As usual when I get in fights with my parents, I want to leave. And disappear. Into the wilderness. I am not joking; I have a tremendous hunger for the outdoors, I am an avid backpacker and hiker, and the thought of living a secluded life -although I would surface from time to time- is extremely...engaging. This hunger is constantly in the back of my mind, however, it really comes out at times like now when I fight with my parents. I've got to make decisions, and I have a lot of research to do. I know I will at least complete my remaining semester, but after that I am making a serious choice. What I need from some of you, is information on how to farm, how to insulate a house, location ideas, how to hunt, and basic self sufficiency skills. This is assuming some of you have knowledge pertaining to this. I won't be doing this forever; I have too much of a love for music and literature to keep me away from the world forever. But I think after a period of time I will inevitably always return to such a life of seclusion. I also think it would be too much to live alone for too long; I've got to find a partner. But I'm not here to make partners for this, hehe. If anyone can help in any way, be blessed.

hehe, so in other words, you want to be a hermit....To be honest, I assume people like that are mostly rejects who can't make it in the real world. Grow up, and do what your parents tell you.

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Well where the hell do you plan on doing all this "camping" type of thing? I guess money and all wouldn't be much of an issue or anything if you were to find like a forest with a nice lake and you can like camp out there, I dunno I think it'd be better to just take a bit more bitchin from parents than to get fucked not knowing what to do. As for the music part, I wouldn't be able to last more than a week without my guitar. I would take like an acoustic and just fucking play all day if I could with no one to bitch at me.

Don't take this harshly, but how old are you?

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19

Who says I want to make it in the real world? I hold the "real world" in contempt.

Sometimes, I really know how you feel and I once did something about it. First of all, one thing you have to do is be absolutely possitive that it's what you want to do. Not just to get away from your parents, ok?
Otherwise it depends what you're planning on. If you want to use hunting to get some money, be near a lake so you can catch fish (that can also help if you want to eat, hehe). But if you're near a lake, make sure you're far enough away from it on completely dry land. OK, maybe that's a little obvious. But prepare yourself for the cold, being alone. Make sure that any type of housing you use is not going to let rain in. If it is, find a way of fixing it.
I've been camping a lot during my life and I can only tell you the basics. I hope this helps and good luck with what you choose to do

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I know what you mean, I am not being childish here, just wanting to leave mom and dad. I honestly just hate where I live, and I'm never happier than when I am backpacking. Also, I'll be damned if I'm going to be stuck at some shitty mundane job for my life. What a waste that would be. Do you know of any books or essays on stuff like farming and hunting? I've lived in the city all my life, and never have had a chance to learn such skills. This is where this thread comes in; I need to learn these skills through reading, contemplate my situation, and then make a decision by the end of the summer.

EDIT: If you do not mind me asking, you said you did something about a similiar situation, so what did you do? I'd really love to hear...err...read about it.

I say similiar, but not entirely. I wanted to get away from my Mum after a huge fight so I aplied for this job on the otherside of the country. I got it but when I was moving there, I realized I'd miss home too much. Now I'm back in the same old situation and wishing I'd just stuck with it but I didn't so......
I'll have a look through what I've got on farming and hunting. It really depends on what you're going to do in both. The only way you can really learn is to get out there and do it. I'm sure you know that it's going to be very difficult but you've just got to stick with it. If you could tell me what you want to farm and hunt I can help you out more, depending. If I don't know, I can probably find something.

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do you want you want for yourself and by yourself.

move outta the house, you're the age for it. move to an area with a lot of beautiful nature. I enjoy nature myself too, I'm not much of a camper but nature can really fascinate me.

Actually, yes. They are almost always right.

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for christs sake, he's 19!

Obi Wan Kenobi turns into a hermit (technically), he was far cooler in his hermit mode too.

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I suggest you find a nice, secluded spot of land in the nature, buy it and build house. Except for the fact you don't know how to build a house, fish/hunt, carve things out of wood, and other woodsman-type things, you should be OK.

Have you actually spent any time in the wilderness, without any luxuries like food pack and fire? I'm not saying I have, but before you rush into things, take some time and do that. Perhaps go on a "bushman" course, I'm sure they have those kind of things in America. Read, study, and practice on how to do such things.

And for fucks sake, your 19!

I disagree, i think he should get a lightsaber then find some dry land and make a sand igloo.

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if your going to go and live in the wilderness, do it because you want to, not because you had a fight with your parents.

if your that pissed of with your parents move out. into a flat. then think about moving into the woods.

remember woods = no music & no internet = no metal & no metal tabs/

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I think you would all disagree with my parents here. They are now trying to control what I look like, forcing me to get a haircut and such, and using that as a tool against me; they are threatening not to pay for things and taking certain luxuries away just for this control.


Blizzard: I know how to build a house, I was in carpentry for four years. No, I haven't spent time out without a pack and food; fire isn't a luxury . I realize how unrealistic this may seem, and I'm at least waiting until after my trip to Germany in July/August. I have much research to do for all possible paths in my life. I just know I hate how things are going now.

Ah right that's cool, what I meant by fire as a luxury was the "Fire in 1 Minute kits" you have.

Last time I visited the Bahamas, I saw a program on building "The Man's House" - that would give you some good ideas if you manage to find it.
I too have such a dream, but not for the reason of leaving my parents.

Oh, and for the people complaining about electricity, you can get solar panels. I saw one house on TV once, in the British woodland. Stunning - he was completely self sufficient, yet the house retained the luxuries of city life.

Pandemonium, if you're so upset with your parents, try talking to them about it, tell them your a grown man, and you can only abide by the rules they set concerning their own house, not rules concerning your life. (Or something along those lines)

It's not like I want to make these life changes because of my parents; the arguments I get into with them just really encourage my desire to leave. I want to make these changes because I sincerely love the wilderness, and I sincerely hate where I live. I cannot even imagine finishing three more years of college here. I wasn't really concerned about electricity, but those panels do sound awesome. They are probably pretty lofty in price, however. I figured the only thing I could not go without for a long period of time from the modern world is music, and for that I would stock up on batteries. I don't plan on staying out there, if I make that decision, for my entire life. I plan on moving back and forth, and whenever I get sick of this modern life again, retreat.

It simply can't be done. The only advice I could give you is to tell you not to waste your time trying it. There simply isn't enough unoccupied land in Massachusetts. You'd have to buy your own parcel of land in order for it to work. Ohterwise, without exception, you are camping out on private property, public property, or private state owned property. In all three situations you are breaking the law and you will be removed. Whatever shack you build will be destroyed. There isn't any free land for you just do whatever you please on.

The only thing close to what you want to do around here would be to camp out in some abandoned building. There are plenty of abandoned houses, factories/mills, outbuilding, and other such places in Southeastern Massachusetts, but this idea is highly problematic, to say the least. Many of the abandoned properties are in a state of complete disrepair and will fall apart around you, literally. You could go right through a floor in some cases. You'd also have to keep in mind that abandoned building are frequently utilized by the homeless, by thrillseeking teenagers, urban explorers (such as myself). The biggest threat would be the criminals that utilize such buildings for a variety of different vices. John's bring prostitutes to such buildings, junkies shoot up in them, crackheads smoke rock, and all three leave behind the evidence of their vice, including condoms, underwear, crackpipes, lighters, aluminum foil, and (potentially dirty) syringes. People also frequently illegally dump garbage into abandoned building, and as such, they will be raided by rodents, skunks, and the like. Abandoned buildings are also a favorite site among murderers to kill people, dump bodies, or both, although the likelihood of you coming across this is very low.

Your idea might be possible if you lived anywhere but this area. I would suggest you grab a diskman, your CD's, several pairs ofbatteries, and go on a long walk. It'll give you a chance to clear your head to the point where you can get everything in perspective. Well, it helps me anyway.

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Why not get a job as a forest ranger or a field researcher. You might like that. Learning the skills you will need will take time depending on just how basic you plan to live. Ted Nugent is a surrvivalist and a musician. Between tours he would jump from a airplane into the wilderness of Canada with just his knife and then show up a month later somewhere.

You must learn these skills under supervision at first because there is no way to learn it all from reading. I am lucky enough to know how to do what you're planing but I can't possiblly detail everything you need to know in a short amount of time.

you can't just walk into the woods and start living. Others own the land or the government protects it from would be naturalist LSD tripping hippies that would move there by the thousands. You need to know if it is ok for you to live somewhere be asking first and descibing to the owners what you will be doing with your time.

Hunting isn't legal at all times of the year and farming will require a good amount of land and time. There are other ways to eat but that will be the hardest thing for you to maintain and will take up most of your time.

Basics:

Fire skills
Water skills
Food skills
Shelter skills
First aid/Hygine skills
Navigation/map skills
Communications( incase you get really hurt )
Knowledge of laws that will apply to you

Make sure you bring 2 of what you need and lots of toilet paper. Everyone always forgets to bring toilet paper.

Start by joining a camping group in your area and stay away front those nut case militant survivalist groups too.

EDIT: Damn you Chris! You beat me to some of my points.
Anyway, pack up and just start hich hicking across North America. Learn as you go and you will be in the woods in no time with everything you need to know.

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I say go for it, take soulinsane's advice and learn the skills first from a survivalist ect. You could also maybe join greenpeace or some wildlife fund thing and get them to send u to certain places where you can live wild on your own but also do something for others, like monitoring wolfs in alaska or something interesting , good luck

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Awsome idea.

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I certainly know it is not possible in Massachusetts; I was thinking Canada, perhaps. Oh, I went for a railroad walk in Dartmouth yesterday, starting from Faunce Corner Road and going to Reed Rd. It was a welcome getaway. I found some great camping spots for the future. Also, it was hard to be inconspicuous; I had to park at a medical complex, and basically disappear into the woods. Any other way would probably have gotten unwanted attention. So, how do you manage to be discreet?

Soul: I realize it is extremely difficult to do something like this in the US, but do you think I could get away with it in Canada? I know there are hundreds of wilderness miles in Canada, and if I was over a hundred miles from a road, my existence would pretty much be completely unknown. How did you learn the skills for this?

Mordor: Greenpeace sounds good, I will have to look into that.

Canada? Sure I guess. I don't know how they opperate up there with this kinda stuff but they might let you just go for it.

I learned lots of stuff from family growing up. We always hunted, camped and hicked.

During high school my friends and I would disappear of into the national reserve for days camping and having parties. We would have someone drop us and everything we needed off by a road. We would get out, unload, move with the speed of a SEAL or SWAT team to get everyone and everything into the woods before anyone could see from the road. We mostly hicked to this one waterfall that was just beutiful. We had lots of beer, booz, guitars, women, and food that we would bring and it was a super pain in the ass to get it there everytime. We would leave many things that we would use again there and hide them when we would leave. That way we didn't have to move all the shit back there again next time. Use and reuse plastic bags to keep things clean and dry like clothes. The running water was cold and fresh so we could keep beer cool. We would never make to much noise but we had to chop lots of wood. In a natural forest there is a ton of fallen trees to use so never cut down a living one, because it will not burn as good and will make lots of smoke. Fire is the first thing you always make just after you set everything down. Do that first or you will regret it later. We never used tents cause they suck to move and are cold. If it rained we would just camp in the cave under the waterfall. It was huge and was acually very dry too. There were some bats sometimes but they are harmless. Indians used to live in that forest a long time ago and I always thought that maybe they lived in the cave too. Guitars sounded huge in the cave too. We would all drink beer, talk, play music, cook food, go swimming naked, fight, make love, have fun, get hurt sometimes, kill snakes and eat them, fish, watch the animals and coyotes come near the fire, and then go to sleep. We would go no matter what time of the year or weather. It snowed a few times while we were there, once there was even a tornado. The memories, the sweet memories I could go on forever about these places and the times I had there.

Now I want to go back home.

Remember though, start the fire first and keep it going. Never let it go out, but make sure it is out before you leave. Oh, and bring toilet paper. Never forget that.

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Damn Soul, you're a lucky bastard. Oh if only I had a chance to do that regularly..

I wish I could do it regularly again, but the Navy owns me at the moment.

I would love to take just about everyone from Metaltabs there for a party. It isn't easy to get to, but well worth it. You really feel alive out there, as if it is a fountion of youth.

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He lives where I live, and his son is like the total opposite of him. A little pansy. oh well...

Indeed

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Well...you're 19. Do you contribute towards the powerbill and groceries and insurance and mortgage and sewage/water etc etc?

If you DO...then you have a reason to fight this "control" but better yet.....IF you do, then it's indeed time to go ahead and get out and do these things for yourself.

If you DONT...then they have every right to "control" you since you are now a man still living off of the parents.

I got a *job 3 days after Highschool grad and within two months had my first little apt at 18. And yes...the job is a bore.....however I now have complete control over my life and that boring job FUNDS my FUN ie. Guitars, CDs, Herb, etc etc.......I'm very happy.

*Living wage compared to HS part time jobs.

You want to live in the forest, hunt animals and live in a tent? wonder how long thats gonna last

Your running away from home to live in the woods, good job.

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Well good luck with your expedition. Hope you dont run into any of those Deliverance motherfuckers..

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All I could say is,

Good luck,

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You share doo gots a perdy mouth

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Hey, Pande'. I remember being in my late teens and wanting to take off for California cuz I thought it would be better. I'm sort of torn between the freedom thing and your wanting independence, and the experienced parent thing. You've known me long enough and heard my family stories enough to know I'm pretty leneint.(sp) But my kids still wanted to pursue what they wanted to. Although not to the wilderness, but my eldest took off without telling me or Denny. He did tell his brother though I found out much later. And Bob was hellbent for the Navy and he made some really good decisions as far as shaping the exact career he wanted. I know you dont' like his field, but that's not what I'm getting at. It's the life plan that makes the difference.

Denny still would love to retire in a few years, sell everything, and get a small Winnebago just to travel all over. He has 2 more states to go to before he's hit all 50 here. And he's been all over the world already.

Are you really happy with what you're doing in school? I know you like to write and you love the outdoors. There are a lot of outdoor magazines that you might create articles for. You might pick up photography as a hobby and become a photo journalist eventually.

One magazine that used to be out, but I'm not sure if it still is was called "Mother Earth News." There's was a lot of things about solarpower, growing your own food, vegetable as well as animal, and lots about food presevation. They also had tips for shelter building. If you go to the library, I know ours had some of their old books as well as magazines.

Whatever you do, at least let someone know where you can be contacted. Like someone else said, there are a lot of weirdos out there and you're too cool a person to get messed up by them. You need to have periodic check-ins.
I'm sure your family would worry a great deal about you. I would. Don't set yourself up to go downhill. Set yourself up to climb. You've conquered mountains. Look at it is another obstacle. Sometimes you do have to just bite your lip, grin and bear it listening to what the parents say, and remember it won't be long til they won't be around you all the time. And someday you may be in the same shoes they are.

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Wow...is all I have to say. Don't you wish you could do that forever!?




No, I do not contribute a thing. I understand where you are coming from, but I am a poor college student. I know, an excuse. But that's how it is. And I'll be damned if I will work more than 15 hours a week at a job I absolutely hate. See, your job is a bore. To me, that would be the fucking cue to do something else; it's a waste of life! That's how I see it anyway, a waste of my life. Well, you're happy at your boring job, so power to you. I personally have a problem with mundane society.

Mom, you could have just told me that on AIM. We ARE talking at the moment.

At times, but it was nice to came back to the rest of the world after a few days too. It really put a new perspective on everything. Very humbling. I would go alone sometimes. It was just nice to isolate and escape for a few days. Nothing I would want forever, but if there was power, internet, and mail then I would never have to leave. To bad the government will not sell it to me lol.

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I can understand that. So many conflicting possibilities in my mind, need to sort them out...

as far as getting land for what you're talking about, northern maine is all i can think of, cold as hell during winter. very few places nowadays you can just caveman it that is land you can live off of.

realistic suggestion: move down south, transfer all your acedemics to some college town like ashville NC or athens GA <places that have a suprisingly good music scene and perhaps may have schools that can accomodate whatever your studying, rent a house about a 30-45 minute drive out of town in the middle of nowhere<preferable near a national park,forest reserve, whatever>. see, the middle of nowhere down in most places in the south are amazing in terms of country as opposed to middle of nowhere of mass, connectiscum or rhode island, i lived near the blue ridge mountains in VA years ago and knew many college kids, all kinds of people doing this sortof thing, your gonna need housemates and stuff and hold down some work, but in your spare time you will be surrounded by acres of land to do all sorts of nature stuff. this is the only thing i can think of from my own experience that would be reasonable to what you're talking about

you obviously cant do this at the drop of a hat but it could be done in a reasonable timeframe

lol For some reason I picture you getting lost and ending up looking like Gollum from LotR up in a tree snatching at birds after a year. Sorry, but it just seems funny.

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roflmfao!!!! nyah! pande'! take that! heehee

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Oh, noooo, preccciouss. They will not be arounds me at all, very ssssoooon my preccioussssss... ;-)

To give some serious advice:
1. I find it hard to believe that farming for one person is going to be bearable.
2. I think you'll have a big food problem around feb-apr every year (read: I think you'll give up around that time the first year)
3. Grab a big backpack, pack it up with stuff you think you'll need, and find a big forest. Go get lost out there for as long as the food you can get lasts. If you thought that was fun, do it again, this time with less food in your backpack and more hunting. And repeat, ad nauseum.

Gotta go

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You could e-mail mortiis, I think he's into this kind of thing...

Maybe we should get together and start a Chainsaw family in the middle of nowhere. I'd love to be Leatherface, but if you wanted that part I'd let you have it. After all--we'd be family.

But in all seriousness, if you want that info, log on to Amazon.com. They probably have more wildlife/hunting/camping survival etc stuff than you could ever afford to get. Buuuuut, if you don't want to buy it, just try seaching up on Yahoo some sites about that stuff...you know, from proffesionals. I definitely understand what you want to do. I, personally, would choose an old abandoned asylum because I'm not an outdoors dude. But "whatever floats your boat" as they say. You could just go completely primitve and learn to survive like the ancients did. And that's not sarcasm--I know you're taking this serious. Yet if you're looking to resurface into the outer world after a certain period of time, I guess becoming a secluded murderous cannibalistic local legend madman would be out of the question. I don't know. But living like that would for sure help your musical creativity and songwriting abilities. So it sounds good to me (as long as you know what you're doing). Sorry I don't know much on farming and stuff, but plenty of internet people do with their websites (and, of course, many books out there). So good luck.

Great idea, seemingly more realistic than my wishes.

Shimbolla: I've already begun looking for survival guides, edible plants, and such on Amazon. I've also found some promising leads at the backpacker.com forums.

Read "Walden" by Thoreau. ---- "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." I don't know if that kind of thought applies to your situation, but it's worth reading anyway.

hahaha, thats probably not a bad idea, but he might try and convert u into a troll lol

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I don't try to be discrete unless I know I'm illegally trespassing, like if I'm checking out an abandoned house. Even then, I'm not particularly discrete, because then if you are seen, it's seems like you are up to something. I personally haven't checked out the tracks in Dartmouth other than to look down them while on Faunce Corner Road both ends. While facing north on Faunce Corner Road on the RR tracks, look to your left and that's the direction you went in. Look to your right and it looks like it cuts through some really awesome woods and swamp off to the side of I-195. Actually, looking at a map, it does. I'd like to check out that stretch sometime.

Have you gotten yourself an atlas yet? I just picked up two new ones, one for Rhode Island, the other for Cape Cod. I'll be getting one for Worcester and central Mass. in a few months, I suspect. You should definitely get one. I have a couple of older maps I could let you use until you get one, if you want. I have a map of the Taunton area that covers Taunton, Norton, Raynham, Middleboro, Lakeville, Berkley, Dighton, Rehoboth, and Seekonk. It is quite worn, and I have personally mapped out several abandoned railroad grades that weren't already on the map. I also have an older atlas from the 80's that covers pretty much the whole southeastern Massachusetts. It's one book, but the binding tore in one part, so now it's two books. I can't possibly overstress the importance of getting yourself some maps for this area. Also, check out these sites often-
http://www.topozone.com/viewmaps.as...872&lon=-70.951
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/
http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm

By the way, I did get an idea where you could do what you want in SE Mass. Obviously, semi-permanent camping is out of the question, but you do have a car, right? If I were you, I'd just take my car out somewhere pretty and sleep in it for a few days. If I felt like staying longer, I could shower at a relative's. I wish I did have a car, I'd probably do that fairly frequently, especially in the spring and fall.

If you ever feel like going for a walk somewhere you're not familiar with around here and you'd like some company, call me. PM me and I'll give you my number or e-mail addy or whatever so you can contact me. Don't feel pressured to do it, though, because for all I know you might prefer to walk by yourself. I personally prefer natural settings with one or two other people, it's always fun to point out stuff to each other. I usually go by myself, but that's just because I can't talk anybody else into going.

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I just got that today, semi-ironically. He seems very intelligent, and I wanted his whole catalogue, but all they had was Walden/Civil Disobedience.



Yes, I have gotten an atlas; it covers southeastern Mass/Cape Cod. It isn't particularly detailed, but they show me the general layout of the tracks for this area.

Company sounds good; so far I have only managed to get some of my friends from Mattapoisett/Marion interested in camping. I don't like wasting gas going to Mattapoisett to pick up people just for a walk, either, so I don't do it. But you're much more local, so I'd welcome it. Email me at opeth15@yahoo.com to give me your availability and number, and I'll get back to you. Take care.