DEFINITIONS OF COMMONLY USED WORDS AND PHRASES
Spange – short for “spare change” and is used as a noun and a verb
Gas jugging – asking people if they can spare any gas (you need to buy a 5 gallon gas jug for this)
Dumpster diving – diving into dumpsters for food and other wasted goods
Transient – traveling folk
Homebum – a person who is a bum in their hometowns, or a bum who has lived in the same city for a long time
Greenhorn – greenhorn is a term used to describe newbie travelers
Free-fooding – going into a food place and asking them if they have any food they are about to throw away, or if they can spare any food
Busking – playing an instrument or singing, for spare change or money
Flying a Sign – this is referred to holding up cardboard signs to acquire needed items
Drop-ins – Drop ins are usually for teens and young adults, they are held at churches or community centers usually once or twice a week and they provide food, toiletries and information for homeless people
Bum feed – free meal for homeless in the area, usually held at community centers or churches
Suitcase clinic - a clinic held by volunteer programs where you can acquire health services and necessities such as toiletries and hygiene accessories
BASICS
1. Mindset is everything. STAY POSITIVE. traveling can be rough and uncertain sometimes. even having such an endless amount of freedom can bring about a sort of culture shock.
2. Call 211. it’s kind of like a 411 but for transients travelers and homeless. they can tell you where to go to get a free meal, toiletries, where homeless shelters are, if there’s a “Suitcase clinic” going on, etc. and basically whatever you need. it’s super helpful.
3. Ask the local hippies or transients or homebums about any info you might need. Homeless are generally friendly and will help you.
3. If you get stopped by a cop for any reason, don’t be confrontational. It’s not worth the risk of injury by police officer, police brutality or even death. We homeless and transients have a target on our backs. A lot of cops will try to bully you out of their towns but that is illegal. Know your rights!
4. There are churches that offer free food and clothing vouchers. Ask the locals. A Church that commonly helps the homeless with resources is called St. Vincent De Paul or St. Vinny’s. There are many churches that do the same thing.
5. The most common ways to acquire money while traveling is by busking or spanging in downtown areas or strip malls. People tend to give money to people who have something to offer in return, but not necessarily. You can offer jokes, tarot reading, or even shitty advice. If you can make people laugh, that’s always good. It helps them to see your humanity.
6. Be prepared to be stereotyped, looked down upon, yelled at, followed around by security in every store, etc. People assume all homeless are thieving junkies. Don’t take it personally! Theres more good than bad in the world!
GETTING FOOD
1. Dumpster Diving is a great way to acquire free food. there’s a certain acquired skill to this. however dumpster diving is sometimes considered a crime. so watch for cameras and shit. the best place to dumpster dive in my opinion is Little Ceasars pizza because they always have something in their dumpster. but if it smells funky, don’t eat it. smell is everything. also check Food Co-ops dumpsters, check dollar store dumpsters too, those are always generally good. Big Lots is good for munchies as well. oh and you can check marijuana dispensary dumpsters too…they throw out weed believe it or not.
2. another way to acquire free food is FOOD STAMPS. get on that shit. You don’t need to have an address or even an ID most places. If you are traveling on the road, you can get foodstamps, its as simple as that.
3. A lot of the time, “free-fooding” places works. Its basically walking into a store and asking for food. walk into any pizza place and ask them if they have any pizzas they’re gonna throw away. or be like “what can I get for 3 bucks that’s all I have and I’m hungry”. employees are human beings and will help you sometimes. don’t take it personally if they dont. one time we got 16 tacos at Jack In The Box for 3 bucks and some change. be real and be honest and don’t be embarrassed.
4. If you’re hungry just fly a “HUNGRY” sign virtually anywhere or near a restaurant that you’re hungry for. you can also be creative with signs. “pleaseburger?” is good for getting cheeseburgers. “mcstarving/mchungry” is good for mcdonalds, I don’t eat there myself but it’s a super easy spange. Fast food places are usually pretty easy in general. Sometimes we don’t have a better option for food than a fast food place.
5. Get a food pantry schedule for the town that you are in. This can also be acquired by calling the 211 number. A lot of food pantries are No Questions Asked places.
6. Attend a bum feed. Find out about local bum feeds/free meals by calling 211 or asking a local homeless person.
GETTING GAS
1. Go get a 5 gallon gas jug. and gas jug the fuck out of california or any state that you’re in. Gas jugging is when you go to a gas station and find a LOWKEY parking spot, WAIT for people to start pumping gas and approach them WITH your gas jug and kindly ask if they can spare anything. you will get turned down but be nice anyways. alot of people change their minds if your respectful.
2. OR fly a sign that says “no cash just need gas” for some reason you will probably get kicked down alot of cash. if you wanna use it for gas it’s up to you. the universe knows the pure intentions of your heart. since you specifically didn’t ask for cash, and your starving, you can use the cash for food, for example.
3.In oregon, gas attendants pump your gas for you. this may provide a small barrier for gas jugging but you still can do it, and you can fly a sign for gas. it’s legal to fly anywhere in oregon however it is illegal for a person to hand out cash while driving (strange contradictory law…) so be aware of that.
4. Stick to major highways when traveling. There are more truck stops, more traveling people that could potentially help you. Plus gas jugging is super easy at truck stops.
FLYING SIGNS for MONEY OR NECESSITIES
1. Some known good places to fly signs are by big stores like safeway or walmart. you have to fly the exits of the parking lots. pick one that has a stop sign if you can. do not spange people walking into the stores. some people will tell on you. plus you don’t want to annoy people that could potentially help you.
2. Medians are also good places to fly a cardboard sign. California is generally good for flying and so is Oregon, but if you see a cop driving by, lower your sign. Don’t rub it in their face essentially. Ask a homebum if its legal or illegal to fly a sign in the town that you’re in.
3. Good sign ideas: “Testing Human Kindness” “Random Acts of Kindness” “Hungry” “Dirty Broke Traveling Folk” “Just need to get home” “Anything green helps” “Anything helps, including a smile” “Just passing through spare a buck or two” OR fly a sign for something specific that you need like food, socks, a tent, etc.
4. Be creative with your signs but be brief and exact and don’t write too small. one time we saw 10 Mormons walking into In N OuT. so we flew “what would Joseph Smith do?” and they ended up giving us 5 bucks. trololo
5. a good sign to fly is “too ugly to be a hooker” that shits hilarious for guys (girls should not fly that..ever) lol, if you can make em laugh, that might make all the difference in your day. Some people will yell mean things at you from their cars. Don’t taking anything personally. Stay positive.
SLEEPING IN YOUR CAR
1. Rest areas are safe and legal places to sleep overnight. Sleeping in your car is considered camping. Be aware of the town laws that you are in. Rest areas are almost always exempt from anti-sleeping in car laws.
2. Walmart Supercenters are always good spots for sleeping overnight. Most of them allow camping in their lots. 24 hour stores are generally good for that.
3. Also industrial parts of cities and towns are good spots. Don’t park in residential areas if you can help it. People are quick to call the cops on “suspicious activities”
SLEEPING WITHOUT A VEHICLE
1. Get a tent or at the very least a tarp. Get an appropriate-degree-rated sleeping bag!!! Gear is everything when you’re on foot.
2. Sleep behind the treelines of large parking lots for stores like Walmart.
3.Ask local hippies/transients/homebums for good sleeping spots.
HITCHHIKING
1. Always trust your gut with hitchhiking.
2. Hitchhiking is illegal in some states, and in some states where it IS legal, it can still be illegal in certain towns.
3. Try to hitch out on on-ramps for highways. Having a sign with the destination or direction in which you need to travel always helps.
4. Carry a knife with you if it helps you feel safer. Make sure the blade is within the legal size limit.
IF YOU HAVE CAR TROUBLES ALONG THE WAY
1.if you run into any car troubles always go to Autozone and Oreillys for parts and stand outside and ask people “hey can i pay you to fix my starter/alternater/whatever?” you’ll always get a good deal on car repairs like that.
ACQUIRING GEAR like tents, shoes, hiking boots etc
1. Go to a camping store like REI or Camping World and fly a sign near the store specifying exactly what you need be it a tent, a tarp or shoes, etc.
2.Sometimes Drop-ins will have gear, or churches that offer homeless resources. Again, ask a local homebum.
WWOOFING
1. Wwoofusa.org is a volunteer program for organic farms all over the world. Wwoofing is a great way to save money while traveling because most farms will provide all the basic neccessities and staples for you to survive while you are volunteering on their farm. Wwoof charges 40 bucks for a 1 year membership. wwoof is a great way to save money but more importantly to learn about sustainable living and organic farming. before you message a farm host, check the ratings!! that’s really important. some wwoof hosts don’t treat their volunteers well and just use them for free labor. sometimes it takes a while to get responses from wwoof hosts so I would start messaging them soon if you decide to wwoof. have a plan b incase you want to leave the farm for any reason. know what you’re getting into in terms of the work trade. know ahead of time what hours they expect you to work and what kind of work you’ll be doing. plus you’ll meet people like that and make connections as you also frequently will on the road in general. best of luck!
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