Is it possible to be nomadic without a vehicle?

[8yearale]

Work hard enough, save up, line up a furnished room (traveling nurse websites can help here) and a job and get on a plane or train and go there and do the same thing?
- Errors or issues lining up things could leave me unemployed or homeless (or both!)
- Must budget like crayzayyy
- I may end up in an uncomfortable living environment (especially if they are dishonest about the room)
- Other issues i'm not thinking about

I'm 33. I first started traveling when I was 29. From ages 19 to 25 I hid in the house all day because I felt intense fear. Now I can't stand being in one place for too long.

I feel stimulated in new environments with new challenges (though I do need a period where I rest, as I am very introverted). So far what i've been doing is working hard, take a week off to travel and then work very hard for another couple of months but i'm just really unhappy working the same job or living in the same place too long. I feel unhappy as soon as I return home. I feel so unhappy that when I do the same job long enough I literally feel sleepy and lethargic once I get there. I sometimes wonder if i'll be happy anywhere.

I still don't know how to drive and don't really want a car. I resent even having a bike; i just hate having things that i have to drag around with me or worry about.

(though what i truly want is to see whats it like living in or close to wilderness. I want to just walk in nature talking to my self for many long hours. I used to do this in South Central/Vernon Los Angeles; which was a surpringly peaceful place because everyone was at work in the factory. There were more chickens on the streets than people. BUT i like to walk around cities and look at buildings and the people as well. I live in DTLA now and the streets are choked with people and everyone is afraid of strangers because of the homeless problem)

 

[user 423]

Work hard enough, save up, line up a furnished room (traveling nurse websites can help here) and a job and get on a plane or train and go there and do the same thing?

Are you a nurse now? Or something you aspire to?

Uber and Lyft would be your answer if you landed a job in a different city.

 

[abnorm]

Shanks Mare

 

[Lil Pasquale]

Work hard enough, save up, line up a furnished room (traveling nurse websites can help here) and a job and get on a plane or train and go there and do the same thing?
- Errors or issues lining up things could leave me unemployed or homeless (or both!)
- Must budget like crayzayyy
- I may end up in an uncomfortable living environment (especially if they are dishonest about the room)
- Other issues i'm not thinking about

I'm 33. I first started traveling when I was 29. From ages 19 to 25 I hid in the house all day because I felt intense fear. Now I can't stand being in one place for too long.

I feel stimulated in new environments with new challenges (though I do need a period where I rest, as I am very introverted). So far what i've been doing is working hard, take a week off to travel and then work very hard for another couple of months but i'm just really unhappy working the same job or living in the same place too long. I feel unhappy as soon as I return home. I feel so unhappy that when I do the same job long enough I literally feel sleepy and lethargic once I get there. I sometimes wonder if i'll be happy anywhere.

I still don't know how to drive and don't really want a car. I resent even having a bike; i just hate having things that i have to drag around with me or worry about.

(though what i truly want is to see whats it like living in or close to wilderness. I want to just walk in nature talking to my self for many long hours. I used to do this in South Central/Vernon Los Angeles; which was a surpringly peaceful place because everyone was at work in the factory. There were more chickens on the streets than people. BUT i like to walk around cities and look at buildings and the people as well. I live in DTLA now and the streets are choked with people and everyone is afraid of strangers because of the homeless problem)

Hello We all travel down different roads. Have you ever thought about visiting Europe. Not the UK but just the main land. I lived in Germany for a couple of years. Its beautiful. The people are great. But you don't need a car. Just use the trains. You should fit right in. Best of luck.

 

[bullfrog]

Coolworks.com can give you some possibilities of work with housing including pickup and shuttle to town and work. With remote locations things tend to be within walking distance as far as your job, but yes you can have problems if you don’t check things out and not much recourse without huge expenses. It is not unusual to work several months and backpack/hike wilderness trails for months at a time in the off season if you develope the skills required.

 

[user 423]

Hello We all travel down different roads. Have you ever thought about visiting Europe. Not the UK but just the main land. I lived in Germany for a couple of years. Its beautiful. The people are great. But you don't need a car. Just use the trains. You should fit right in. Best of luck.

No problems with language?

 

[Morgana]

You'd have to be very lucky to make this work on a tight budget. I'm not saying the following to rain on your parade but to try to save you disappointment and frustration, which it does not sound like you need any more of right now.

Housing costs are astronomical in 2022, and short-term housing is always more expensive than long-term. Housing aimed at traveling nurses is not cheap (they earn much more than staff nurses, and landlords no doubt bill accordingly). "Furnished rooms" are usually roommate situations. Extended-stay motels have gotten way more expensive than they were even a couple years ago. Old-fashioned SROs and rooming houses don't even exist anymore as far as I can tell. And don't get me started on Craigslist scams. "Line up a furnished room" is much, much more easily said than done. Would that it were not so!

And one thing about not having a vehicle is that it can be very difficult to get to those lovely wilderness places. Decent housing, within walking distance of amenities and a beautiful nature place, is likely to be very expensive.

I have been serial renting for decades (time spent in one place ranging from 6 months to 7 years), and have made one move since the Covid recession and am now planning another. Also, I did not drive or own a car until my late 40s/early 50s. So I'm talking from experience not theory -- though, of course, your mileage may vary. The project you are describing would be extremely challenging, especially if you are on a tight budget and experiencing some emotional fragility. And there is nothing like travel/move stress to make your head implode.

This doesn't mean you can't have dreams and make them come true. Just choose carefully and be realistic about the challenges. Nomadism is not a cure-all.

It's hard to chase happiness (or comfort, or absense of fear) directly. Like a wise man once said, wherever you go, there you are. If you can find other goals -- something outside yourself -- like see Nebraska, learn contra dancing, eat at every taco stand in DTLA, help the homeless, memorize the lyrics to all Bobby McFerrin songs -- then while you are chasing those goals happiness might catch up with you.

Good luck and keep on walking!

 

[maki2]

If you are not a diabetic head to a pharmacy and purchase up some Chromium tablets; take 800mcg to 1,000mcg a day. What I am seeing from your post is that possibly you have some mild chronic depression issues. That is not at all unusual, I have that myself but not when I take chromium, such an easy fix!. The chromium helps regulate blood sugar and is an essential precursor to creating the feel good hormones and endorphins. It will not interfere with your love of travel. All it does it get rid of the blahs and blues so you just feel normal, not low. It works overnight so you will know right away if it helps. Mother nature's best antidepressant when partnered with a dose of some daily sunlight.

Once those blues are gone you can focus on figuring out the work travel pattern that best suits you without feeling trapped by those fugue states you are experiencing in your emotional us and downs.

Reremember this, Happiness starts with your physical well being, it is not so much with what you do for work or where you travel. Those things enhance your life but first step in chronic sadness is adjusting what goes on inside you in terms of having proper levels of blood sugar, hormones, endorphins, etc. Sometimes all it takes is one tiny little mineral pill a day.

 

[jacqueg]

Nomad who herds sheep in Oregon and doesn't have a vehicle -

 

[8yearale]

If you are not a diabetic head to a pharmacy and purchase up some Chromium tablets; take 800mcg to 1,000mcg a day. What I am seeing from your post is that possibly you have some mild chronic depression issues. That is not at all unusual, I have that myself but not when I take chromium, such an easy fix!. The chromium helps regulate blood sugar and is an essential precursor to creating the feel good hormones and endorphins. It will not interfere with your love of travel. All it does it get rid of the blahs and blues so you just feel normal, not low. It works overnight so you will know right away if it helps. Mother nature's best antidepressant when partnered with a dose of some daily sunlight.

Once those blues are gone you can focus on figuring out the work travel pattern that best suits you without feeling trapped by those fugue states you are experiencing in your emotional us and downs.

Reremember this, Happiness starts with your physical well being, it is not so much with what you do for work or where you travel. Those things enhance your life but first step in chronic sadness is adjusting what goes on inside you in terms of having proper levels of blood sugar, hormones, endorphins, etc. Sometimes all it takes is one tiny little mineral pill a day.

True! I actually have an ON and OFF type of brain tumor called a prolactinoma that affects my hormone levels. I was basically anxious and depressed every day before I started hormone therapy. Before I finally went to the doctor i tried all kinds of diets and lifestyles but nothing worked.

Chromium Picolinate?​

 

[Morgana]

There was a guy in New Mexico in the 90s who wandered the highways with a couple of horses or donkeys and a small wagon of some sort. I got to feed his critters once. I think he had some sort of a home base in Pie Town. I don't think he was quite as self-sufficient as this ^^ guy -- not sure how he took care of necessities. But it was pretty cool knowing he was out there.

 

[jacqueg]

There was a guy in New Mexico in the 90s who wandered the highways with a couple of horses or donkeys and a small wagon of some sort. I got to feed his critters once. I think he had some sort of a home base in Pie Town. I don't think he was quite as self-sufficient as this ^^ guy -- not sure how he took care of necessities. But it was pretty cool knowing he was out there.

Yes, it is very cool!

Probably the true champion of living on foot was Peace Pilgrim. She was absolutely amazing.

OP, if you really want to live without a motor vehicle, your best bet is some kind of city, unfortunately. Maybe you just need to live differently right where you are? You definitely sound like someone who is so stuck in a rut that you can't even imagine a way out.

When you said Los Angeles, I thought immediately of Christopher Nyerges - https://www.schoolofself-reliance.com

Another very cool person.

 

[Frood]

There's a guy that has lived nomadically without a vehicle for years...

https://www.theatlantic.com/technol...dering-around-california-with-3-mules/279495/
Fascinating story...

 

[user 423]

^The above examples are free of motorized vehicles but they do have ways to carry a fair amount of gear (except for Peace Pilgrim). For more conventional folks who would need to work but want to travel from city to city, it would be a challenge to live out of a suitcase or two.

 

[maki2]

True! I actually have an ON and OFF type of brain tumor called a prolactinoma that affects my hormone levels. I was basically anxious and depressed every day before I started hormone therapy. Before I finally went to the doctor i tried all kinds of diets and lifestyles but nothing worked.

Chromium Picolinate?​

Yes chromium picolonate is the right stuff.

Excellent that you have identified the underlying issue! Sad that it is a brain tumor. But at least new methods of tumor eradication are under investigation all over the world.

 

[flaggit]

I used a Giant Expressway folding bicycle and Burley Travoy bike trailer combo. it all folds small. I take trains, planes and busses for big hops and use this for destinations.

 

[JeepLiving]

(though what i truly want is to see whats it like living in or close to wilderness. I want to just walk in nature talking to my self for many long hours. I used to do this in South Central/Vernon Los Angeles; which was a surpringly peaceful place because everyone was at work in the factory. There were more chickens on the streets than people. BUT i like to walk around cities and look at buildings and the people as well. I live in DTLA now and the streets are choked with people and everyone is afraid of strangers because of the homeless problem)

Whatever you end up trying, I hope you'll check in here now and then to keep us posted. I'd love to hear how you manage.
Good luck!

 

[Jim D]

You can't be a vehicle nomad without a vehicle. On foot your just a plain homeless nomad. If you want to move around and cannot drive try looking for a companion who has a van. You could help pay some of your companions van expenses and the companion can shuttle you around. I watch a massive amount of You Tube videos concerning van life and many are couples actually living in vans. I don't think anyone will shuttle you to work and back in an RV but they may in a van. It's your only way to tell you the truth if you want to be on the Vehicle Nomad circuit.

I'll be out on the road in about 3 to 4 years and I'm looking to be part of a roaming caravan that has that essence of family.

 

[Carla618]

I still don't know how to drive and don't really want a car. I resent even having a bike; i just hate having things that i have to drag around with me or worry about.

Would you be interested in driving for a living? Bullfrog posted to you about www.coolworks.com. I checked out that site after an earlier posting by Bullfrog. They have many jobs that would seemingly be perfect for you. Most are in, or near, national forests.
I noticed that the pay for bus driving jobs is decent, lots of perks and housing is provided. You mostly shuttle tourists or drive a city bus in a resort town. But there are many opportunities. Kitchen help, wait staff, guides, etc.

 

[Lil Pasquale]

No problems with language?

I was in the military and the first week over there you have classes on order food, get a room, how to use the trains. You just pick up what you need. I ended up traveling a lot. Went all over. Sometimes it was a problem. Most of the time you would find someone that could speak a little english.