Drifting free

[Kladeos]

Recently I've felt like just walking away from school to spend a few months hopping trains in Europe. This will probably never happen. I'm in university, and I'll be working all my summers. After I graduate I'll probably work right away or go into grad school (after which I'll work right away). The type of work I want to do pays very little and involves living in remote parts of the world with little time off. I'm also too scared to do this alone, but currently have no one I want to do it with. I'm visibly queer and of a minority race. I'm female. I'm small and the only European language I speak is English. I'm North American and could be mistaken for an American (no offence, guys). I'm also to attached to my laptop, in addition to being lazy.

But I've been on-and-off interested in urban backpacking for a couple of years now. It's such a romantic idea, living with just a backpack and going wherever the hell you feel like. I used to want to live in England for a year after I graduate, just to experience something different. The fact that I might never will makes me depressed. I love my city, and I'll probably retire there, but I don't want to have lived my entire life in one place. I know that technically I haven't - I've lived on two continents, two countries, three cities. But sometimes I feel like I know so little and have experienced so little. I've never been truly free.

[LemonBlossom]

This is something that seems like it would be really neat to do, but I'm never going to have time at this point--by the time I'm done with grad school and being a postdoc (both implying no free time) and getting far enough along with a real job to actually have some sort of time off, I'll probably be far too old. Plus I suck at learning languages--I know English and failed majorly at trying to learn Spanish--am fairly obviously American, and while not a minority I appear very Jewish, which I get the impression is starting to be dangerous in parts of Europe. At least I do appear male to people, and if I stop shaving arm and leg hair for a month or two probably don't appear visibly queer.

As it is, I've lived in two cities in very different parts of the country and will be living in a third soon. I try to visit places when I have time and money to do so, but even so, I've been to only pretty limited parts of the US, none of Canada except Windsor, and no other countries, and don't really expect to be able to go many other places in the forseeable future.

[Luna Lovegood]

I hope that you finish, though. You can hop trains in Europe afterwards. That is what I did. After grad school, I got a job that allows me to travel, and frequently, I do ride trains about Europe. I have been to about three dozen European countries so far. I am about to wander about again.

*packs*

This will probably never happen.

Perhaps it can! I am doing do now.

*hopes that you can, too*

[-Kt-]

Recently I've felt like just walking away from school to spend a few months hopping trains in Europe. This will probably never happen. I'm in university, and I'll be working all my summers. After I graduate I'll probably work right away or go into grad school (after which I'll work right away). The type of work I want to do pays very little and involves living in remote parts of the world with little time off. I'm also too scared to do this alone, but currently have no one I want to do it with. I'm visibly queer and of a minority race. I'm female. I'm small and the only European language I speak is English. I'm North American and could be mistaken for an American (no offence, guys). I'm also to attached to my laptop, in addition to being lazy.

But I've been on-and-off interested in urban backpacking for a couple of years now. It's such a romantic idea, living with just a backpack and going wherever the hell you feel like. I used to want to live in England for a year after I graduate, just to experience something different. The fact that I might never will makes me depressed. I love my city, and I'll probably retire there, but I don't want to have lived my entire life in one place. I know that technically I haven't - I've lived on two continents, two countries, three cities. But sometimes I feel like I know so little and have experienced so little. I've never been truly free.

Airfare to Europe is pretty cheap these days (Like 400-500 roundtrip), I don't see why it will never happen, I have to imagine that hopping trains and the occasional hostel has to be pretty cheap as well.

I hope that you finish, though. You can hop trains in Europe afterwards. That is what I did. After grad school, I got a job that allows me to travel, and frequently, I do ride trains about Europe. I have been to about three dozen European countries so far. I am about to wander about again.

I've only been to 20 countries in North America myself And 5 countries in Australia

[Luna Lovegood]

I've only been to 20 countries in North America myself And 5 countries in Australia

Perhaps you mean states?

This site:

http://www.internationalgiftitems.com/e ... ntries.htm

lists 48 European countries. However, what they list as Yugoslavia (Serbia & Montenegro) is now 3 countries: Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo.

I have about ten more to go and than I will have been to all of them. I have also been to quite a number of countries in places other than Europe.

I head to Bosnia & Hercegovina tomorrow, and then later to Luxemburg and Andorra, and if I still have time before coming back to the US late next month, to Latvia and Lithuania.

I am serious about the possibility of Kladeos to have it all--grad school and hopping trains in Europe, because I did it. I just completed a job assignment in Germany and will start another in Switzerland after visiting Bosnia.

Anyway, it is cool that you travel a lot, too. Travel is my addiction.

[-Kt-]

I've only been to 20 countries in North America myself And 5 countries in Australia

Perhaps you mean states?

This site:

http://www.internationalgiftitems.com/e ... ntries.htm

lists 48 European countries. However, what they list as Yugoslavia (Serbia & Montenegro) is now 3 countries: Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo.

I have about ten more to go and than I will have been to all of them. I have also been to quite a number of countries in places other than Europe.

I head to Bosnia & Hercegovina tomorrow, and then later to Luxemburg and Andorra, and if I still have time before coming back to the US late next month, to Latvia and Lithuania.

I am serious about the possibility of Kladeos to have it all--grad school and hopping trains in Europe, because I did it. I just completed a job assignment in Germany and will start another in Switzerland after visiting Bosnia.

Anyway, it is cool that you travel a lot, too. Travel is my addiction.

Shite, yes, I just looked at Wikipedia this morning and came here to edit my post!
I didn't know Europe had THAT MANY countries, guess the Luxembourgs, Lichtensteins, and Vatican Sees are what did me in.

But yeah, Kladeos you're free! Like a bird with clipped wings, but still free to walk, only bound by the restrictions of money and time, like the other 5 billion of us.

[Kladeos]

Money and time are pretty big restrictions. I've never had a job - when I start working in May, it'll be my first paid experience. I've considered biking around my province this summer with my friend once I get a real bike, so that'll be fun. I'm starting to seriously consider hopping trains around Canada after I get my first paycheck, assuming I actually get a job and not just an unpaid internship. Trainfare isn't bad, and it's not like I don't go back and forth by bus from this city to my home city often enough. I am starting to hate buses and travelling by them, but trains should be easier. The one time in recent memory than I took a train (to New York, approx. 13 hours) the air-con was haywire and too cold, and the engine broke down, leading to a two hour delay. But still.

I also get the feeling that it's easier for musicians, writers and artists to do this kind of thing. Sometimes I wish I was any of those. I'm a photographer in my spare time, but it'd not as serious now as it used to be.

[Some Kid]

I'm probably going to end up taking a gap year and doing the whole traveler thing. I know there's a really big population of people who do that that come to my town in summer (cuz it's waay too cold to be homeless during the rest of the year), and a friend of mine always hangs out in the U of M diag (which is sort of the de facto "weirdos and crusties" place to be, apparently), so I'll end up following somebody somewhere at some point. I've never been someone who needs very much, and I like sleeping outside, so spending some time just drifting around, going to shows, and living off of dumpster diving and handouts sounds like something I could get a lot out of. The whole "get drunk, never shower, be incredibly desperate to survive all the time" thing doesn't strike me as fun though, so I'd make sure to keep myself clean and free of addiction. And by the time I get out of high school, I'll be 19, so I'll hopefully already have SRS and the bulk of my hormonal transition out of the way, so having no money for hormones wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

I'm pretty sure that's in no way, shape, or form the solution for the vast majority of people though.

[-Kt-]

Money and time are pretty big restrictions. I've never had a job - when I start working in May, it'll be my first paid experience. I've considered biking around my province this summer with my friend once I get a real bike, so that'll be fun. I'm starting to seriously consider hopping trains around Canada after I get my first paycheck, assuming I actually get a job and not just an unpaid internship. Trainfare isn't bad, and it's not like I don't go back and forth by bus from this city to my home city often enough. I am starting to hate buses and travelling by them, but trains should be easier. The one time in recent memory than I took a train (to New York, approx. 13 hours) the air-con was haywire and too cold, and the engine broke down, leading to a two hour delay. But still.

I also get the feeling that it's easier for musicians, writers and artists to do this kind of thing. Sometimes I wish I was any of those. I'm a photographer in my spare time, but it'd not as serious now as it used to be.

Money and time will always be big restrictions, a couple years ago I had plenty of time but no money, now I have plenty of money but no time, it seems to always be one or the other.

If I wanted to take a real vacation and travel I'd basically have to quit my job because I have very limited vacation time and I am on-call 24/7, quitting my job would be a poor move in this job market, and with a mortgage payment in Florida, and a rent payment in Georgia, it'd be fiscal suicide, so I don't really feel free to travel either, but that's cool because I'll have time for that later, in a couple years I hope to be in a position to travel around a bit.

Going to Europe would be cool because I've never went there, I want to visit Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, and my SO wants to visit Italy and France. But honestly I'd have real fun just going back to visit Thailand because it's totally awesome and everything is much cheaper there compared to Europe.

[Kladeos]

I can get a student pass for unlimited travel around Canada for 12 days for under $600, which is pretty awesome. Canada is almost the size of the entire continent of Europe, which means I'd be able to do some pretty impressive travelling. I've already mapped out the cities I want to hit, although I probably won't have time to see all in twelve days.

[Klephty]

When I lost my home in early January, I took off to Boston and have been traveling the US ever since. I left Portland with about $160, blew it all on a bus ticket when I got homesick in Des Moines. Squatted in Portland for a couple months, then went to Oakland for the riot in January but eventually got sick of the city life so I took off again and explored the Midwest (Davenport, Iowa City, Camp Trans, Detroit, Chicago, and Fort Wayne) for a month or so. Planning on finding a ship to Europe in the next few days.

It's probably a good idea to have $30 or so the first time you leave home at least, but honestly it's completely sustainable to live without money in this kind of lifestyle. My only problem is hormones... :/ which I'm kind of crossing my fingers will be easier to find in Europe.

I mostly travel by hitchhiking. Visibly queer and never had any problems from it.

[Kladeos]

When I lost my home in early January, I took off to Boston and have been traveling the US ever since. I left Portland with about $160, blew it all on a bus ticket when I got homesick in Des Moines. Squatted in Portland for a couple months, then went to Oakland for the riot in January but eventually got sick of the city life so I took off again and explored the Midwest (Davenport, Iowa City, Camp Trans, Detroit, Chicago, and Fort Wayne) for a month or so. Planning on finding a ship to Europe in the next few days.

It's probably a good idea to have $30 or so the first time you leave home at least, but honestly it's completely sustainable to live without money in this kind of lifestyle. My only problem is hormones... :/ which I'm kind of crossing my fingers will be easier to find in Europe.

I mostly travel by hitchhiking. Visibly queer and never had any problems from it.

I'd be way too terrified to do that. I'm so used to my parents planning out, in detail, every aspect of travelling. I've flown alone since I was 10, but I can't imagine not having concrete plans and backup plans. I thrive on stability.

EDIT: Plus my parents instilled paranoia in me at a young age. I can't hitchhike. It's one of the Forbidden Things in my family.

[Klephty]

That's what everyone says, there's always some excuse why you can't. You can.