I pass homeless people on the streets of my city, I've walked through local forests helping with a homeless count, I've camped numerous times in the wilderness by choice, but fortunately I have never been homeless. Since we need to be prepared for anything and since being homeless is a reality that many people are currently facing in our country, I figured now is a good time to find out how others do it. Mostly they seem to be creative, often they just get back to basics, looking for a dry place to sleep. Keeping a low profile and blending in also seem to help. Here's some ideas:
- Homeless at NYU (this guy had an excellent blog during his homeless days at NYU, unfortunately its been taken down).
- How to Live Homeless
- The Couple Who Lived in a Mall
- The People Who Live at Heathrow
- How to Be Homeless
- Hiding Yourself
- Urban Camouflage (creative!)
- Hobo Poet (check out the links to other hobo blogs)
- How to Become a Hobo
Due to circumstances I decline to explain I was homeless for several months. It was a learning experience. This was of course after the period I spent homeless as a late teen. I was too young to see the seriousness then. But as an adult I saw a whole different side of the life of homeless people.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes they are creative and able to live alongside our daily society but not in it. I think in some ways the smarter and better prepared are better off without the constant hassle we deal with everyday. Everything is about spending money and getting a permit or acceptable credit etc. This is so little of what life is actually capable of being.
People fear the homeless and they fear being homeless. All homeless means is the lack of a regular full time home. Other than that these folks are us and we are them. Only they see the value of what we call trash and live in places we overlook.
In the city I live in the bridges are all occupied and every other unintended architectural niche is also used as a shelter. Some people have lived under the bridge for years and would not want to go back to paying to live.
Yes the answer to the question is you could live homeless. And it would be as bad as you tell yourself it would be.
I know some people who are homeless by choice--they travel, have money and set up home where ever they may be (it may be on someone's couch or in a tent somewhere); this would be the optimal homelessness. Being homelss by circumstance would be, like you said, bad.
ReplyDelete