Out There By Choice

[Reed]

Close to where I live there is a National Forest. Last year, with a permit, a friend and I went looking for wood for his wood burning stove. Out there in the middle of it all was an "encampment" of people who were living there. Some by choice and some because of finances.

Would you ever live in the forest like that by choice?

 

[Grandpa]

No, I worked hard to make this house a home. Here is where I will stay if at all possible. However, I do like to visit the forests, sometimes for a week or two at a time. But in the end, my old faithful hot shower and comfy bed beckon me home.

The sad thing about this is the Park Service and Forest Service are in desperate need of volunteers as camp hosts etc. A place to stay and some food and a small stipend come with the territory. Desperate people just don't know about these things and the "by choice" folk sure don't want to be around any authority.

 

[mamabear]

I'm with Grandpa on this one. I'm sure it's not legal to do what these folks are doing. As soon as the Forest Service finds out, they'll be asked to move along. It's the authority these folks are running from. How do they maintain themselves? Hunting on federal land? Not a good idea without permission.

 

[Grandpa]

How do they maintain themselves?

They usually have a sizeable "garden" neaby. Which is why they avoid authority. And it ain't spuds they're growing.:tinysmile_twink_t2:

 

[Cappy]

I I live in a very small wood framed house less than 900 ft. On a small corner lot .8 acre in a 2 block neighborhood in the middle of a suger cane field. My house has been paid for for 25 years. Some one asked me if I was rich and the answer is yes. house yard suv jeep boat and camper are priceless to me and aint enough money on Gods earth to buy them from me. Add them all together though and they all cost less than almost all of your homes, and some of your vehicles. I live simple, over half of what we eat comes from the woods and water and yard. Like Grandpa though roots run deep and truly roughing it is just too hard for this beat up chubby ole Cajun. Dispite the fact that I like Grandpa am very close to off the grid its just too much like work, I'll keep my comforts thank you small as they may be they all mine.

 

[Gondor]

Maybe one day we will all be forced to live like that, who knows. It's not bad to prepare yourself for that eventuality by practicing what we're talking about here.

 

[TakeAHike]

I would never live in the woods like a squatter, no. I did watch a show where the couple was living in a tent at a state park because they couldn't afford the rent on an apartment. I like to visit the woods, but I do like the comforts of home too much to do it permanently.

 

[bsmit212]

I would not want to go out there without a end in site unless I had to due to life situations. But even then I would most likely end up hiking all around, because hey if you have to live in the woods why not see as much of it as possible. But I perfer to have an end in site.

 

[ppine]

Squatting is exactly what it is, and it is criminal trespass. Only crazy people or those running from the law these days become squatters. It is a difficult existence, especially in winter.

I used to run tree planting crews of up to 30 people- they were all running from something- IRS, ex-wives, the law, and drugs were the common ones.

 

[Cappy]

Did some "Dibblin'" in a past life. Luggin grass sacks of pine saplins up hill and down. Still have a dibblin stick in my shed. Made from an ole tractor axle with a steppin rod of haff inch solid steal. I drag it around the yard once a year punching holes to pour fertilizer in. I wernt zactly runnin from nothing but it was a way for quick cash paid straight outa the straw bosses wallet.

 

[campclose]

How very sad! I hope that I never have to live out in the middle of a forest. I work hard too but you just never know! I'm pretty sure that I will never have to live like that! I do know a family that camped for a summer - their house was foreclosed on.

 

[Hikenhunter]

If it gets to a point where I'm gonna lose all that I've aquired I'd rather try living in the forest than on the streets of some smelly old city. Just Saying.