops particular groups use to recuperate or common recruitment areas, etc...) Obviously leave out any specifics of location as that could possibly compromise a safe house.

As far as groups go the largest group i've ever heard of getting on a train together was like 20 people and a handful of dogs in Oakland in the wake of Hardly Strictly music festival in san francisco. past that, it depends how you're traveling really. A hippy bus or a van or some shit like that could probably get just as many, but obviously that's a different mode of travel. I would say the average crew in a van would be like 3-8 people, and the average size of a crew of train riders is like 1-3 people more often than not.

there are plenty of spots where travelers go to just hang out and do shit when they don't really know people in a given city, union square in LES manhattan and haight street spring to mind as obvious ones, some other maybe not as obvious ones would be like Little five points in ATL or ringer park (atleast during the summer) in boston. I wouldn't really consider them bases though. Other than that, there's plenty of punk houses in most every city, houses with ex travelers of any sort of variety, and in every city with a train yard there's usually a spot to camp at / eye some trains and whatnot called a 'jungle,' usually filled with pretty badass tags and stuff.

there's also the convention of just calling a place you frequent or have people in a homebase. I would call New orleans a homebase since a couple of my best friends live there and I could easily live there again if i wanted, for instance.

I like buskers. I would listen to you play your music and probably give some money and I might even bring you a hamburger or hot dog or something. Your kind is alright -- it's panhandlers I don't much care for, but I like buskers. This is of course assuming you have talent (which yes I am assuming).

I appreciate that, I really don't like panhandling but I also don't hold it against people for having to do it; i'd say 90% of my friends didn't really choose to be homeless, they just ended up homeless and kind of ran with it. So in that case I can't really hold them to a fault for not having a skill of any sort. Jewelry making can also be kind of cool if you know how to do it.

The way I look at things, talent is everything. Have talent or skill and I respect you. Lack it and I won't care to interact. I would say I am a kind of punk although not any particular type (more just independent and DIY mindset and fuck the mainstream because they only care about money and superficial shit and not talent or value) but I definitely get along well with most kinds of alternative people.

Yeah I would say i'm alright at guitar, atleast confirmed better than Zachary.

At 1/7/16 05:00 PM, wildfire4461 wrote: It'll be interesting, right up to the moment you make a goof and fall under one and get your legs cut off, or worse..

Well if that ever happens as a result of a train, i'll be sure to write 'wildfire4461 was right' on my mangled stumps so you can revel in it. in the meantime, i'll be enjoying the use of my legs, as well as all my friends legs who still have legs after years and years of riding because believe it or not we are responsible adults who know how to assess the risks we're taking.

you speak as if I have no respect to the fact that the train i'm getting on can kill me; i'm well aware. yet still I continue to ride.

Dude your ear drums must be LIQUID FUCKING SHIT.

How do you live with the constant train horn??!

At 1/7/16 08:21 PM, PussyShark wrote: Dude your ear drums must be LIQUID FUCKING SHIT.

How do you live with the constant train horn??!

It's actually not that bad towards the back of the train, trains are loud but not earsplitting loud. I've been to shows that were louder, and recently tbh.

just as bad, if not worse, is the rattling of being on a train. it's like being on a constant gravel road sometimes. All the gears and mechanics and shit shifting on the train is also jarring, but like the train horn it's not earsplitting, just difficult to sleep through.

At 1/7/16 08:23 PM, zornuzkull wrote: Good for you...

hey thanks fam

At 1/8/16 08:20 AM, DaManiac wrote: How many trains have you hopped ?

somewhere in the are of 10-20, i would need to write it down to give an exact number.

At 1/8/16 10:20 AM, slaughterMYdaughter wrote: What was the best/worst meal you've ever had on these escapades?

the worst meal is, generally speaking, anything from a church or other bumfeed type situation, or anything served in jail. I've had a lot of sandwiches that were dollar store PB &J's spread so thin it was more bread tasting than otherwise. As a matter of fact I've eaten so comically bad at points it's kind of a wonder how i'm even healthy, at various points eating nothing but handouts or 4-5$ meals at fast food joints.

the best meals are usually the ones where the people buying are interested in talking to you and actually eating with you. in recent memory there was a girl in lexington (round 22-23 years old, very gorgeous blonde lady) who bought me some good quality pub food and drinks, then took me home and offered to smoke weed with me and shit before we ended up just going to one of my friends' houses. we didn't hook up or anything and it didn't go anywhere, sadly, but i enjoyed the conversation.

past that, I have definitely eaten 5 star cuisine in the form of leftovers and shit people give me while I busk, but that's not really the same. There's also been a decent amount of good eats that i've just straight up bought for myself. there's a really good hot dog place called the happy dog here in cleveland, and i've been to a shitload of really good pizza places.

If you could pick top-shelf from experience what kinda footwear would be most ideal for durability and survival?

idk, i'm not an expert on this one, I usually just rock more basic shoes, like vans or whatnot. I should really get a pair of boots though, but if I were going for one right now I'd probably be looking to buy either Air-wears or doc martens probably.

Any passed down hobo hacks that could come in handy domestically?

people have shown me a lot of little tricks here and there that could come in handy while camping or whatever; like, if you were to take a gallon or so water jug, poke a few holes in it and hang it up that's a serviceable enough shower to get some grease off you if you aren't trying to dirty up a lake or river or what have you.

one of the most useful things is a 'squat candle', you take an empy tin can (you could use like a cinderblock or a pot or something like that as well it doesn't really matter), you fill it with cardboard, then you feed wax, vasoline or some other form of grease into it. It burns long and it burns enough to provide a decent amount of heat.

as far as advice I've got, you can make a functional stove out of shit from a dollar store and really anything hanging around the average squat or train yard, just get yourself the components of a squat candle (as seen above), then try and find a cinderblock- a cinderblock usually works best, but any ol' rocks will do it- and set a cake tin perched above your squat candle. gets some butter, cook some eggs on that shit- it works. getting the heat right is kinda hard. put some water in, maybe some carrots and a couple old meaty bones- you got a stew going, my friend.

At 1/8/16 10:39 AM, Lich wrote: Have you been lucky enough in your travels to come across valuables you could use (or even sell) that people have lost like Wallets and Phones?

not particularly, I have found as much as $20 just sitting on the ground, which is about it. sometime about two years ago someone sold me a smart phone for like $30, presumably stolen or whatever, which was what I posted this topic on. eventually lost it, though.

At 1/8/16 10:39 AM, Lich wrote: Have you been lucky enough in your travels to come across valuables you could use (or even sell) that people have lost like Wallets and Phones?

You don't even need to be a train-hopper for that. I've found wallets and stuff from time to time just walking around. Anyone can if they pay attention. I return lost items back to their rightful owners, all money intact, if I have a way of knowing whose it is.

If it's just a straight-up wad of cash with no possible way to identify whose it is then yeah I keep it. If I saw a person drop it, I'd get it back to that person. If it's a useful non-money item with no way of identifying whose it is, I also keep it.

At 1/7/16 08:17 PM, Ass-Crumb wrote: I appreciate that, I really don't like panhandling but I also don't hold it against people for having to do it; i'd say 90% of my friends didn't really choose to be homeless, they just ended up homeless and kind of ran with it. So in that case I can't really hold them to a fault for not having a skill of any sort. Jewelry making can also be kind of cool if you know how to do it.

Well, but I differentiate between homeless and panhandlers as well. There is crossover, but I know of homeless who are not panhandlers (in fact who have straight up refused money from me that I offered without even being asked), and I know of panhandlers who are not homeless (one joke of a woman driving around in a van panhandling -- it's like get real)

Even the legitimate homeless panhandlers though, still it gets annoying. I understand their problem but I'm not able to help them and there's too many of them around -- why don't they go to the rich neighborhoods where people have money instead of the poor ones? I mean if there were just a few of them I probably wouldn't mind so much but it's the same day after day.

And yeah I definitely would consider jewelry (or trinket) making as at least something. I don't really mind people who offer something. Like, they don't really have much but they're still trying to offer something. It's better than panhandling.

Or if you have to panhandle, don't panhandle cash but panhandle other stuff. That's also not as bad. Panhandle a can of soup and I'll get you a can of soup. I don't really mind that as much.

At 1/8/16 01:29 PM, dem0lecule wrote: Beside, you wouldn't be able to sell them on the street or at flea market.

Man, you can sell almost anything at flea markets. Are you kidding me? Flea markets around here get raided from time to time but still people sell all kind of illegal shit there, there's gambling there right out in the open, and probably whatever you want. The cops mostly turn a blind eye to flea markets unless it's just been a really slow week and they want some easy busts.

As for selling stuff on the street, yeah, that's far more likely to draw negative attention. But still I've had people come up to me and try to sell me sketchy stuff on the streets before. Not like it's impossible. People wouldn't do it if it didn't work at least some of the times.

But in all honestly if you have something which belongs to someone else, don't be a douche. Just return it to them. They'll probably even give you some money for your troubles. Don't deal in stolen goods. It's just a bad idea and it'll catch up to you sooner or later.

So what? You're like a border hopping scumbag from Mexico?

At 4/17/14 02:37 AM, Xenomit wrote:

At 4/17/14 02:18 AM, nonono1 wrote: Retarded as jumping from moving trains?

Almost.

Jumping from moving trains isn't retarded, it's not even dangerous if you know where and how to land

Firing a gun into a crowd of people isn't dangerous as long as you only shoot in between everyone

At 2/2/16 07:39 PM, MadFedora wrote: bump this thread bc im another train hopper here. through out years i have been going all over canada and us via train hopping and hitchhiking. i was off this site 4 a few years bc i travelled far west and back. train hopped to AB, and stayed in BC for a year then hitchhiked all the way back 2 oshawa. my plan is 2 save up some cash by working odd jobs, hit the road again and head south.

fun time. i mostly hang out at /r/homeless and /r/vagabond where all the hobo fellows hangout.

word, that's about where I'm at these days. I do odd jobs but currently I'm working for a preservation company, ironically enough fixing up squat houses before they go onto the market. always wanted to hop into canada, though. no plans of actually traveling again any time soon, though.

all about the canadian squeegee punk scene fam