I have a nightmare/ fantasy about being sent to prison and escaping Shawshank-style or in the laundry or under a vehicle, etc.
The part that always befuddles me is what to do next. Sure, the first 4-6 months are about scavenging food, keeping out of sight, and adding distance between yourself and the prison. But what do you do in the long term, after they’ve stopped actively looking for you?
Without a new identity, you’re living as a panhandler, squatter, dumpster-diver, and/or scrap can collector until a routine health issue or particularly cold winter leaves you dead on the street. Prison is arguably a better life because it offers a warm bed, food, and a toilet. There is no returning to family and friends, no way to rent or buy a home, no way to get a job, etc.
One’s only option would be to ingratiate oneself with generous people and buy time to figure out the next step. That next step probably involves taking on someone else’s identity - a similar-looking dead person perhaps, if you could prevent issuance of a death certificate and access their passwords.