This was a week for getting reminded of unconventional freedoms — and unconventional Outlawry (though some might call it just plain criminality).
First, we got fascinated with Christopher Knight (aka the Maine Hermit), whose solitary life some found irresistible. Imagine speaking only one word to another human in 27 years and sleeping outdoors through 27 northern winters. Imagine doing that, yet remaining so un-resourceful that you think stealing from a camp for handicapped kids is a legitimate way to survive.
Then yesterday afternoon, NPR interviewed Mike Brodie — not their usual sort of book author. At 27, Brodie is a freelance auto mechanic who disdains any claim to thinking of himself as a writer or photographer. But at 17, he started hopping freight trains, taking along a Polaroid camera. Now he’s published A Period of Juvenile Prosperity, a photo memoir of that Outlaw life.
Most of us are more respectful of property than the Maine Hermit and more settled than Mike Brodie’s friends. But tell the truth: Do you envy them a bit? Do you sometimes wish you could just walk away from the life of earning and spending and getting, the life of being responsible, filling out paperwork and carrying credit cards and IDs? Do you sometimes long even to give up some of your comforts? Do you think you could do it in the future? Or have you done something like that in your past?
I’m not asking if you’re ready to chuck it all, or if you approve of train-hopping hoboes or thieving hermits. Just wondering if you ever feel the urge, ever acted on it — or ever might.
Yes I absolutely wish I could walk away from all of the things that keep us from being absolutely free. Except my versions are a bit different. I’d do well as a semi-hermit. I dream of chucking it all, changing my name and appearance, and working as a waitress in the local greasy spoon in some mountain town, and keeping to myself in my spare time. Or I’d travel the country in a small trailer, doing odd jobs here and there to pay for gasoline and food, interacting with folks when I choose. I am totally comfortable with my own company, but I think that never being around people would get old quickly. As far as thieving to live, I’m not comfortable with that. But overall, yes, I do envy people like the ones in those links.
I walked away in 1985.After my discharge from the Army I drifted for a while, ended up in Big Sur CA, living on the south fork of the little sur river ’til some local ratted me out and the sheriff ran me off. They couldn’t understand a person wanting to just be left alone in the middle of the woods.
That same day the Grateful Dead were playing at Laguna Seca near Monterey so I went there but didn’t like the scene that much. I made an acquaintance there who introduced me to the Renaissance Pleasure faire in Novato CA. It was at the Faire I found a home for almost 20 years.
Never worked a straight job during that time.I traveled the US playing music, worked building various fairs around the US and many other odd jobs, some very odd. I learned a lot of skills from some of the greatest and most talented people ever gathered in one place.
One thing led to another and I have never been able to get back into the “Mundane” world. I honestly do not know how people do it. Once you cross the “outlaw” line and your numbers” get lost or forgotten it is difficult to get back in.They just don’t understand a 25 year gap in your past and your explanation is even harder for them to understand. I quit trying to explain freedom to them.
I am still playing music, working odd jobs, hiking and roaming the woods of Western NC, learning even more about living and staying outside the law. When I look at “normal” people I realize I could have never lived that way and never will.
There’s a lot more to the story but a quote from a Jimmy Buffet song sums it up best for me- Some of it was magic,some of it was tragic, but it has been a good life anyway. I never wanted to be rich but just to free. Because freedom is priceless.
Here’s some more lyrics that inspired me-
I’m a freeborn man of the traveling people,
I’ve no fixed abode and no man is my master,
Country lanes and highways were always my way.
Never fancied being lumbered.
I have known life hard and I have known life easy,
heard the small birds sing when winter time was over,
Then I’d pack my load and be on the road, these were good ol’ times to be a rover.
Now and then I’ll meet up with other travelers, share the news or swap family information,
At the county fairs we’ll be meeting there, all the people of traveling nations.
Be of good cheer!
Nope. After 40 lifetime moves and making do with far less than I wanted for most of that time, I have no desire to “get away.”
I live a simple life now, and don’t care to live “rough” any longer than a weekend camping trip… and as I get older that gets less and less enjoyable. I have never cared much for travel of any kind anyway. Just a hard core homebody, and I think I’m as free here as I can get. 🙂
Old “stick in the mud” mama.
Yes, I fantasize about just walking into the woods… and staying “lost”. I have (most of) the skills & equipment to do so. BUT, if I was gonna do it, it should’ve been 20-30 years ago… since I don’t think this ole body is up to it anymore.
But, I can get the same effect by just staying home, too. When I see neighbors they always want to know what interesting things we’ve been doing… and I tell them, I’m just boring and a homebody. I don’t “do” anything interesting… and that’s just the way I like it! It opens up time to read, think, and creative space…
I’ve lived an over-scheduled life and it’s gonna take a whole lot of the opposite, before I even have any interest in “doing” something again.
I’ve been living in my yurt for about a year now while building a house in the mountains. With the right outlook, a person could make a comfortable, full time, enjoyable lifestyle in a small yurt. That would be close to “walking away.”
Yep. And I have come close a few times- dipping my toe in the water. And even being homeless for a short time in a less-than-ideal location. My problem is I feel a responsibility to certain people whom I would feel guilty for abandoning. Probably because I have been abandoned enough to not want to do that to anyone else.
I would like to be in the middle of nowhere (which is my ideal somewhere) living in my tipi or, better yet, a dugout shack or a cave. I don’t want to be totally isolated though. After being an antisocial hermit for the first 37 years of my life, I discovered I really like people when I can be around them on my terms. It took a while to shake off the scars of compulsory government school.
I’m with Mama Liberty on this one.
I’ve lived and traveled all over the country and now I don’t even care to travel for vacations (without a seriously good reason). I’m happy settled in one place, a semi-hermit in the middle of a (small) city. I live close to my sons and my handful of friends. I’d find it very hard to walk away from my garden and critters.
I don’t even have a bug-out bag. I’m prepared to bug-in right here, come what may.
Of course, I may feel differently next year. That’s life!
Yes. I’ve lived in many towns and worked at 17 jobs in 56 years of nursing, including post-graduate and liberal arts study. Most of that was caused by itchy feet though there were professional reasons for moving on. I think the impulse comes from wanting to see and learn and experience a different world or job condition. The desire to travel (the “Marco Polo syndrome”, I call it) is the physical equivalent of asking “Why?”.
I’d still like to travel though settling in with my garden is more practical now. But I’m not sure an urge to keep moving could be classified as ‘walking away’.
OTOH, in the past I have thought of: living in the woods, living on a houseboat, and traveling around in an RV–and that _was_ to walk away, mostly in order to get away from people. I could easily live alone – and do so now – though I think too much and do occasionally need someone to bounce ideas around.
Over the years, I’ve contemplated many scenarios for bailing on the “normal” lifestyle. It’s certainly a temptation, particularly when things aren’t going so well.
The older I get, the less attractive such notions become.
Yes, I am a country boy at heart, and love living the ‘simple life’. (Why am I suddenly humming John Denver?) And keeping my solar system and inverter running…
But, no, I have no desire to be a hobo, and while camping every now and then is pleasant, winter camping or a week in a tent in the Pacific NW rains has no appeal to me any more.
But – the real “issue” is that, whether we like it or not…I can read the ‘handwriting on the wall’. And as the fake, dishonest, criminal “money” system and “world reserve currency” collapses – we’re all gonna have to deal with the inevitable. Now is the time to get ready for it.
PS> And as one who has (and it took some doin’ 🙂 finally become convinced that Biblical prophecy is playing out as we watch…
I expect that the ‘choice’ to participate in the Evil System that is already set to replace the Almighty Dollar after the coming meltdown is one that I don’t want ANYTHING to do with!
I love living on a small parcel of land surrounded by National Forest, 40 miles from town. I go to town 1 day/week for a volunteer job and to run the week’s errands. I thouroughly enjoy that morning with my fellow volunteer friends and the bits of social encounter with clerks and various others during errands. Then I come home and don’t go out again til the next week. It’s a busy year if I see any of the neighbors(nearest is 2.5 miles) more than twice/year. So, to some extent I have walked away.
But in spite of that I haven’t managed to get away from
“the life of being responsible, filling out paperwork and carrying credit cards and IDs? ” as Claire asks. Being out here hermitting carries a lot of personal responsibility like providing firewood for heat, caring for livestock when we had them, etc. Even if I only go to town once in a blue moon, those papers and IDs unfortunately grease the way to a high degree of freedom of movement, which I value. Sometimes I do envy someone like the Maine hermit, but then other times I’m ready to go to assisted living and call that good.
I’d never walk away to the extent of Knight, as I often didn’t have enough to eat when I was a kid and have no desire to ever experience that again.
A few years ago I’d considered building a house in the middle of the desert, as my job can be done from anywhere with an Internet connection, but on further investigation I discovered that it would actually involve much more human contact that I have living in the middle of a city, which would defeat the purpose.
I’ve thought about “disappearing” since I was a kid, that’s why I studied self-reliance. I even tried to do it, sort of. When I started looking for my own land (at age 12) it was so I’d have a place of my own to escape into and not have to deal with people. Finally managed to buy a place at age 26 . . . and a month later I couldn’t walk.
I won’t go into the rest of the story, I’ve posted it before. But, I keep trying. I managed to hold onto my land, and I’ve got ideas for making it work even with my limitations, but with the number of health problems I’ve had the last few years, I don’t dare vanish like I want to. I’m sure I could if I had to, and I’d enjoy it. It just wouldn’t be the “roughing it” that killed me.
Still, when i get my house built I’ll see how far I can “fade” without cutting out completely.
Homeless at 15, wandering around is not romantic if you’ve really done it.
I guess it is relative, living in an old travel trailer in the mountains, with a loving wife and son, with the occasional odd job, is heaven.
A little food, shelter, clean air and water, great weather, it is good to be king, on my terms. Not too much that needs fixing, had a chance once to make real money, and complicate things. It is ironic that the difference between forced and chosen simplicity is relative, also.
Oh, yeah, many times – in many forms. The current one wasn’t planned, and took longer to adjust to – but I’m still alive (and that’s the whole point.)
Each person’s belief of freedom is different. Having nothing for one may be another’s nightmare. Same goes for solitary vs society. Once you decide just what your freedoms are, and then go get them, that’s all that really counts. Just like everything else in life, sometimes compromise and giving something up to have something else comes with the decision. Living your version of freedom is the most amazing feeling in the world.
Boy, did *this* post make me think.
At one point, on and off, I lived in the woods….sometime in a tent, sometime in a TeePee, Didn’t get nearly as far away as the folk mentioned. I had a car, and a source of meager income. That probably cured me of the itch. Guess I like the comforts that a job, car, etc afford. I like hot showers, good hot food, a nice warm bed, internet. Like neal said…its not romantic if you have done it…at least not for me.
In addition, I have almost zero wanderlust. Being an Army brat, I had lived in three countries on three continents, and in four US states by the time I was 13.
I *could* go quite a way if I really needed to. But I am not sure how long I’d live. A few medical issues make a complete retreat (advance to the rear?) a less than optimal solution.
A move is almost certainly in my future….the blue meanies are getting far too close. But the terms of it…well, I’m working on it.
I *do* know that I’m a whole lot free’er than I think I am.
Like I said…this one made me think.
I have walked away twice in my life.
Once in/with a 1959 Ford sedan and what camping gear I could fit in it and once with just a backpack and its contents.
There is a period of adjustment and then “Life goes On”.
Now I am at the “hard ground sleeping isn’t fun anymore” stage and have discovered that I can find the same sense of Freedom in my own little hovel as I found back then on the road and in the woods.
I am still confident that should it become Necessary I could still get by on my own [with the help of Nature and Her Bounty] BUT I am not planning on any such thing any longer.
Still I am of the opinion that everyone should try it at least once in their lives as a proof of concept experience. “This Too I Can Do”.
stay safe,
gooch
Yes, been there. I lived in a self-built cabin. We hauled water from the creek, made an outhouse, raised a spring garden, chickens free range, read by candlelight or kerosene lamp, collected downed limbs in the woods and cut them up with a handsaw for firewood. No phone or electricity. Those were the happiest years of my life. In your 20s you can do anything.
I have the skills to return to it, but at my age would not choose the hardship unless forced by necessity.
Long ago I traveled around Europe alone for 4 1/2 months. It was wonderful. At least for that time I was able to walk away from any cares. If one is alone, more people will befriend you than if you are with another. And there’s no compromise needed on any decisions about what to do or where to go. I got so that I was talking to myself; further still, I had a few conversations where I was answering as well. I knew why I was doing it and it made me feel better, so I did it. I don’t consider such a dialog evidence of insanity – which is different from claiming to be sane.
I no longer enjoy being alone for long periods, whatever that means. Perhaps I’ve regressed in my inclination to be insightful. A very good book on the subject, if anyone is interested, is Solitude by Anthony Storr.
Although I still feel a sense of identification with Merle Haggard’s “Rambling Fever.”
It is an alluring thought. One way would be to ruck up and wander, another would be the small cabin deep in the wilderness. As I get,older it is more tempting, but. Te physical,limitations add up.
I have built a home before, but what I want to build now is a little shack. Maybe a step up or two from “Rancho Costa Nada” (great book btw) but not far. Also want to jump on my bike and tour around Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, etc. Getting a bit old for that, hard on my hands, but I may give it a try anyway. People need to get out of their ruts sometimes.
I’m for semi-isolation, but not total isolation. I need to see a human face now and then. Every day or so. 🙂
Makes me think of the characters in this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HApy-Xoix-g
Richard Thompson “Beeswing” ( 5 minutes long )
…”But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down”…
UnReconstructed Says: “A move is almost certainly in my future….the blue meanies are getting far too close.”
+1000 for your usage of “Blue Meanies”. I am so going to steal that in the future; especially since I live in the CSR (Colorado Socialist Republic).
“Remember Pepperland!”
Here’s a guy who with his daughter “got away” by camping in a Portland park for 4 years before anybody noticed:
http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/12_yr_old_homeschooled_excels.htm
If you are wondering how, Forest Park is a *really* big park. 🙂
It’s a nice story because the cops were decent for once.
When I was young I dreamed I would drive into “the woods” till the car ran out of gas, ruck up and keep on walking. Actual practice at camping cured me of it: There is no such thing as a waterproof tent, and I hate being wet. In fact I can think of few things more miserable than an endless night in a saturated tent during a downpour. Then there’s the whole starving thing. Yeah, not at all romantic.
A hermit’s cabin in the boondocks, though, that looked more doable – and more desirable – much later in life, and in fact I’m sending this via my little cabin’s satellite connection. Providing my own electricity, water, sewage disposal, firewood, etc is more than enough challenge. The thought of camping through a single Maine winter without even a fire, let alone doing it for decades, is not even conceivable. With the exception of the thievery, which is contemptible, my hat’s off to Christopher Knight as a harder man than I am.
“Here’s a guy who with his daughter ‘got away’ by camping in a Portland park for 4 years ”
The Dream of the ’90s Is Alive In Portland…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg ( 3 1/2 minutes long )
Escaping communist persecution, a family spent 40 years alone: http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-russian-family-lives-alone-in.html
I’ll add my vote to MamaL. and RickB. Camping is great, but “roughing it” as a way of life…no thanks. It’d come too close to playing Army again.