Homeless 101

Homelessness is not a joke. On any given day in the United States over 3/4 of a million people find themselves without a home to go to. Some will sleep in a shelter tonight, others in their vehicle, but an overwhelming majority will spend tonight on the streets. I am one of them. My name is Jason and I've been homeless for over 12 years. I'm putting together this blog because I feel my over-a-decade long experience with homelessness holds information that might benefit others. Maybe you're new to the streets. Maybe a friend or loved one is currently facing (or soon to be facing) life without a home. Or maybe you're just curious as to the particulars of an ever-growing crisis that is showing no signs of slowing down. No matter what your reasoning is, I hope these posts prove to be of service. My account is first-hand, and in no way intended to represent anyone else's history or opinion. But many out there will agree my advice for survival is solid. The ha...

Relax... You've got this. When I first started this uh... adventure, I didn't have squat. I had spent the previous ten years teaching English in Asia. I bounced around a lot, saw a lot of stuff, lived in 5 different countries, and enjoyed myself -- Until my passport was stolen along with other documents. Everything I needed to get a new passport was gone. It was a nightmare. But not as bad as the nightmare I faced when I got home, which is exactly where the US Embassy sent me. After being overseas for a decade, all of my friends had moved on. Most of my family was gone, and only the ones I didn't care for were still around. When I returned to the US, I had nothing but the clothes on my back. In the middle of winter. Since then, I've had my belongings stolen a few times and my camp swept by law enforcement twice while I was working. It doesn't happen as often now, I've become (a lot) better at being homeless. But if you're in a position similar to where I was...

This is the section some people will need to skip over, and others will need to skip to. First off -- if you're in a town or city that has resources and opportunity, you're able to get by without resorting to methods that can get you into trouble, you're not surrounded by or tempted by drugs, the weather is tolerable and you have identification -- it's likely best that you stay put. Vagabonds like myself spend weeks, months and sometimes years trying to find what you have right now. By all means read the post, but weigh heavily your odds of going somewhere else and finding what you already have. For everyone else -- the folks stuck in a shitty one-horse town in BFE, or stuck in a dangerous city with zero resources or opportunity, or the person with no ID and your birth certificate is on the other side of the country -- this section is for you! When I first returned from Asia back in 2013 I didn't have shit besides an expired passport and the clothes on my back. Fres...