When the homeless, become homeless, sorta

[hunter63]

Lot of people express their desire to live off the grid...off the land....primitive shelter and loner life style....Here ya go....

There is/was a guy out here in the country that has been doing just that....for a number of years, and I have brought it up several times, as I did get involved with him in a round about way.

Had been living in a old blue bus.....until the flood of 2008 and again in 2009 washed right through it...on some property...but didn't own the property....squating? don't really know.

There's where i first saw him, so I guess he wasn't really homeless, just chose to live in a bus, no amenities, power, well, toilet etc.....heated the bus with a home-made stove made from a milk can with a pipe running out a window.

Lived there with his dog, couple of goats and a donkey....(has a cart for the donkey)

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After the flood, the bus was pretty much trashed, may have been trashed by just living in it, but really was trashed.....

So he built a Yurt type of shelter, across the road on high ground, and cover it with straw....kinda a tipi type of out house.....
Was wrapped with tarps and canvas....lived in it for a couple of years.

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I had posted this pic in the past as a "For sale, survival shelter, needs a little TLC"...LOL

A friend was telling me about him, and was saying he was looking for a different shelter.....and as I had an old Shasta trailer I wanted to get moved, I decided to donate it to him....No one else seem to be intrested....Had to put a couple of tires on it just to give it away....LOL

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So he put a wood stove in it and settled in.

The other day the farmer that was cutting the corn, (lives just down the road) told me he had been evicted, some one had bought the land, and he had to go...At least the trailer had good tires on it......His version of SHTF, I guess.

Drove by yesterday, and everything was gone.

So a little while ago, today.....he stopped by the cabin.....DW says, "HollyShut, I hope he isn't looking for a place to park that old trailer....here!"

Turned out he just wanted to ask the time (?????)yeah right, but had been driving by in his donkey cart and stopped.
Told him what time it was, and thanked me for the trailer again....talked a little and he left....Had found a spot for the trailer for now.
Whew.
Don't mind helping out, but wasn't looking for a boarder.

So yeah it can be done, this guy has been doing it for at least 15 years that I know of....
Never a dull moment.

[wareagle69]

i was going to start a thread on this type of topic but i think i will pippgy back on yours hunter.
I, for many years have wanted to live out this simple exsistence, i have come close, i had lived in a slide in camper in my truck for a while in arizona back in the 90's.
There is a fella up here who has parked his trailer on a spot just off the hiway, a very rural hiway but still lots of traffic but surrounded by lots of bush, someone he knows must have bought the property this summer and done aout 1/2 an acre of clearing the 3 trailers was put on the prop, one light the pic hunter posted, a 19 fter the 2-28fters. this guy cuts fire wood on the property but other than that i do not see him doing much, there is nothing on the site as far as electrcity or water, not sure how he is doing it, it was -10 this am.
When i first saw this guy i was jealous, thinking, now this guy has the life, now i am not so sure, i wonder how he entertains himself, at least i had the rodeos and a vehicle to move around, when i needed solitude i could go, but this guy is always alone, not sure i could go that hardcore anymore, to addicted to the internet, when i am not in the bush, and now that i am looking at getting a tablet, i can even take the internet to the bush with me.

[hunter63]

I have talked to this guy and he is 'different" for sure, not good or bad, just different.

When my friend introduced me to him, about the trailer.....he went in his bus, and came out with an old magazine for the 1960 that had campers in in and ask me which one was like it....LOL, and as the trailer is a 1968, there it was.....

He road with me over here to get it, saw the "A" frame trailer, and I think he wanted that one in stead of the Shasta.
Another time my friend ask if he wanted some chili, thinking a ready made meal, for free....He asked if it had meat in it, as he was a vegan....

He disappeared for a while in the winter, no one had seen him...so they checked on him....Gone.
Turned out he went on vacation to Hawaii.

Took the farmer to court as the farmer had spayed too close to the fence....I guess he was eating the wild foods/

The guy has money, just different......and yeah, what do you do all day?

[rebel]

I knew a guy like that. He was a nice guy but, he looked at the world differently. He was a genius when he took his medications. I got a look at some of his journals and it was like the movie A beautiful mind. As an example, he said he had time travel all worked out.

[BENESSE]

Thing is, you never know if it's A Beautiful Mind kinda guy or Ted Kaczynski.

[rebel]

Well, I considered him a friend. My mom used to teach special Ed and I had some friends there too. Anyway, he liked to weld animal statues from steel found at dumps. He'd make a cow or goat from a fuel tank. He couldn't function in our world but, he had an artistic ability. He was hit by a car and killed last summer. it still makes me sad.

[rebel]

Thing is, you never know if it's A Beautiful Mind kinda guy or Ted Kaczynski.

You're right about that.

[hunter63]

Thing is, you never know if it's A Beautiful Mind kinda guy or Ted Kaczynski.

LOL, why doesn't this comment surprise me....Very natural, and part of our built in self protection mode, I suspect..

I guess we all think of this, but some times the curiosity of "whats his story?"....overwhelms my fear of the unknown....It's a gut reaction thing I think....

Rebel....This guy either rides a bike with a trailer, or lately had been driving his donkey cart around....and has been warned about driving it with no lights or slow moving vehicle triangle on it......Even the Amish are required to have slow moving and lights on their wagons.

Hopefully he doesn't suffer the same fate.

[ctdcb18b]

wow thats kinda cool do yall get snow where your at it would suck to live like that in the snow we get too much snow up here we got are first fall over the last 2 days sucks glad i wernt camping out in the double lean 2 for that storm burrrrrrrrr lol but deff thanks for sharing your story an pics i think he is awesome for living like that if he hunts and traps hes a survivor for sure

[hunter63]

No hunting or trapping for him, is a vegan, doesn't eat meat.....not really sure what he eats, but did have a considerable pile of empty cans and bottles, next to that old bus.

As this property was on the river, looked like he had a blue tarp set up on the river bank for bathing.....I'm sure he doesn't bath very often, or didn't seem like it when he was in the truck with me.

But yeah, appears that he has chosen to live like this......Local stories very as to why, but was a 'live in" cartaker for the property, one story....family paid him to stay way, ...was another.....But he did, and still does get by.

Always thought, that seeing what he did do, or used to get by would be interesting.....but as the goats and dog lived in the bus, not real sure i would want to visist the inside.

Place is leveled as of this week....progress?

[NavyVet_77]

It's not that 'off-grid living' isnt possible, but rather people have forgotten how or aren't willing to give up Luxuries we currently consider neccessity. ANd im one of em. I like my flush toilet.

[Wise Old Owl]

Thing is, you never know if it's A Beautiful Mind kinda guy or Ted Kaczynski.

Hands down you took the words out of my mouth - I was going to resist posting as these threads go viral on the other unmentionable blog.- great post!

[LarryB]

Great story and pics. Thanx for sharing. lb

[LarryB]

wow thats kinda cool do yall get snow where your at it would suck to live like that in the snow we get too much snow up here we got are first fall over the last 2 days sucks glad i wernt camping out in the double lean 2 for that storm burrrrrrrrr lol but deff thanks for sharing your story an pics i think he is awesome for living like that if he hunts and traps hes a survivor for sure

Holy jump'n, yer right man. That would be a tough go up here in the great white north too, fo 'sho. Still, one could improvise say a layer of normal bales of hay, a layer or two deep with a BIG blue tarp or three, with vent flaps here and there, I wouldn't be put off to try that myself, and I'm even start'n to get a little older now, so I think it would be a smart thing to work on, nowadays even. Have a very, Merry Christmas!