Unschooling and becoming a hobo
John O. Andersen
Hello,
Two days ago, we as a family returned home from a car journey which took us
from Portland, Oregon to Madison, Wisconsin and back. We left the day after
Christmas. The trip took us through the desert of Eastern Oregon, the
mountains of Northern Idaho and Montana, the Little Bighorn Battlefield
(site of Custer's Last Stand), Mt Rushmore, South Dakota and Southern
Minnesota.
We met people, had many hours of interesting conversation, and enjoyed
unexpectedly good driving conditions. We we're truly fortunate!!!! I'm
glad we drove, because if we had flown, we would have missed all of those
hours together and all of that beautiful scenery. My younger brother who
lives in Wisconsin, and travels a lot for business, was most generous in
providing vouchers for us to stay in comfortable, warm, and clean motels
along the way. Thank goodness for people like him.
This experience helped me to imagine living on the road for more than just a
two week vacation. At some point, I'd like to take to the road for an
extended period of time. The idea of becoming a hobo intrigues me
(http://www.hobo.com). Actually, for the right person, at the right stage
of life, hoboism could be the perfect career. It could be an ideal way to
learn while earning your keep; to broaden the mind by seeing the world and
making a living at the same time. People who love to write or create works
of art could thrive in such an experience-rich lifestyle.
If learning and life experiences mean significantly more to you than
community status, a permanent address, or a mainstream level of creature
comforts, becoming a hobo could be a good career move. There are plenty of
employers who are always looking for reliable seasonal workers. Plus, some
people have skills which they can take anywhere and easily find a job. For
instance, I'm a professional cleaner by trade. I'm certain I could go
anywhere and get a job cleaning dirty toilets, or soiled carpets. Perhaps
the pay wouldn't put me in the upper middle class income brackets, but after
the children are on their own, and we have substantial savings accumulated,
I'm sure there would be a way to do it.
One day while on our way home from Wisconsin, we listened to a fascinating
interview on a public radio station with the author Errol Lincoln Uys about
his new book "Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great
Depression" (http://www.erroluys.com/frontpage.htm). I'm going to order
the book from the library. Uys pointed out how many teenagers rode the
rails in search of work during the Depression. On the whole, at that time
it wasn't a glamorous lifestyle, even though the element of adventure was
certainly an important factor. For many of those young people, however,
their adolescent hoboism became the defining experience of their lives.
(Note: I'm not recommending this for teenagers of today.)
Oh, one other site to look at (http://www.workersonwheels.com/wisdom.htm).
This is a great site about "Workers on Wheels." Be sure to read some of the
profiles. For me all of this highlights just how many options there are
outside of the 9-5 work-a-day, teamplayer world into which society
conditions us to fit.
John Andersen
http://members.xoom.com/joandersen
Two days ago, we as a family returned home from a car journey which took us
from Portland, Oregon to Madison, Wisconsin and back. We left the day after
Christmas. The trip took us through the desert of Eastern Oregon, the
mountains of Northern Idaho and Montana, the Little Bighorn Battlefield
(site of Custer's Last Stand), Mt Rushmore, South Dakota and Southern
Minnesota.
We met people, had many hours of interesting conversation, and enjoyed
unexpectedly good driving conditions. We we're truly fortunate!!!! I'm
glad we drove, because if we had flown, we would have missed all of those
hours together and all of that beautiful scenery. My younger brother who
lives in Wisconsin, and travels a lot for business, was most generous in
providing vouchers for us to stay in comfortable, warm, and clean motels
along the way. Thank goodness for people like him.
This experience helped me to imagine living on the road for more than just a
two week vacation. At some point, I'd like to take to the road for an
extended period of time. The idea of becoming a hobo intrigues me
(http://www.hobo.com). Actually, for the right person, at the right stage
of life, hoboism could be the perfect career. It could be an ideal way to
learn while earning your keep; to broaden the mind by seeing the world and
making a living at the same time. People who love to write or create works
of art could thrive in such an experience-rich lifestyle.
If learning and life experiences mean significantly more to you than
community status, a permanent address, or a mainstream level of creature
comforts, becoming a hobo could be a good career move. There are plenty of
employers who are always looking for reliable seasonal workers. Plus, some
people have skills which they can take anywhere and easily find a job. For
instance, I'm a professional cleaner by trade. I'm certain I could go
anywhere and get a job cleaning dirty toilets, or soiled carpets. Perhaps
the pay wouldn't put me in the upper middle class income brackets, but after
the children are on their own, and we have substantial savings accumulated,
I'm sure there would be a way to do it.
One day while on our way home from Wisconsin, we listened to a fascinating
interview on a public radio station with the author Errol Lincoln Uys about
his new book "Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great
Depression" (http://www.erroluys.com/frontpage.htm). I'm going to order
the book from the library. Uys pointed out how many teenagers rode the
rails in search of work during the Depression. On the whole, at that time
it wasn't a glamorous lifestyle, even though the element of adventure was
certainly an important factor. For many of those young people, however,
their adolescent hoboism became the defining experience of their lives.
(Note: I'm not recommending this for teenagers of today.)
Oh, one other site to look at (http://www.workersonwheels.com/wisdom.htm).
This is a great site about "Workers on Wheels." Be sure to read some of the
profiles. For me all of this highlights just how many options there are
outside of the 9-5 work-a-day, teamplayer world into which society
conditions us to fit.
John Andersen
http://members.xoom.com/joandersen