After appearing on the Otherworld podcast (Chicken Whackers pt. 1 & 2) I have received encouragement from friends and family along with countless others to continue sharing my story. For a long time I have wanted to create something in the style of a documentary about the unseen subculture of the traveling world in the US, not thinking to start at square one: me. I’ve been writing and journaling about my time on the road ever since I got off of it, and it seems the time has come to begin sharing that.
I’ve realized how sharing my own personal journey can be a reward itself, especially when bringing attention to the issues of homelessness and addiction in this country. I’m in recovery myself, and in the meetings you always hear about sharing your “experience, strength, and hope,” and that’s what I hope to do here. I also want to share other people’s stories, people who kept me going, some of which are no longer here. I never imagined I would meet so many utterly unique and different people, beautiful people that made all of the bullshit worth it. I never would have gotten far if it wasn’t for them.
The main person that my story includes is Grant. While we weren’t always together, I reckon we were together for 2.5 years of the ~3 years I spent traveling. I don’t know if I can ever hope to really express the person he was fully, but he was out of this world. He was a very sensitive person who had an amazing capacity for kindness and compassion. I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone as funny as him either, he truly saw the world in a way that would either make you laugh or cry. He was quiet, and I easily imagine him in a past life being one of those people you hear about in the Taoist parables who lived alone up in the mountains and was only seen very rarely. He could walk for days, and sometimes he did. He climbed mountains just because. He felt with everything, every part of his being. All I can say for sure is that I loved him completely, and I feel blessed to have had him in my life. I miss you Grant.
Harm reduction is the practice of providing things like Narcan and clean needles to drug users. It has many different forms and can range from Supervised Consumption Sites, heroin and fentanyl clinics, to a person handing out clean needles from the back of their vehicle. In America we have no federal policy for harm reduction, even though the opioid epidemic was declared a national emergency. Harm reduction varies from state to state, and county to county. Most local governments have no harm reduction programs. Most of the harm reduction in the US is performed by non-profits or small groups of people with no clear organization. Harm reduction saves lives. Under everything, this is a story about where America is failing its people.
Crimes against homeless people and travelers goes unreported most of the time. After knowing what I have gone through personally, I can only wonder at what so many other homeless people have encountered. Ideally, I hope to share the stories of others through audio interviews while also sharing my own experiences on here.
Among all the friends I made, there is a list of people who didn’t make it out. A lot of us don’t. And many more are still out there, wandering.
I've been homeless more than once and have experienced some wicked evil crap, as well as some wonderful, caring souls. I was even homeless with two small children more than once (one time in Colorado), & I was terrified! So afraid something horrible would happen to them, I fought like a mama bearcat to protect them!
I'm so glad you're off the streets & on the road to recovery! WTG!!!
So glad you are ready to share your journey. The experiences you and Grant shared are rare. I am looking forward to reading your posts to fill in the blanks from the stories we heard from Grant. Keep up the good work!