Vagabonding, Urbexing & Roadtripping General

[Path Wanderer]

This thread does not endorse and will not assist in criminal conduct, including trespassing. Common sense and foreplaning should undergird every decision, especially in new environments. If you can't handle that, enjoy prison or getting cracked by a tweaker.

Let's get lurkin'
So I've been inspired by oldheads like Dan Bell (before he got lazy) and Part-Time Explorer to check out locales. Public lands and parks such as Appalachia I know have abandoned ghost towns but there is many an exurb out by the big cities where one can check around if one's brave. Fort Armistead is a big infamous outside Baltimore but givin it's alternate rep as being a cruiser spot I'd rather not go there any time soon.

I would say a personal dream of mine would be to go cross country (car or trail doesn't matter) through the core Appalachia and then out west until I reach California. That as a real continuous trip would require however alot of prep and some street knowledge if one is to do is to constantly deal with roadstops.

So any advice and stories about going wild innawoods (or the hood) is welcome here.

 

[Нарру Саmреr]

Trucker Path, or any trucker oriented nav app will help you cross the country by car. I only ever used Trucker Path, but I like that it focuses solely on truck stops, rest areas, hotels, and Walmarts. If you can handle sleeping in your car, you wouldn't need to pack much beyond extra clothes and equipment for replacing a blown out tire. Sustinence can be bought and stocked up from stores along the way. If you pack a tent so you can pitch it in the naturey part off a rest area, you might get told to move along by the police, but at least you won't have to pay for a motel. If you want to sleep in a tent/outdoors, keep yourself off the ground with a sleeping pad (goes under the sleeping bag) or a cot. Major truck stops (Loves, Pilot, Flying J, TA, Petro) have showers you can pay to use. Always top off your fuel before you leave a fueling station so you don't find yourself 100 miles away from the nearest stop with 1/8 of a tank. If you want to roam innawoods, bring bear spray because not every state will like you open carrying. OnX has three apps I heard about. I think OnX Backcountry is the one with hikeable trails, if that's something you want. Don't forget insect repellant. I don't recommend crossing the desert or the Rockies on foot if you don't know what you're doing. Hitchhike or drive. If you like pizza, Flying J has large slices that I recommend pizza lovers to try at least once. Not all cellular networks cover all parts of the country. Look into your provider's coverage. If you can't navigate without a phone, get a dedicated satellite GPS. Interstate road signs are dead simple to follow if you're willing to wean yourself from tech dependence.

For surviving innahoods, you need to look like shit and walk with a confident stride. Bearing nice items or looking meek will make you a mark for predators. Be wary of strangers who try to get chummy with you. It's almost certainly part of a scheme. Don't ask for favors and don't accept favors. A story from a friend of mine: He and a friend were being followed by Jamal. His friend was getting audibly nervous, so he decided to do something about it. He wanted to make the first move, but knows that even if you win a fight, you lose, so he turned around and started friendly small talk with Jamal. "Hey man, that's a cool sweater you got! Where can I get one like that?" Jamal lost the element of hoodrat ninja surprise and walked away. The friend freaked out for confronting Jamal, but I say that was the best way to handle that situation. You might see a person of melanin walking down the middle of the road instead of on the sidewalk, especially at night. This is a means of self-defense; it gives them ample lead time and space to flee if someone wants to spring out and assult them. If you want to experience and explore some dodgy towns, do it in daylight. Corner stores and bodegas have interesting foods, so it's not all bad as long as you don't stick around. Pepto Bismol's key ingredient is bismuth subsalicylate, and you can find no-name substitutes in chewable tablets with the same ingredient that you can more easily pack in case you want to try culinary exploration.

Have fun! Don't end up in the RIP thread so you can share your discoveries with the rest of us!

 

[2mm and 99 others]

If it's available where you want to go, look for shelters for hikers that are in comfortable walking distance from the car or you can park next to it, some of those might have an outdoor fireplace or a grill. The ones right at popular thru-hike paths might be packed in the season tho. If the local law is that they can kick you outta there, arrive there after the dark and leave early in the morning.
Remote abandoned locations usually have an unofficial party & camping place right there or hidden somewhere nearby.
Download an app that stores offline maps and information in your phone, like mapy.com (great for hiking even with no gsm and data service and it shows the elevation in basic version) or OsmAnd (openstreetmap viewer, the same source as the former, too complicated for my taste and targeted at map nerds.), but maybe there is something better for the US specifically, idk.

 

[TheTitKoker]

I've done cross country drives, so - make damn sure you can sleep fully stretched out in your vehicle of choice. Get puzzle locking foam mats AND some cheap memory foam thing to use as bedding, maybe even an inflatable pool mattress because a sleeping bag or pad will get old, fast. Needless to say - always have a few empty Gatorade piss bottles just in case. Wet wipes for shitting - the last thing you want on a long haul is mud anywhere but on your tires. Regular and heavy duty trash bags, just in case. 1 or two coolers for your electronics to keep them more discrete if they are to stay in visible view inside the cabin to not attract too much attention. Money for gas and repairs. 2-5 gallon gas can, full if you're planning to take some gnarly scenic route without any gas stations/that sell your grade of fuel.

Past that though - gear for whatever outdoor hobbies you may have or want to try. A portable suitcase style charcoal grill and a camping pan or a pot could be handy too depending on how deep of rabbit holes you're planning on stopping by. Alternatively a small electric stove and AC to DC converter.

And personally - a pocket and not pocket knives, and possible a hatchet of sorts.

 

[TheVoodooThatJewDo]

Vagrant Holiday is the man IMO. Love his videos.
My main piece of advice for you if you plan on going into isolated placs alone would be to have a firearm on you if possible, or at least pepper spray.
I still think about this creepy homo who followed me into the woods in NorCal like 15 years ago, and how lucky I was that he was early in his development towards becoming a serial killer/rapist (didn't have a weapon or get aggressive.)
I didn't plan my travel much when I did my big road trip. It helps having friends scattered around to go visit and take a break from the road. That's how I ended up living on the west coast for 10 years.
Oh and forget the wet wipes that someone else recommended. Get a travel bidet!

 

[Path Wanderer]

I will probably be double posting soon about road trip books because that is a whole sub genre.
Basically it’s a fill in for everything from great American commentary to basically white yuri so it’s basically pick your own adventure by proxy.
Oh and I will be doing a road trip a year from now which sweeps up through Stoney’s Bar in MN to some spots in Canada before turning south on the pacific basically to the Gulf of Mexico. Outside of some of the native reservations + Glacier, is it worth murdering my car going over the Canadian shield?

 

[dick brain]

I've done a LOT of road trips -- all 48 contiguous states, most national parks, most major cities. Also been homeless a couple times and had to live in cars.

Advice in no particular order:

Get a van. Seriously. Something you can put a cot in and move around a little, and get a little privacy. It makes a world of difference. Not just the space and privacy and sleep quality, but it's also incredibly liberating to know that you can go wherever you want whenever you want and have a safe place to sleep, comfortably. Having an itinerary and destinations is fine, but being completely independent of schedule is a whole different animal. It's also just a good thing to have in general, you never know when your living situation is going to go tits up or you're going to get stranded somewhere or just feel like taking an impromptu trip. The more you can keep prepared indefinitely, the less you have to plan each trip. Also don't be afraid to sleep places, most places don't give a shit. Gas stations, strip malls, parking garages -- especially if you're in the back where they won't notice you. If a cop gives you a hard time just say you were falling asleep at the wheel and had to stop. As long as it looks safe and you don't look out of place it's no big deal.

Get a gun and learn to use it, and get a CCL, even if you don't need one in your home state. Look up concealed carry reciprocity maps, see what state CCL suits your interests, follow state and local laws, but don't expect anybody to keep you safe except you. Once again, this is valuable outside of this specific context, and as valuable in the sense of security it offers as it is in the odd event that you need it.

Get a franchise gym membership for daily showers. Golds, LA, Anytime, Planet Shitness, whatever. Look up maps of locations and figure out what's where you are and where you're going. Lift while you're there, it's good for you.

Talk to locals but don't make yourself a target. Tell your friends and family where you're going and keep them updated.

Be realistic about your budget and spending, and the state of your vehicle. If you can't afford to get it fixed at home, you definitely can't afford to get it fixed elsewhere. Set aside cash or a credit card for ONLY emergencies. There's no point in going if you spend the whole time worried/anxious/stressed out.

Go where you want to go, see what you want to see, do what you want to do. There might not be a next time.

road trip books

ZAMM is god tier.
On The Road + Dharma Bums + Big Sur are good back to back.
Blue Highways is probably closest to my experience, and interesting, if dry.
Motorcycle Diarrheas is funny when you remember who you're reading about.
The Road is an incredible book but kind of a buzz kill.

There's a fucko on Youtube named Noah Caldwell Gervais who is exactly as annoying as he sounds like he'd be but he actually has some very good road diaries/travel logs, like one where he visits and researches the real life counterparts of locations in the Fallout series, or the Lincoln Highway, or one where he just recounts his first road trip getting drunk with a friend in random towns. Idk I like it and it's not appreciably different from Kerouac or Blue Highways.

 

[ilovecornsyrup]

A tip that everyone known is that if you are walking through a forest and/or going to sleep there, make sure to yell and clap as you walk to repel bears and other animals. What people have to learn the hard way is to do the same thing in the city at night if you're near dumpsters or landfills. Do this when walking in abandoned buildings too. Rats come out at night and having one jump in your face is traumatizing.

Rats hate peppermint oil. If you're sleeping on a park bench for example, spray it everywhere around you and on yourself, or you may wake up with a rat crawling on your face.

You can sleep in a lot of places including bus/train stations. If you lay down though the security or pigs might come and tell you off, so you have to learn to sleep while sitting down straight and just relaxing your head. Sunglasses or a hat help in this regard. Some places will let you buy a cheap bus/train ticket for an entire day and you can ride one back and forth while sleeping. Cheap hostels or motels are worth it in every way though if you don't have a car/van. Don't go to homeless shelters, the street is safer.

Obviously make sure to keep your shit safe while you're sleeping. Carry a big pack that the gypsies can't just take and sneak away, and ideally tie it to yourself so it can't be snatched while you're sleeping.

Libraries are great because you have free electricity to charge your phone and free internet. When you can, check what the weather will be wherever you're going. Don't sleep outside in bad weather because getting wet clothes and shoes will be the #1 way you fuck up and get sick. Sometimes you may get free food or coffee too. If you're young you can also just go to a college campus for the same shit.

If you hitchhike, make sure you stand at a place where it's practical for the cars to stop and pick you up, not in the middle of a busy highway for example. Always look at the driver through the windshield, not at the car itself. This helps you evaluate if the driver is a weirdo and/or if he will stop. Tell the driver where you're going (or carry a sign) and make sure he follows the road. If the driver stops for no reason or makes a weird turn into a secluded area, get the fuck out immediately.

If you need to go into a bad area/gang territory don't do it alone. Ideally get to know a local and walk with them. If a bunch of people get aggressive and confront you about what you're doing there, say you're looking for weed or some shit. Gangs don't rob their clients.

Learn to sprint. A lot of people recommend that you carry a weapon but a weapon will only be used if someone is say, actively trying to kill you. Most people (yes, you reading this too) don't have the guts to take a life when it comes down to it, especially in Eurasia where self-defense is illegal. Knowing how to run and hide will help you a lot more.

Carry a pack of cigarettes and a lighter even if you don't smoke. A lighter will help you start a fire in nature, and giving someone a cigarette is a great way to start a conversation.

Lastly, make sure you either have the money for the trip beforehand or that you have a way to make money while travelling. Take account for what may happen if something goes wrong: if you get your stuff stolen, if extreme weather comes, if you end up needing to stay at a motel etc. Don't beg for money if you're rich just for fun, it makes you a retard. Don't suck dick either.

 

[drfuzzyballs]

Not quite vagabonding but if I needed to travel for days at a time I would rent a U-haul van and sleep in the back of it. With how expensive ordinary hotels are and how gross cheap motels are I'm surprised more people don't do that to save on lodging.

 

[Dago Lain]

People dont look up, naturally scan the ground 10-15ft in front of them and only really notice motion, sound and light.

Most drivers (esp. Cops) are focused on the road and other cars 99% of the time.

Always check your spots during noon, midnight, sunrise & sunset. Understand that not all sleeping spots are equal. A dozen one-night or emergency spots are better than one really good multi-night or long term spot.

Leave no trace, camo stands out more than bright colors to the human eye. Theres no point in saving $20 - get your Smokes, beer, scratches, coffee - morale is life or death.

When in doubt, fly a sign. Be clever, be funny, be Christian but never be desperate. You catch more cash with "NEED WEED" than "WILL WORK".

Take your pride to the pawnshop if you want to know how much its worth.
Never trust, fuck or be too open with homeless women. Always remember that it takes one afternoon on a dating app for even the most geeked crackwhore to find a man to take her off the streets - that she cant or won't is a major red flag.

Everyone's been raped, seen friends die, overdose, tragic backstory related to current event. Harden your heart, but still hang out and reply without judgement - this is how you get people watching your stuff, your back and giving you free drugs just cause.

I could go on and on.

 

[Frostnipped Todger]

I hitch-hiked a lot in my younger years, and still road trip and do multi-day hikes and hunting trips.
Advice for hitch-hiking (other than try to avoid it): if someone stops and you don't have a sign, ask where they are headed first. If they are up to no good, you don't want to give away too much before you get in the car.
If they give you a bad vibe, they aren't going where you need to go.
If you feel at all sketchy about your ride, the story is you're "meeting some friends" in whatever town you're going to, and they're expecting you.
Trust your gut.
Make sure you know how to unlock and open the door of the car in case you need to.
And never, ever put your backpack in the trunk/boot. If you need to get out, you need to have it with you.
Be armed (however you choose or can legally get away with), but not obviously so, and don't pull a weapon unless you absolutely need to. If the car isn't stopped, they can still fuck you up. You're better off feigning sickness and getting let out than waving a knife around.

On the other hand, with a good ride, the magic words are "is there anywhere to camp nearby?". I have gotten accommodation, free food, and booze from various people because I asked this question. Never assume that you'll get anything, and never act entitled, but most people are decent (one on one).
The two best rides you can get are the "bored businessman driving to a different town/state", and the "van full of hippie girls". One has an expense account, so they'll often buy you food and drinks, the other has... other things.
Finally, remember you were picked up because they were bored, so wind yourself up and dance, little monkey. You are their entertainment for the duration of the ride. Don't sperg about the Jews or TND, let them lead the conversation. Ask where they are from, talk about the landscape (you're out there to see the country anyway), talk about where you're going. You'll be able to judge how honest you can be in an hour or so.

Other than weather, or getting stuck on the side of the road for a couple of days, I never had a bad experience. There were a few rides that I didn't take though. Odds are that they'll swear at you and speed off, anyone looking for a target wants an easy target.

 

[Path Wanderer]

I like how this thread will push page limits by post length alone lol.

 

[Frostnipped Todger]

I like how this thread will push page limits by post length alone lol.

Oh, I know. I wanted to get into camping equipment etc, but nobody wants to read a novel.

 

[Path Wanderer]

so I keep running into @moasamamain tik toks of him running into corpses in what I take to be backcountry homes or parks

That doesn’t happen too often…right?

 

[Ill]

so I keep running into @moasamamain tik toks of him running into corpses in what I take to be backcountry homes or parks

That doesn’t happen to often…right?

The Japanese guy? I'm pretty sure he goes into the suicide forest to record those videos.

 

[Path Wanderer]

The Japanese guy? I'm pretty sure he goes into the suicide forest to record those videos.

I suspected as much but wanted to be sure. If I had a National park sized Leakin Park outside my capitol I’d probably burn it to ash to be rid of it

 

[Frostnipped Todger]

I've managed to convince my wife that an open ended road trip is a good idea for our summer holidays. We're going to pack a bunch of camping gear and just drive. We'll head north until we hit the wet season and then come back again, probably about 6000kms all up.
Super excited, I just want to wake up on beaches, look at new forests, and climb some hills.
We have about 4 weeks, so I'd like to get further north than I normally do...
Something like this, but probably only up to Airlie Beach. The wet season will probably have started if we go further than that.