Wander the earth or live in the wild?
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:36 pm
I was recently faced with a choice: do I become a wanderer, or do I go live in the wild, not necessarily off the land (I would have livestock and a garden) but in nature? Chris did both, but for most of us the choice comes down to one or the other.
I started thinking: about the costs of keeping up an old RV, and most of all about the cost of fuel. If diesel fuel went to $6 a gallon again, could I manage it? I read articles from the oil spike about full time RVers who could no longer afford the cost of fuel for their rigs. I thought about my skill set, and how it would work if I was a wanderer. I ultimately decided that this route required a big bank account, and if I ran out of money I would be unable to manage it.
Then I looked at staying in one place, and living in the wild. This would allow me to practice my trade and gain the trust of townsfolk. I would be less dependent on money and less vulnerable to the possibility that the economy might collapse and not recover. I would be able to provide much of my own food. I would have a community to live in, and be less vulnerable to being an "outsider". I thought about The Grapes of Wrath and how during the Depression California posted guards along the roads to turn back itinerant laborers. I finally decided to start looking into land in southern Oregon, where I would have plenty of water and a relatively mild climate. I am still doing this.
This was part of my thought process as I determined which fork in the road to take. I am by no means as extraordinary as Chris, so I had to make a decision. It seems that most people here dream of wandering, but I determined that the time and circumstances of the era we live in-one vastly different from the one Chris lived in-weighed against it. We all have a choice. None of us want to live in the cities and rely on a boring, dead end office job. We can either wander, or live in the wild. I made my choice.
I started thinking: about the costs of keeping up an old RV, and most of all about the cost of fuel. If diesel fuel went to $6 a gallon again, could I manage it? I read articles from the oil spike about full time RVers who could no longer afford the cost of fuel for their rigs. I thought about my skill set, and how it would work if I was a wanderer. I ultimately decided that this route required a big bank account, and if I ran out of money I would be unable to manage it.
Then I looked at staying in one place, and living in the wild. This would allow me to practice my trade and gain the trust of townsfolk. I would be less dependent on money and less vulnerable to the possibility that the economy might collapse and not recover. I would be able to provide much of my own food. I would have a community to live in, and be less vulnerable to being an "outsider". I thought about The Grapes of Wrath and how during the Depression California posted guards along the roads to turn back itinerant laborers. I finally decided to start looking into land in southern Oregon, where I would have plenty of water and a relatively mild climate. I am still doing this.
This was part of my thought process as I determined which fork in the road to take. I am by no means as extraordinary as Chris, so I had to make a decision. It seems that most people here dream of wandering, but I determined that the time and circumstances of the era we live in-one vastly different from the one Chris lived in-weighed against it. We all have a choice. None of us want to live in the cities and rely on a boring, dead end office job. We can either wander, or live in the wild. I made my choice.