>Not sure how or where to sleep. Do the ones with experience in homelessness have suggestions?
I've been considering something similar for a while, so I'm interested in this part as well. I've thought about maybe buying a sleeping bag for the journey and just sleeping under bridges or places with a few trees so that I'm less likely to be stabbed or robbed in my sleep or whatever, but I can't see that working out for longer than a couple of days at most. Plus it's freezing up here and rains a lot, so that would make sleeping outside pretty difficult too.

Sounds like an adventure, man. Gotta watch your limits though so you don't collapse halfway there, happened to me once in the middle of walking through the highlands and I would probably have kicked the bucket if not for a nice family who came along and gave me water and a ride to the nearest town. So yeah, make sure to always have plenty of water on you at all times, though that should be a given.

>>9300
Three things I want to have on my person are a hand tool, some water, and a butterfly knife.

You could buy a bike and do it in a day. But the walking idea is fancy too, I'm not trying to stop you.

>Not sure what to bring, if bringing anything at all, for shelter and bedding.
Food, water and maybe a blanket.
but most importantly, something of your waifu

Good on you man. Hanging around your mother seems really crap, I hope your dads better.

Oh, and bring a bike. With a lock. Walking is really slow and you'll probably get there three times as fast on a bike (not true if you're not wakling along a road).

Post edited on 15th Mar 2012, 4:20pm

Why the fuck are you walking? Just get a bus or a train. I don't think your mom will acknowledge your protest at all.

>>9306
This, especially since your goal is to remove yourself from your mother's house. It seems to me that just leaving would be enough of a protest.

>>9306
Apparently he lives in a rural area.

What region of the world do you live in? I can say from experience that if you live someplace like the American south, insects could be an issue even at this time of year. There's nothing worse that trying to fall asleep and feeling something crawl over you. Somewhat counterintuitively, suburban/urban areas can be worse for insects, as they seem to stay active through the night under the artificial lights. If you live someplace that's either dry or still to cool for bugs right now, you could be okay with just a sleeping bag. But don't underestimate the cold; even if you have a nice heavy thirty-degree or so sleeping bag, it can feel cold without a tent even if it's around fifty degrees (fahrenheit) or so at night. Your trip should not take any more than four days unless you're in very poor condition, though, so you could just nap during the day and walk through the night.
As far as sleeping rough in urban/suburban areas in the US, many rental car places and car lots leave their vehicles unlocked, and I've also spent a few nights on the floors of random cargo vans behind small businesses. Although they get hot at night in the summer, they are impervious to insects and rain. Also, places like Lowe's and Home Depot have those large display sheds in their parking lots; just make sure they're not located in strip malls with a security patrol.
Forty pounds for a pack load is definitely heavy by anyone's standards, but if you're planning on this being a permanent move I suppose it can't be helped. I would recomment trying to go with twenty-five pounds or less, though, if possible. Finally, if water and food aren't too big of an issue, I would try to keep it as rural as possible, as roughing it even in the suburbs is really unnerving at first.

>>9306
It's cute how you think conservative America has affordable infrastructure.

>>9310
I live in the northeast, forty miles north of Boston. What I live in can only be described as a suburb's suburb, basically from when people moved north to see the country but were too uncomfortable being more than three hundred feet from their neighbours, so they built developments.

I theoretically could bring a bike, but mine is locked up in a shed and the tires are flat, and I would have to break into my mum's car for an air compressor.

All this is good information, thank you.

Basically the walk will be me going to my dad's, then we will probably be going back to my mum's to collect my things. I don't think she will have a problem with that; less effort on her part to clean out my room and turn it into a storage place or a cobweb-prone "workout" room.

50 miles isn't that much. Just be sure to pack the necessary provisions. And take a shopping cart or something similar with you.

Affluent white suburbs (I'm assuming here, as I've never been to Boston) can actually be pretty enjoyable to rough it in. You don't have to worry about getting mugged so much, they're quiet at night with plenty of hiding spots, and they're full of easily accessible dumpsters with good food if you know how to dig and are into it.
If you're sure you'll be able to retrieve your belongings later, there's really no need to pack much more than twenty pounds (not counting water). Trust me, if you overpack you'll be cursing every ounce halfway through the second day.
>>9313
A shopping cart is NOT a good idea. Cumbrousness aside, it will draw too much negative attention. Which brings up another point about pack weight/size; a large, heavy pack will make you look like a lowly vagrant to people.

Anyhow, best of luck to you.

Post edited on 16th Mar 2012, 8:02pm

Shinden you never fail to make me laugh.

Never stop shitting out your mouth, brightens up my bleak existence.

>>9314
>>Affluent white suburbs (I'm assuming here, as I've never been to Boston) can actually be pretty enjoyable to rough it in

I guess its better if you're white, as in my case a black dude loitering around (some) suburban areas and whatnot seems like a good case to get pulled over. Though I could be wrong and it depends on the suburbs in question. After all, you might be able to get free food late at night after restaurants close by asking the staff if they have any leftover food.

>>9311
There probably is public transport in your area, just that the public transport is VERY shitty. I wouldn't blame you, from my experience using suburban bus systems sucks MAJOR DICK. The buses dont run long, some "stops" aren't even written as bus stops, buses rarely stop there, the byzantine network is hard to navigate for average people and whatnot, trying to find out which buses run where is a pain-in-the ass etc.

At least the further out buses which serve the REALLY exurban areas.

>>9310
>>I would try to keep it as rural as possible, as roughing it even in the suburbs is really unnerving at first.

Can you tell me more please?

also read this book, i know it's different as you have a destination planned but its still useful http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evasion_%28book%29

>>9367
Once you get over the border into my state, EVERY FUCKING THING IS PRIVATIZED. If it takes a cent of tax money, it's shunned as nazi-stalinist socialist obamerama turrble. It's fucking insane. Literally, the only public transport we have is a bus for old people in the biggest city. My options are Amtrak for $40, a greyhound bus, or a taxi for much more. I don't have the money.

>>9365
I've noticed the thing with black people around here is "we'll stare at him, but if he makes conversation with us we'll be super nice, because we can't suppress our white guilt and we're afraid we're going to be called racists or something, that would be awful. I'm not racist, I have a friend who has a friend who is a tutor in the inner city, I can't be racist!"

I figure I can walk the way with two sets of clothes: my camouflage for the woods, so people dismiss me as a hunter (which is more socially acceptable than a vagrant for some reason), and some normal clothes, so people will think I am a backpacker.

I'm looking for shelter to pitch when I have to sleep, thinking of making a pup tent or zeltbahn from canvas and some collapsible poles I just made.

Power to you, man.

>>9368
>Can you tell me more please?
About why it's unnerving? Well, it's mostly trying to find hiding spots to sleep at night, and not being able to relax and get a decent night's sleep. After being on the road for a couple of weeks and sleeping in some weird spots I got to where I could relax a bit, but I still rarely slept soundly.

Evasion is a fun read. While I don't share all the author's viewpoints (few would, really), I loved his super-idealized, no-compromises approach to everything. The book made me want to try train-hopping, but I never got the balls to try it.

Why don't you just forget about the protest thing and get your dad to pick you up?

>>9406
To be honest?

My mother has the resources to support me and help me, but she simply refuses to based on this thought that I am responsible for my own downfall.

My father would be well-intentioned, but probably wouldn't even be able to feed me, nevermind teach me to drive. His income is unstable. One minute he's starving, the next month he's buying a new surfboard. And my stepmother there is extremely restrictive, I wouldn't be able to use that evil internet for more than thirty minutes in a day before she would throw a mini fridge at me while I sleep.

My life isn't good now, but it can be if I can make a point. If I were just picked up by dad my life would be worse, and I would end up working a factory job for ten years before feeling suicidal, that and he lives in the middle of nowhere. In the winter, it's horridly dead, and I depend on access to an urban area to stave off depression.

Basically my mother only reacts to these outbursts anymore, nothing I say matters, but if I do something like this, to show her my discomfort and my annoyance, she usually listens to my plea.

I would like to live with my mother, but I need more freedom, but I need to be assisted. It's sad, and I hate the kind of person she is, but my father makes Darwin roll in his grave.