My personal homeless adventure in the city and the woods

[TheLastMountainMan]

Buggy, I too would like a copy. Will pm you the info.

[Schneb]

I'm so glad to hear you found a way to publish this. Hearing everyone else's reaction--and feeling the same way myself as what they all said--I'm sure your story will mean a lot to many, many people. What you said about the Wounded Warrior project? I'm guessing that apart from any money that you give to it, having your story to pass along to others will be a huge, meaningful contribution.

I don't have experiences that directly relate to what you described, but I can think of people I know who do have such experiences: my dad grew up in the Depression raised by his mom after she had to take him and his two sisters away from his dad for reasons of safety. To do that back then--get a divorce and be a single mom--from what people say, was even more of a challenge than it is now.

As a grown man, he too went looking for his dad.

And found him.

And got some closure...but didn't have much long term contact--I guess for some of the same sorts of reasons.

And my amazing 80-some year old grandma-in-law used to drive (on her own) to wherever things had thawed (Tenn.? Ky?) by the end of March/early April, and camp in the pack of her pick-up truck on an air mattress, with a hobo stove. It was her thing: solo road trip and open air/basic gear camping.

In terms of other things your story brought to mind: the Hemingway story, 'Big Two-Hearted River' (one of the Nick Adams stories). I'm not at all knowledgable about Hemingway--I like to read him, but don't know about him/his stories--but I've heard people say that story of a young man going out into the woods to camp and fish is about WW1 vets finding the kind of healing that you describe. I was thinking of some other authors' accounts of traveling and just getting by, but you mentioned one of 'em already (Steinbeck).

Other things come to mind too, but, well, the overall thing is, your story and how you tell it is a pretty powerful thing.

So first--thanks! For the story, and also for you service.

But also--as much as I thank you for everything, I also say that I'm glad you came through everything.

[KSDeputy]

I have the greatest respect for our warriors, what they sacrifice for our country at the time of their service, and for many the rest of their lives. I served as a deputy sheriff for 30 years, I understand the cop part of your story. My Dad was a psychiatrist and served in WWII. He helped a lot of people in his life. I am so glad you got help for your PTSD from the VA, and even more that you found such a wonderful woman. Best of luck to you.

[Buggyout]

I have the greatest respect for our warriors, what they sacrifice for our country at the time of their service, and for many the rest of their lives. I served as a deputy sheriff for 30 years, I understand the cop part of your story. My Dad was a psychiatrist and served in WWII. He helped a lot of people in his life. I am so glad you got help for your PTSD from the VA, and even more that you found such a wonderful woman. Best of luck to you.

Thanks Bro! 30 years? Yeah, you understand. :)

-Buggy

[Mike.lesten]

Thanks for sharing

[Preppersgab]

Thank you for the story.

[Applejack]

And yes Buggy's story is a great one. I bought the book and still waiting for book 2. But I think with the fire that will be on hold for a good while. But still a great story and worth bringing back up for new members to enjoy.

[Killstreakblank]

Alot of what youve been through hits close to home. My mom, my brother and i were homeless when i was a kid too. My brother and spent our days fishing and on a good day would get something to cook at the campsight. I ate my fill of cold tuna and noodles through my time there. I was homless for about 6 months as an adult as well. Luckily i had a truck and would spend my days picking up anything metal off the side of the roads and scrapping it at the junkyard. It might sound bad but i liked the freedom of living in a tent in the woods with no responsibilities and no one to answer to. I think about it alot lately.

[registror]

since you were not going to immediately be on foot/homeless, I'd have kept the pistol and a .22lr, or ideally, a shorty AR in 223 with a .22lr conversion unit. You were foolish to go out to the woods with so little food or any way of getting food. Should have taken netting, trotlines, bird lime, fish poison, steel traps, snares. Nee a really good pad to sleep in the truck. What I did was buy an old couch at a thrift store, for $10, and toss all but the 3 cushions. I sewed them in the way that lets them be folded and stacked. When I'm on foot, I prefer a hammock, but when I can be protected by a vehicle, I prefer that. You'll be much less likely to wake up dead. What you should have done was hang around town, selling your plasma, doing day labor, work gigs off of craigslist, flying a sign, etc, until you could get a college loan and grant. That's $6000 in your pocket. Do NOT fail to attend class or drop out before the semester is 2/3rds over with, or you'll owe the college at 18%, and they will NOT take monthly payments. This will screw you out of any future loans or schooling! After the 2/3rds point, you owe the Dept of Ed at 7%. You only have to pass 2 of your 4 classes to quaify for ANOTHER full time loan. If you dont pass all 4 of those classes, tho, they'll shut you off until you've completed a semester on your own money (ie, $3000). So, in a few months, you can have $12,000. That will buy a LOT of cheap carbs and fats, and the traps, netting, etc, will provide the protein. You can have a garden if you want in the woods, too. A BLM "mining claim" costs just $120 a per year and it gives you all of the rights of an owner on 20 acres.. Have one up north for the summer and another down south for the winter. You can rent a bumper mounted back hoe for your minivan or p/u camper, dig a hole for your vehicle back into a hillside, cover it with a camo net and brush. Get back and forth to town on a motorycycle. Or leave the vehicle with a paid person on the highway, and get back and forth on a bicycle, using solid rubber tires and a gel seat cover.

[registror]

a cheap sleeping bag is ok for the vehicle. If it's going to be really cold, you'll need TWO, one inside of the other. For hiking, I dont want the bulk, weight, nor the expense of a down bag that really CAN handle 0F. degrees. Down is worthless if it' gets wet. and getting wet is VERY likely if you're on foot. You can make the pair of 2go Systems Trifecta bivvies suffice, and they are unaffected by getting wet. They serve as ponchos/clothing, so you dont need heavy winter clothing, saving a lot of weight/bulk/expense. Give me the Cold steel shovel, the Crunch multitool and some saw blades and keep the hatchets. it's too noisy, dangerous and inefficient. A take down .22lr rifle, ideally with a silencer, like the Marlin Papoose, can be hidden in your pack. and a pocket 9mm can be just 15 ozs. If you use bait and night vision, it's not all that hard to get within 30m of deer or hogs and brain them with the .22 rifle. It can be hidden in your pack. I'd avoid CA like the PLAGUE that it IS! Get a CCW license that's recognized in as many states as possible in order to avoid legal trouble and have the silencer LEGALLY or dont have it at all. use CB caps for quiet harvesting of grouse. Consider a take down pellet rifle for small stuff and a slingbow, for deer/hogs if you can't have guns in your area.

[Garand]

thanks for sharing

[survivalzash]

https://www.digistore24.com/redir/312621/zash1523/ this would do great for yall

[YourBro]

We can all have the chance to be happy if we want to

[YourBro]

wow heck of a story so far, thanks for sharing!

I also really like genre stories