Boondocking like in the good old days.

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Cool old rigs but I would think that would be considered dry camping verses boondocking. Then again those are references to camping and those people were more like dwellers that were surviving.
 
If you go far enough back in history, everyone was boondocking.
 
^this^ I think of the way that Cinema seemingly foretold what was to come over the past view decades. The early films of human space travel, released before manned space flights, have come to fruition with lunar landings, the space shuttle, and the space station. This makes me wonder how the "Mad Max" series of films, (Mad Max 1 & 2, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road), and "The Book Of Eli", or "The Road" will play a role in our future.
I've read a book published in 1959 titled "A Canticle For Leibowitz" which had me believe that the story took place in the 11th century, only to discover it was of a time yet to come.
 
I have a fascination with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl history. I want that knowledge of how people survived without all these things we think are necessities today. I want to know what a hard life really looked like. The people in the panhandle of Texas during the worst of the Dust Bowl survived on pickled Russian thistle, or tumbleweeds and diseased cattle. Officials would butcher diseases cattle, and the people took the meat. That's all there was.
 
waldenbound said:
I have a fascination with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl history. I want that knowledge of how people survived without all these things we think are necessities today. I want to know what a hard life really looked like. The people in the panhandle of Texas during the worst of the Dust Bowl survived on pickled Russian thistle, or tumbleweeds and diseased cattle. Officials would butcher diseases cattle, and the people took the meat. That's all there was.

Did you read "The Worst Hard Time"? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/72223.The_Worst_Hard_Time

My parents never talked about the Dust Bowl, the Depression, or even WWII. 

They wanted to never think about those times again.
 
rm.w/aview said:
"This makes me wonder how the "Mad Max" series of films...Mad Max...or "The Road" will play a role in our future.
I've read a book published in 1959 titled "A Canticle For Leibowitz" which had me believe that the story took place in the 11th century, only to discover it was of a time yet to come."



Rick, oddly or not, cinema has always predicted with accuracy what our future holds.  It is for this reason
that I will do all I can to relocate to a bit of acreage where I can continue to homestead:  keep poultry,
small livestock, a vege garden.  Above all, I do NOT want to be 'on the road' with what is shaping up.  The
roadblocks in the southwest are far more numerous than one might imagine.  Some are permanent, others are
moving locations.  They are on the increase.  

On the road, one easily may lose control over freedom of movement, access to cash, food, gasoline.  once
central bankers have their way & go to digital banking, we will see more complicated residency requirements
for a drivers' liscense, etc. Not to mention the daily worry re access to safe, healthy food & clean drinking
water.  For many it will be near impossible---for reasons of economy or lack of experience---to attempt to
hunker down, lie low, & do what one can to supply many of ones' basic needs.  But for those who can, it is,
IMHO, a wise idea.

For decades I have traveled far & wide from my little homestead in the redwood forest, happy to return after a
good long break & resume a life in nature with plenty of enjoyable outdoor exercise/activity to keep me in
excellent health, good physical shape, & happy to be alive.  

The real estate market here in N CA is going thru a dramatic realignment---due in part to recent fires, bad
economy, & other factors.  As a result, I will be working with far less $$$ to relocate with than I would have
had I sold two years ago.  Never the less, I am determined to relocate to a peaceful, out of the way area where
one might at least hope to avoid some of the worst of what looks to be shaping up.  The acceleration rate
astounds me!  I pay attention to what is 'trending' & hope at least to stay ahead of the curve.  

I offer my personal thoughts on the current state of affairs not to open a debate of 'reality' but to open
a conversation with any others of you who may be rethinking/reimagining a new future approach to your life
plans.  If different than 'nomadism' as depicted on this forum, I would like to know what you may be thinking.
No time like the present to employ vision/creativity/imagination!

Gallows humor appropriate, it that's all you've got left!
:p Charlotte
 
Charlotte\ said:
 Not to mention the daily worry re access to safe, healthy food & clean drinking
water.  For many it will be near impossible---for reasons of economy or lack of experience---to attempt to
hunker down, lie low, & do what one can to supply many of ones' basic needs.
When I read this, not only did I relate it to the title of this thread, but also to frontier life in the 17th century.
 
rm.w/aview said:
"When I read this, not only did I relate it to the title of this thread, but also to frontier life in the 17th century."



Rick, I have not yet read "A Cantcle for Leibowitz" but will look for it.  I am an avid reader &
offer a marvelous book---'World Made By Hand'---a real 'page turner'---by J.H. Kunstler, the first
in a quartet of novels.  I plan to order copies of all four to add to my library.  Highly recommended!

From Wikipedia:  "World Made by Hand is a dystopian novel by American author James Howard Kunstler,
published in 2008. Set in the fictional town of Union Grove, New York, the novel follows a cast of
characters as they navigate a world stripped of its modern comforts, ravaged by terrorism, epidemics,
& the economic upheaval of peak oil, all of which are exacerbated by global warming."

Like several of the above posters to this thread, I too have a great interest in the era of the Great
Depression.  It bears noting that, unlike today, 80% of the American population lived on small family
farms.  The opposite is true today.  While cash was scarce, families with small farms managed well.
City dwellers, & big farmers in hock to big banks lost their farms to foreclosure & suffered greatly.
(The 'poor' small farmers of Appalachia are said to have barely noticed the Great Depression---for
little changed in their rural lives!) 

So perhaps these observations could be said to depict an expansive interpretation of "boondocking like
in the good old days"---radical changes to 'modern' life are coming fast.  Good to  hold on tight to
all we can of any of the 'good' of the good old days!

Thanks for the book suggestion--
;) Cheers, Charlotte
 
Charlotte\ said:
(The 'poor' small farmers of Appalachia are said to have barely noticed the Great Depression---for
little changed in their rural lives!) 
So perhaps these observations could be said to depict an expansive interpretation of "boondocking like
in the good old days"---radical changes to 'modern' life are coming fast.  Good to  hold on tight to
all we can of any of the 'good' of the good old days!
Thanks for the book suggestion--
;) Cheers, Charlotte
Family in Tennessee can attest to your note on the Depression.
On the good old days & good books... https://www.foxfire.org
 
Foxfire books are probably some of the best books ever printed.  I have some of them but not all.  Best money ever spent
 
Yep, I loved reading those growing up as a kid!

I think found them from SB and the Whole Earth series
 
rm.w/aview said:
Family in Tennessee can attest to your note on the Depression.
On the good old days & good books... https://www.foxfire.org



Yes, the Firefox books!  I have the complete set in my library.  I first read the Firefox books
decades ago, when I unwittingly joined what has now been dubbed the 'back to the land movement'.

Learning to successfully grow ones' own food & preserve it, raise/husband livestock & poultry---
build proper fences/gates, master basic veterniary skills, basic carpentry/plumbing---all these
skills require years to learn.

Even then, life on a homestead must take place in the context of a small community of others with
complementary skills.  An *interdependent* community.  A community with 'old school' ethics & genuine
caring for the wellfare of others. It's going to be tough going as societal collapse quickens. So if
any of you have real skill at mechanics, gardening, clothing construction, communications, etc---
you may---if lucky---find refuge as part of a small community.  

In the mean time, I suggest you begin to imagine life without GPS, cell phones, intetnet, Wallmart,
& pharmaceutical drugs.  Instead, learn to read a folding map & use a compass, take responsibility
for your own good health with proper nutrition & use of herbal remedies.  Take a first aid course.
Learn CPR.  Don't be caught like a deer in the headlamps!

I realize my appraisal of current societal trends will be unpopular with some, or will fall on deaf
ears, but I offer my remarks to any of those who are casting about with nagging realizations in the
backs of their minds & welcome ideas to kick start a move in new directions.  Most of all, pay close
attention to the way things are *trending*.  Move ahead of the curve.  Think creatively!

Cheers,
:heart: Charlotte
 
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