Becoming a modern-day nomad
For reasons I won't go into here I have decided to forsake the bonds of our modern "civilized" society in favor of a simpler, more free life. Life in our modern world has become a daily trudge through a stressful serious of work days broken by the occassional day off to "decompress" for a short time.
We are constantly inundated with media messages telling us what we "can't live without", what we should buy, think, look like, and feel like. And, like lemmings, we follow the crowd through these daily exercises in an attempt to find some little bit of happiness in life. The problem is, we spend so much time working to make the money we think we need to be safe, secure, and happy that we forget to actually live our lives.
Most of what we are told we "need" are actually things we can live without and are simply "wants". I don't know of a single person who would die if they didn't have a certain brand of jeans or a shiny new car. I have never met a single person who has perished for want of a fancy new wide screen television. Food and shelter are our most basic of physical needs. There are many psychological needs of course; love, companionship, a sense of well being. Yes, these are important but in today's society we have wandered far afield of the things that can truly meet these needs and held captive by the "wants" society has brain-washed them into thinking are important.
In a couple of days I will be strapping on my backpack and setting out on foot into the world. The real world, not the illusion created by society. The world where basic survival involves having a dry place to sleep and food to eat. No televisions, radios, or newspapers with their endless commercial droning. Home will be wherever I make camp and pitch my tent. Food will consist of what I carry with me or gather along the way.
I will be living a purely natural life. No artificial contrivances to set the illusion of living, but actual life itself. No need to watch movies, attend sporting events, or any of the miriad other things we do in order to make us feel like we are living and experiencing the world. Just the world itself, in all it's splender and harshness. And the true, real, life and death struggle to survive. Real living, the way it was meant to be. No need to watch some adventure movie to get a taste of living, but the real thing.
Now, don't get me wrong; I am well equipped with the tools to survive. I will carry what I need, to the tune of a 75 pound pack containing essential necessities; clothing, food, fire making tools, a small shovel, tent, sleeping bag and pad, biodegradable soap, solar shower, a couple of knives, mess kit, a small camp stove and fuel for when making a fire isn't allowed, and first aid kit,.
These, combined with many years spent developing woodcraft and survival skills, I will be quite comfortable. I will travel south for winters, and north for summers setting up camp wherever I find myself. I will explore all of the wild and primitve places of the country. Money won't be much of an issue but realistically I will have to earn a little now and then. I will find work in campgrounds, small towns, wherever I can do a bit of work in exchange for cash or food as my meager needs require.
You can never know what the future holds, but I intend to spend the remainder of my life living a "primitive" life. No more captivity for me, thank you.