Anyone thought of choosing homelessness?

[Kvotheloner]

I've decided I'm completely done with modern society but ctb seems so harsh. I left a 20 dollar an hour job just to sit on my savings and ponder if I want to ctb or just become a homeless traveler and see where it leads me. I've done a lot of backpacking so I enjoy that kind of stuff. I just wonder if it would lift my depression.

 

[JimFord99]

I suppose it can be liberating, in fact, yes, it is.

 

[restingspot]

I heard good things about van living.

 

[JimFord99]

Long time ago I dreamed of a lonely life in the wilderness. Must be a great way to live and even greater way to die.

 

[oopswronglife]

If you are physically able and have money for essential needs it can be freeing to wander and travel cheaply and aimlessly. That's a far cry from being homeless. It's not romantic and is very hard.

 

[JimFord99]

Yeah, homelessness is not a choice. It is circumstances.

 

[Read123456788]

This is ridiculous but the thought of being buried and it being cold freaks me out. I'd never cut it living on the streets i like warmth too much haha. If you can though go for it, if doesn't work out look for something else

 

[vonvonwantpeace]

I want to abandon everything and live in the forests.

 

[Kvotheloner]

I want to abandon everything and live in the forests.

Me too. If I could find someone willing to give me shelter and a meal to work on a farm or something to give me a real sense of purpose that would be great too.

 

[cryptic_cynic]

I've been homeless on and off for two years, and I will say I felt my depression and anxiety less in some ways. I think it's because my body and mind went into "survival mode" so I really didn't have the time or energy to spend on feeling depressed. I was too busy worrying about all the things one has to do day to day to survive on the streets. At the same time though, I did have times when the depression caught up with me and had major breakdowns all the same. Of course, the stress of homelessness was a major contributor to that.

I would say that some people are able to tolerate homelessness better than others, depending upon many different factors. Most of the people I met who were homeless long term were completely out of their minds and/or on hard drugs. Unfortunately, homelessness can be just as much a prison as wage slavery or being in actual prison.

I grew up at the poverty level, but I was still shocked by how utterly horrible homelessness turned out to be. People think they can imagine what homelessness is like, but if they've never actually experienced it, they have no fucking idea. If you are accustomed to a decently comfortable life, I would recommend against jumping into homelessness if you have any other options.

 

[oopswronglife]

The fantasy of being free or living in nature is not realistic. The reality of it is harsh. You take for granted how much of modern security and comfort you have. Food, hygiene, medicines, shelter...go camping for 2 weeks with nothing but what you can carry and then stay another 2 weeks...then another. You quickly see how its not at all "nice" when you aren't doing it for a holiday.

 

[Misanthrope]

Why would you want to become homeless? It is painful experience. You can't truly appreciate how cold and hungry you can get until you have experienced it. It is pretty violent too. Fancy yobs pissing on you? Or being turned into sport? Exposure to sickness you can't just curl up in a comfy bed and get rid of? What is often not talked about is chronic boredom that accompanies it. If you have a romanticised notion of being free of societies shackles you will find your more likely to be shackled by being criminalised for just existing. There is also no honour among thieves. Kindness comes served up with patronising drivel and blame. I still get nightmares, and some of those nightmares are the fear I am homeless again! I really don't recommend it. If you have funds to travel with maybe take a break and get a taste for living with very little. But in the meantime keep a roof over your head regardless. If you choose homelessness as a conscious choice and don't like it later, you face an uphill battle to get back out of it. Don't let your current mental state trick you into making a mistake that only promises a different sort of pain.

 

[woxihuanni]

Why would you want to become homeless? It is painful experience. You can't truly appreciate how cold and hungry you can get until you have experienced it. It is pretty violent too. Fancy yobs pissing on you? Or being turned into sport? Exposure to sickness you can't just curl up in a comfy bed and get rid of? What is often not talked about is chronic boredom that accompanies it. If you have a romanticised notion of being free of societies shackles you will find your more likely to be shackled by being criminalised for just existing. There is also no honour among thieves. Kindness comes served up with patronising drivel and blame. I still get nightmares, and some of those nightmares are the fear I am homeless again! I really don't recommend it. If you have funds to travel with maybe take a break and get a taste for living with very little. But in the meantime keep a roof over your head regardless. If you choose homelessness as a conscious choice and don't like it later, you face an uphill battle to get back out of it. Don't let your current mental state trick you into making a mistake that only promises a different sort of pain.

Yeah it's amazing how such things seem romantic from a safe distance. I would wish homelessness only on my worst enemy, and that only because I'm not a very nice person.

 

[AngrySkillet]

Yes! Homeless with zero responsibilities, I can be an overachiever at that!

 

[deflagrat]

If you think death is too extreme, you are not ready yet. You will get tired of being homeless, and you will go back to thinking about suicide after pointless suffering. Make sure you don't have any regrets before you ctb, it's important to make sure you are not making the wrong choice.

 

[Echoko]

If I could find someone willing to give me shelter and a meal to work on a farm or something to give me a real sense of purpose that would be great too.

Look into WWOOF. There are farms all over the world that do this sort of thing.

 

[DeepSleep]

I've decided I'm completely done with modern society but ctb seems so harsh. I left a 20 dollar an hour job just to sit on my savings and ponder if I want to ctb or just become a homeless traveler and see where it leads me. I've done a lot of backpacking so I enjoy that kind of stuff. I just wonder if it would lift my depression.

Sounds thrilling, are you in a warm climate? I personally think that being homeless or vagrant is terrific if there's a place to stay for the night and not freeze your balls off.
Finding food is not that difficult - you can steal fruits or pick wild ones. I even know a guy (who is not homeless) who shoplifts daily, literally, he steals cheese, sausages, seafood, even oysters sometimes. He's doing it for 3 years now.
Never ever got caught, not once.

A lot of homeless people are just drunks and drug addicts. If you don't have the alco problem, it can be very liberating to stop caring about utility bills piling up, credit cards and all that. And it definitely kills the fear of unknown.

So many people cling on their miserable homes, a concrete cell, a modern day cave 3 by 4 meters, for years as if it is their most valuable asset. Paying for it. Pathetic.

Way to go, man!

 

[GreyMonkey]

I want to abandon everything and live in the forests.

I listened to a story as part of class about a man in Australia who did this. He had antisocial problems and mental health issues. One day he just bailed on society and went into the forest. He lived there for 10 years. He made his own beer and traded it with what he called "the fringe dwellers" for flour, sugar and rice.

He didn't really speak to anyone that time. Went into active delusions, talking to himself, etc.

At the end of it he was really sick and he eventually came out and ended up signing up at a local college for a free computer course. Then he went on to do course after course. Was on government benefits yet still homeless. He ended up getting a bachelor's then a master's then a PhD and finally became a professor lecturing at a university.

He now lives in a house near the bush and is sort of functional.

His time in the forest, while romantic, also sounded like hell to me. There is an extreme kind of survival ability necessary to live like that. And while I've fantasized about it I don't think I actually could.

I did live in a van working on a farm for 18 months though. It was probably some of the happier times of my life. Then it kind of fell apart, or I sabotaged it, and led through a series of poor choices to where I am now which is the most depressed and hopeless I've ever been, having burnt so many bridges and ruined so many opportunities.

 

[oopswronglife]

Yes! Homeless with zero responsibilities,

No such thing though...unless you plan on laying in a ditch and rotting. You have to find a place to sleep, feed yourself, avoid police and crazy people and criminals. You have to navigate a society that requires addresses and phone numbers and IDs and once yours expire you won't get new ones easily or at all. It's nothing at all like the romantic notion some have.

 

[snowman626]

if i was homeless ill just go to the forests and if its winter ill just jump into a river and die via hypothermia. Summer ill find a cave to hide in, surviving on oatmeal and dried potato flakes. Away from humans at all cost.

Fuck this laying on the city street shit where im sitting duck for some fuckstain scum of the earth looking to beat up bums for fun.

 

[GeorgeJL]

I've decided I'm completely done with modern society but ctb seems so harsh. I left a 20 dollar an hour job just to sit on my savings and ponder if I want to ctb or just become a homeless traveler and see where it leads me. I've done a lot of backpacking so I enjoy that kind of stuff. I just wonder if it would lift my depression.

I've always told my family I would rather kill myself than be homeless. To each his own though. But I'm warning you being homeless isn't just being without a home. There is the potential of being stabled, robbed, beat up, murdered, become an addict etc. I have a friend that is homeless and he told me that another homeless man got murdered on the railroad tracks. The police doesn't even know about it yet I don't think.

Proceed at your own risk. Not only risk of your life, but something much more dear to you, your dignity.

Just live out of your car. It can be done with some good advice.

 

[TAW122]

Yeah in short, I'm not really fond of being homeless and in fact, the fear of homelessness is one of my reasons (or perhaps even a contributing factor to wanting to CTB, especially last year/early this year). There are people who are able to to make it, but more oftenly than not, there are many more that did not survive (due to elements, health, safety, and other causes of death).

 

[mnjkl]

I think it's a great idea, I might try the same thing myself. Don't worry about the people warning against being homeless, they're right that it can be horrible, but I don't think it has to be because many people make it work. Just don't live on the street or in a shelter, or anywhere near the type of drunks and addicts that hang around big cities. If you can get a van and a membership to a nationwide 24 hour gym, then you can still shower every day and sleep comfortably. There are many ways that you could make enough money to get by while you're homeless, and the rest of your time could be spent doing whatever you want.

 

[AngrySkillet]

No such thing though...unless you plan on laying in a ditch and rotting. You have to find a place to sleep, feed yourself, avoid police and crazy people and criminals. You have to navigate a society that requires addresses and phone numbers and IDs and once yours expire you won't get new ones easily or at all. It's nothing at all like the romantic notion some have.

Well dang it!!!

 

[Wayfaerer]

I've decided I'm completely done with modern society but ctb seems so harsh. I left a 20 dollar an hour job just to sit on my savings and ponder if I want to ctb or just become a homeless traveler and see where it leads me. I've done a lot of backpacking so I enjoy that kind of stuff. I just wonder if it would lift my depression.

You don't ever want to be homeless.