Into The Wild

            What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘hobo’? A dirty bum lying on the side of the street? A crazy toothless lady talking to herself as she roots through trashcans? An old man in torn clothes pestering you for spare change in the subway station? How about a teenage boy or girl hitching their way halfway across the country, living off the excessiveness of our culture, and having the time of their life?

            If you look up the word hobo on Wikipedia, you won’t find a description of some North Philly scumbag, but instead you’ll find information about a whole subculture of people, men and women, old and young, who choose to live their lives free of material dependency. Hobos, often referred to as ‘tramps’, differ from bums on the street in that they travel around, sometimes working odd jobs or playing an instrument to make a few quick bucks for food, a train ticket, or some green, whichever is most important at that moment.

            Many of these travelers have some sort of education, a family, and a place to go if they ever have to return home. So, why would anyone want to leave all of that to fend for themselves on the streets? For many, it’s a way to escape the commodity culture that has engulfed our society. For others, it is an open door to escape family problems or difficulties in their homes. Some simply just want to start fresh and prove their independency or fulfill some dream of being out on their own. One boy took fulfilling that dream of independency and made it a reality, taking busses and hitching rides all the way to Madison, WI within a week’s time.

            Tim Czarnecki, an 18-year-old boy from Roslyn, PA, decided it was time for some change in his life. He decided one Sunday night that he wanted to go to Milwaukee for an anarchist conversion, and arrived there on a Greyhound bus the following Wednesday, armed with nothing more than a backpack containing a sleeping bag, some socks and underwear, a notebook and a few extra layers of clothing. Four days later, in true tramping style, it was time to move on. Tim then hitched a few rides into Madison where he stayed for the next two months.

             Transportation, however, is sometimes difficult to come by for hobos. While on his way to Madison, Tim found himself stuck in Brookfield Wisconsin for two days straight, unable to catch a ride out of town. More often than not, the drivers of passing cars would display distaste for Tim’s grungy attire and shake their head or even counteract Tim’s hitchhiking thumbs up with a thumbs down of their own. Some older people would smile at the hopeful tramp, obviously reminiscing about their own carefree days of tramping, but would not stop to give Tim a lift.

            There are many other factors of tramping that one must consider besides getting from A to B, such as food and shelter. Food is often acquired by hobos by dumpstering or asking people who walk out of restaurants for their leftovers. “White boxes are magic,” said Tim, referring to the white Styrofoam containers that leftovers are carried in. Dumpstering is one of the more popular methods of getting food. According to Tim, he sometimes finds fresh produce and other kinds of food in “better condition than I would have in a fridge.”

Aside from finding freshly thrown away food in dumpsters, hobos sometimes find other things as well, such as shoes, electronics or furniture. ‘Hippie Christmas’ is a term widely known and celebrated by hobos. It is the time when the leases of the apartments in the area go up, and residents empty their apartments, sometimes throwing away most of their possessions. Tim said that some of his fellow tramps have found iPods, laptops, furniture sets, and a surplus of clothing.

Finding shelter is a whole separate, often challenging, process. There are three conditions that anyone seeking shelter outside must consider, those three things being bugs, wind, and rain. Sleeping under a tree takes care of the rain and cuts down the wind, but there is often many bugs around, and while there are usually no bugs on the roof of a building, there is little protection from wind and rain. Therefore, finding a good place to sleep can be very difficult.

Luckily for Tim, he was fortunate enough to meet some people who welcomed him into their homes. He stayed with a guy named Joey for a few days, a girl for a week, and three college girls who let him sneak into their dorm for the last two weeks he was in Madison. Between attempts to fight the wind and light his half-lit cigarette, Tim said that living in the dorm was beneficial to him because he finally had a shower and a couch to sleep on.

“Living and survival are two different things,” explained Tim. He said that once you find shelter and food, you have all the time you want to do whatever you want to do. Tim usually spent his days playing guitar either by himself or accompanied by another hobo that he met. Sometimes he would put out a hat for change, but he mostly played for his own enjoyment, to better himself as a musician and songwriter.

Tim said that, overall, the best experience of his travels was meeting all the people that he did. He said that he “met everyone from a six year old black girl playing my guitar, to a 70 year old alcoholic man.” He met tramps that traveled alone, with pets, family and even spouses. Tim went on to say that meeting these people was the most positive experience of his trip, sharing stories, laughs and bits of wisdom.

            Many people believe that the word ‘hobo’ only applies to the homeless bums on the street, but these people are severely mistaken. The hobo culture is completely different from anything most of our society has experienced. Call it a smart way to live life, or call it narrow-minded, but whatever you call it, the hobo lifestyle has been around for many, many years, and will continue to grow for years to come. So, next time you see a stray on the side of the road with his or her thumb stuck proudly in the air, don’t be afraid to pull over and help them out in their journey, I guarantee that they will appreciate it more than you know. Hell, you could even learn a thing or two from a hobo.