Lessons from the Road

One of the reasons Hobo's List has been dormant is that ever present reality in our society: lack of money. I simply haven't been making it in any real sense.

And so I have hit the road to find work, a modern day Okie, feeling much like a migrant worker, except the work I do is in Information Technology. You can follow my blog, "High Tech Migrant" to keep up with my progress in this regard.

Although I am still decidedly a greenhorn, living on the road has been an educational experience, and I have to say that I am discovering a side of society we don't often discuss. Thankfully, the research I have done on this site has armed me with a large cache of resources, and I haven't had to become a mendicant, depending solely on the kindness of strangers. As well, I have the fortunate resource of our family 15 passenger van, which is being made into a part time RV.

As I look on the modern day Hoovervilles that spring up in WalMart parking lots, I am decidedly grateful for what I have. I am hoping that once I am established, I can help others on the road to network more efficiently, share resources, and possibly even build a rudimentary transit network to both help others on the road and help bring in a little gas money.

When I started on the road, I had the illusion of simply pulling in and doing a cleanup and quick change in the WalMart bathroom. That's easier said than done; unless you go in at 2AM, you have to handle the constant ingress and egress of WalMart patrons, and you usually should cleanup first and change when you're back in your vehicle, as carrying items in and out of WalMart triggers security, and since you're camped in the parking lot, you definitely want that. In fact, my cardinal rules for WalMart camping at the moment are:

• Spend money there. Like a lot of you, I tend to have very mixed feelings on WalMart. I am grateful that so many open their parking lots to people who need a place to overnight. You don't have to spend much, but please, be a good guest. It's best for everyone.
• Be inconspicuous: Like most aspects of homelessness (even temporary homelessness, such as migrant work), it's best to be invisible. Bringing an armful of clothes into the store will not endear you to the staff.
• Go into the store as little as possible: part of the above rule, you want to be seen in the store, but not TOO much. Too much time inside will trigger security. On a recent road trip, I dealt with the reality of being underprepared for freezing temperatures, and needed regular trips inside to warm up. I was able to breakaway to a friend's house for a night to take the heat off, but you could see that management was getting VERY irritated as the night wore on, although they didn't directly confront me. Which brings me to my next point:
• Be aware of the conditions. Know the weather forecast. Use the library if you have to, just know the weather and prepare for it. In my case, my saving grace was two fleeces that had not gotten pulled out of the van the past winter when I purchased a supply for the homeless. I definitely stupidly put myself in a dangerous position, something I don't intend to repeat.

Good general rules for being a rubber tramp are to carry water both for drinking and hygiene (again, I have mixed feelings about plastic, but am saving gallon jugs for hygiene and water bottles for drinking. An efficient sponge bath can be had with fewer than five gallons).

I'm still learning how to find places to inconspicuously bathe, but am thinking of trying both a freshwater and greywater bucket on the road so that I can do so in the privacy of my own van.