Friday, April 16, 2010

My Life Outside the Box

throughout my youth my family spent many years living 'like the gypsies'. my mother, brother and i squatted in houses mid-renovation for the winter, hid out in cabins, a motor home once, and lived in a station wagon for the summer. always on the move from one town to the next i quickly got used to the ever changing scenery and social situations.

mother's addiction, to both drugs and alcohol is what landed her and her children in this sort of lifestyle. i don't share this information with you seeking pity, but to make it known that not all seemingly negative situations have an overall negative outcome. i have learned to make the best of what i have always. i look back and see a lifetime of challenges and lessons, not struggle and hardship. attitude is everything.

when i was in high school, the last couple of years were completed living a homeless lifestyle, while working part time in a photo lab. most of my time was eaten up by work and school, which just left finding places to eat, sleep and shower. no biggie when you've made many friends along the way and have numerous couches to crash.. plus i knew where all the best outside sleeping spots were from the nights spent wandering the town with my homies.

these days i prefer the tent to the park bench, and hiding outside on the fringe of civilization, or as far out into the woods as i can get. i got to know my hometown well enough to get away with camping out around the outskirts without ever being found or bothered.

i kept the same job for many years, houseless or not. my seniority gave me the job security to take multiple month long leaves of absence so that i could move around. being homeless means not paying rent, which also means money can be spent on other things. transportation, food, gear, and other goodness. in 2008 i gave up an apartment i had for a year, quit my job all together and took off across Canada with my mate. and we had the time of our lives.

i've spent much of my time either outside or community living since. i consider it all good practice for my future plans to own some land and live with friends and family in a self sustaining lifestyle.

i plan to blog about my travels in an upcoming post about the homeless lifestyle on the road.

3 comments:

  1. Yeah I am very interested to hear your many adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That must of been hard for you growing up like that, never having that settling in feeling of where home is. That is very inspiring and uplifting that it has made your spirit shine so bright.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks! i started blogging about my travels, check 'the saGe Wandera' in my links! there's only a few posts up so far, but i'm really getting into it.

    i didn't know it as hardship back then, but i knew it wasn't 'normal'. i'm ever grateful for my life and how it has unfolded, and lead to the ability to share and hopefully help others today.

    thankyou for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete