I'm heading out

Visions of the Rewilding Renaissance Grief & Praise
#1

so i was originally going to post this in the events/meet ups section but there are a couple things that i think make this more relevant here. so if the moderators feel that this isn’t the right place, go ahead and move it to events/ meet ups or where ever.

i’m pretty sure i’m going to take a big step into rewilding this coming summer and ditch civ, or at least as much as i can. i’m pretty set on going homeless and wandering but i worry about having little to no experiance what so ever in terms of not only the primitive survival skills but also the “other” survival skills like where to sleep, what i should be wary of, what i need to know for hitch hiking/ traveling by my self, money, emergency stuff, etc. i realize this will be hard, i just think that this approach would really be for the better in terms of fully meeting my rewilding goals vs. keeping rewilding as a weekend hobby while i stay a wage slave durring the week.

i realize i won’t be able to make a complete disconnect from civ (that would be silly) but i think this is the most straight forward approach to rewilding that i could personally take unless something happens between now and then which i doubt.

taking this step will also mean that i’ll have to end most of my relationship with my family and friends and really start anew, which will be very hard for me. i’ve given this a lot of thought but there’s still a lot to consider and think about.

i would really appreciate any thoughts and was hoping you guys could help me think this through and prepare.

thanks

paolo

#2

Being nomadic doesn’t mean you have to give up all relationships with people who aren’t. Historically most nomads had a specific region and seasonal paths, much like birds and other animals. Circling around to see family and friends occasionally is not beyond reason, especially if they can be supportive (either by actually being supportive or perhaps by being a mirror of what you won’t let yourself become? I know some people like that, I’m not sure if your family or friends make you feel like that).

Decent gear is useful, but its our mind that will serve you best. Grab and memorize How to Survive in the Woods. Get the regional guides for plant life in your region and get outside NOW! Seriously. You want to do this now so you can recognize these plants at a glance, which requires seeing them in person. No amount of pictures or video can compare to seeing it in real life once. And plants look very different in winter and summer. So get out there now while some are still up.

Save up money to subsidize. You won’t be able to live completely off the land yet, and you shouldn’t try. If nothing else, protein will be very difficult for you.

So that’s my advice if you don’t take my main advice: if you aren’t skilled yet use next summer to practice and head out the year after. Go to primitive skills classes. The aftermathblog.wordpress.com keeps a list of some primitive skill schools. Its far from complete and hasn’t been updated in really too long, but its a good place to start. (Disclosure: I’m half of the writers on that blog.)

If you’re an east coaster go to the MAPS Meet in June. Its four days of three classes a day with food and a place to pitch a tent included for 200 bucks. Not a bad deal.

  • Benjamin Shender
#3

If by some long-shot you end up all the way over here in Rhode Island, stop by!

#4
Many seedling growers crank up the heat (there is no wind inside a hothouse) and then, after four weeks, move these attractive looking seedlings directly out to the sales bench... perhaps the seedling manages to run the gauntlet of hardening off (adjusting to normal conditions) and finally gets to growing right, but it might take two weeks...Ethical seedling raisers harden off their seedlings by moving them from their minimally heated greenhouse to what is called a cold house when they are about three or four weeks old, then growing them on in this more natural environment for a few weeks until they have toughened up.

We who live in industrialized countries have something in common with those hothouse seedlings: We live an unusually pampered lifestyle. Personally, I would prefer to give myself a gradual hardening off period instead of a sudden plunge into normal conditions.

I hope I don’t sound like too much of a wet blanket :). Good luck on your new adventure!

edit: I forgot to add, you might to want to check out Hobostripper’s blog for advice. She has some experience with living in a van.

#5

Have fun! Living without money soon rather than waiting for a savior (collapse, enlightenment, revolution, death, obama) is one of my short term goals as well. Depending how social you are, food water and shelter may not make you happy if you’ve got no friends around. I get bored.

For sure, hitchhiking with a buddy is 100 times better (more fun, less awkward, potentially safer) than alone. That said, I’ve hitched alone a bunch of times and I just had one crazy old guy wanting to suck my dick but he pulled over when I told him to.

I lived outside on a long distance hike for over 4 months this past summer but I relied pretty heavily on spending my saved money (but mainly cause I spent all day hiking, you could spend way less by hunting gathering scavenging and stealing more.)

I’ve payed low rent for a basement and relied on dumpstering, roadkill, fishing and stealing to feed me for 5 months straight- except when friends wanted me to go out to the bar. Definitely possible to eat free and have a social life like that while living outside/squatting if you could just find the right location(s).

If you need a place to crash in Eastern VA you can PM me, though I won’t stay here much longer.

You also might wanna check out the squat the planet forum.

#6

thanks for the responses everyone.

dan-

thanks dan. i’d love to drop through if i’m ever in your neck of the woods, though i don’t think it’ll be any time soon.

hypnopompia-

i’m broke and unemployed so getting a job now is really a priority so i can start saving. in the mean time i’m going to start studying up as much as i can. i might wait til’ spring if i’m not ready by the time summer comes around, but that’s sort of the general deadline i’m hoping to be ready by.

scavenger-

a buddy to do this with would definitely help. that’s the one area i’m most lacking in. my friends and family don’t know what’s up and if they did, they’d probably want nothing to do with me haha. i just don’t know where i’d find someone willing to take that step. i’ll probably end up doing this alone.

thanks for the link.

starfish-

actually, the reason why i’m doing this is because i know that if i don’t, i’d probably end up spending the rest of my free time away from work in front of the computer or behind books, counting down the days until 2012 and never really putting any of this into action. when the time comes when rewilding isn’t an option any more, but a reality that i’ll have to face no matter what, i know i’ll be completely unprepared. so i think of this as my “hardening off period”. i’m not trying to go off the grid just yet, i’m no where near being able to pull that off. but going homeless i think will force me to take rewilding seriously, putting rewilding into some sort of context rather than rewilding on the weekends when i have time. i want my entire life to be dedicated to this and i really think this is the most effective way for me because i’m the kind of person who needs a little jolt to take myself seriously. like i said, right now i’m kind of an “armchair rewilder”. i can talk up a storm about how much i’m sick of this culture but none of it really means anything if i don’t put it into action and i don’t see myself doing that without putting myself in a situation where i don’t have the option of putting it off until “the collapse happens”. doing this will force me to realize that the collapse is already happening and the sooner i start really weening myself of civilization, the easier it’s gonna be for me in the long term.

i hope that doesn’t sound too stupid of me (this is directed towards everyone) and i’m aware that i’m young and i don’t have as much “life experiance” to make the kind of rational decisions someone older might be able to, so if you feel like i’m making a stupid decision in doing this, please feel free to correct me.

again, i really appreciate the responses.

paolo

#7

Not stupid.
Ever been to the Rainbow Gathering? Lots of bullshit there but also lots of good people. If you’ve had a sheltered life it will blow your mind. Find the people who make it happen and plug into that scene. Steer clear of the drug and alcohol scenes.
There’s at least one of every kind of people on earth there, like-able and not so like-able. Scammers and people with amazing integrity.
Totally changed my life back in 1976 when I was 19.
If you want to make money come next summer, there is lots of fruit picking in Washington state from Yakima north to the Canadian Border.
From Chelan up into the Okanagon valley you will see more alternative culture type people. Especially around Tonasket and up to the border

#8

When I have hitchhiked in the USA I found that truck drivers are usually easy to get a ride with. I also agree with heyvictor about Rainbow Gatherings.They can be a great place to meet alot of different kinds of people and when you find the right ones,I’ll just say paths can open that weren’t there before.