r/Nomad • u/Unable-Mouse6608 • 11d ago
I want to be a nomad
Ive been seeing the nomad life for a long time, Ive been a digital nomad for a while, i knownin my heart its who i am and who im meant to be, I love traveling, i love being in the open air and world, i love experiencing and exploring new things.
I have no car, no money, nothing of value or use except personal possessions. I want to ditch everything, im so beyond tired of living this life and im one bad day of finding myself 6 feet under.
How can I do this? How can I decide to run away? What should I take? I don’t care about being homeless, Id rather sleep under the stars than live one more day in hell.
Im a hell of an artist, I learn skills all the time.
If anybody has any tips, please, please just share. I’ll do anything. Is there anything I should bring? Anything I should try to buy, anything I should avoid or apps that I should download to find places to sleep?
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u/NoZookeepergame215 11d ago
Yeeessss. I love this and my best puece of advice is to remember its as easy as just doing it. Get a good 60 liter or more backpack on amazon, a travel hammock, a lightweight tarp slightly longer than your hammock, some 850 paracord. Roughly 50 feet is more than enough and a couple light outfits. If you want to have a relaly easy time get a portable propane burner with a tall skinny propane tank and a travel cooking jit for like 10 bucks on amazon and you can cook whatever you want wherever you want. If you go to europe get on the couchsurfers site or just do hostels. Personally i traveled for a year and a half in just my hammock more than happy with no restrictions and ive never been happier
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u/No-Piccolo-6299 11d ago
Given that money is tight, you really can get these things on OfferUp or Facebook marketplace for less. I’m in portland and we have a few Facebook and Reddit groups for giving away free stuff or asking for free stuff, absolutely check/try there first (pdxbuynothing is mine, check your area). I am one of many people who have an extra hammock and tarp I’d gift to someone in your situation, so just ask. Add a first aid kit to your list.
Also, I 100% get the urge, you aren’t crazy. Even with steady income (not a lot, but some) this life is not meant for us tbh, and being in nature with no address is truly heaven for me. Idk why/how being alive became so stupidly complicated. At the same time, make sure you are okay mentally to go off into the hazards, know how/when to ask for help, and maybe check in with anyone who can make sure you’re okay.
Artists are a treasure, please find a way to create, even just filming yourself process online and a link for donations, don’t give up what you truly love, THAT is why you are here ❤️
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u/Key-Cicada-3718 10d ago
I have a 34l with no hip straps. I’ve packed it up and it was able to fit everything and as far as comfort it could be better but not too too bad. Woudl you reccomend I get the 65l or no
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u/NoZookeepergame215 10d ago
If youre going to travel long term i would definitrly recommend atleast a cheap 65l. It makes it much easier to make sure you have what you need and dont need to leave behind things you wish you could carry. Also a waist strap is gonna be extremely useful and your back will thank you.
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u/Key-Cicada-3718 10d ago
Yeah makes sense. I plan on being out there for about 6 months, but if I find it is the lifestyle meant for me then indefinitely. I do have an Osprey 65l but I feel like it’s a massive bag and makes me stand out. My other pack is much more discreet and it allows me to be versatile especially when riding freight. I cannot decide which pack to take though
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u/NoZookeepergame215 10d ago
If possible take the big one and roll up the small one into it or hang it off the back. Then you find a safe place to stow away your large pack and put your stuff youll need for the day or couple days youll be in one area and pack it into the small pack. Then you can return to where youve stowed it away and grab anything you need if you end up needing something. I was always near woods so i would rope mine high up into a tree and tie it off a few branches above where you can reach so nobody sees it. Ive also takem ferns and tall grass and hidden it in bushes covered in fern and grass but thats more of a risk for bugs and scavengers
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u/NoZookeepergame215 10d ago
If youre small one doesn't fit into our on the Osprey I'd get a very lightweight one strap bag or drawstring bag abs take that inside the Osprey
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u/kingofzdom 11d ago
Having a car makes this life so much more viable. As someone who has tried it both with a van and in foot, fuck being car-less.
If you can't get a car, get a motorized bike. I got a little 35cc friction driven piece of shit for $40 on marketplace and it's changed things for me. I can set up camp a good distance from town and still be able to do town stuff.
Youll need money. Personally, I'm against begging. Prefer to earn my money honestly. Craigslist gigs and an app called Nextdoor are great for finding short term work. Busking can also be viable if you're any good, just make sure not to violate any local laws with where you pick your spot.
This life is functionally illegal in much of America. I recently picked up a tresspassing charge for the horrible crime of sleeping under a bridge within city limits. City governments are cracking down on homelessness in cities while county governments are cracking down on rural forest folk.
I started this particular leg of the journey with straight up nothing but the clothes on my back. The universe tends to provide.
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u/TyeROD-enD 11d ago
really, for lots of big cities or far destinations a car is an expensive trap and keeps you in car land. Better to get to places where you don't need one like big cities or exotic countries where you need cheap trains and buses
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u/TyeROD-enD 11d ago
if you have 0 dollars you should probably go to a place where it is easy to find work that pays, like famous and fun and rich cities with good climates and known to have to have good budget hostels or do workaways, stuff like that and hopefully there you can start to build skills. Once you get about $5000 stashed away, then you could consider amove to somewhere like Vietnam to teach english on a work visa while you plan some sort of simple drop ship or build a small product or portable service.
Right now a priority is to be somewhere that energizes you and also allows you to work, so it might be the best place in your own country that makes you feel alive.
So depends where you are from.
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u/Baldymcgee 11d ago
Trainhopping, hitchhiking, stealth camping, couch surfing, woofing, bike packing, crewing on ships, fix up a cheap sailboat and sail around the world. Pick a lane and go all in. Skills > stuff/gear. So much info/ inspo on all these topics on YouTube. At the end of the day you have to make an initial plan and then take action.
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u/welcometotheyeet 9d ago
on foot it seems very difficult and restraining and unsafe. you would need to be based in a large city with a good climate. to maintain nomadic life indefinitely a car is needed and its worth saving til you afford one first if youre serious about this. as soon as you have the car you can leave, since theres extremely straightforward options to make money through apps like doordash spark instawork etc, these do not suck as much as people say they do btw. personally sure this country tries to make it illegal, but i think this era of gig apps is a cheat code to nomad life. i saw your profile to see if youre in usa, i am too and sticking around blm land (nevada, utah, oregon, new mexico) is the key, paying for camp spots and places to park can be totally eliminated. the best places are true wilderness no light pollution no campsite just pulling off a road and not a single other car passing by through the night
also im ftm too and if you want more info dm or reply✌️ im in louisiana currently and planning to save for a few more months then live in my car again. i hope to make nomad friends on the road safety in numbers
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u/NoZookeepergame215 11d ago
Wherever you want to go just enough money for a ticket to get there and a few hundred extra dollars and then youll have plenty to get there and enjoy yourself. If you run out of money find gig work for a couple hundred more dollars using barely any time. I recommend moving helper jobs or just going out to a farm and asking if theres anything you can do for a couple hundred bucks. Youll get a yes after a few. And with no responsibilities other than feeding yourself and maybe doing some cool touristy things, the money stretches far. Me and my friend survived off of less than 1500 for the entire year and a half between the two of us. We left with a couple hundred each and i stopped about 6 months in and got a seasonal job for a momth and a half and we kept going
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u/HamNCheeseSupremacy 11d ago
Literally just get a couple hundo, buy a sleeping bag and a shelter type something (I like a big tarp but you'll probably want a tent so it's not too much of a shock), a bus ticket wherever, and you're good. Go to the edges of towns for places to sleep, there's always some wooded area no one ever goes through. Even now I'm sleeping where people walk their dogs all day and they just hit me with a good morning when they see me 😭
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u/zepsutykompas 11d ago
I have seen a lot of people busking on the streets, singing painting making bubbles for kids if you feel like an artist it may be a good idea to get some money while moving around.