Author Topic: HomeLess In Hawaii  (Read 9204 times)

OWHL

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HomeLess In Hawaii
« on: August 08, 2012, 05:10:39 PM »
I went to Hawaii for roughly 7 weeks. I was homeless for 6.5 weeks. I slept in a cave, on the beach and in a parking garage. The only money I had was for food and plane tickets. I spent most the time hanging around Oahu, Honolulu in the South Eastern part of the island. 

Anyone come close or one up me? If neither, I challenge you to go out and be homeless in Hawaii!

arebelspy

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2012, 06:16:48 PM »
The wife and I did this in the summer of 09, backpacking through Europe.

We were there over two months.  We slept in hostels two nights total.  We slept at a friend's house a few nights in Italy and cousin's house in Germany a few nights.  These all totaled less than a week of those two+ months.

The rest of the time we slept on trains, in parks, etc.  Once in a graveyard.  Sometimes in parking lots (where a friendly possum woke us once).  On the beach in Barcelona. All over the place.  It was a good trip.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Jamesqf

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2012, 10:59:54 PM »
I'd argue that this is not being homeless (you had a home to return to, no?).  What it was was a minimalist camping vacation, which I've done (with bike, and intentionally avoiding urban areas) in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

grantmeaname

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2012, 06:09:31 AM »
Guys, that's so awesome! Care to share some homeless vacation tips?

totoro

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2012, 10:35:22 AM »
I think that is great for those who love roughing it but I enjoy all that a house brings in terms of comfort.  I prefer to do a house exchange.  This works out to no cost accommodation and can include cars as well (although we have not exchanged cars yet).

Our future travel plans include Kyoto in a couple of years (using airmiles and a house and car exchange) and more spots in the US that we will mostly drive to with some car camping along the way.  It really helps that I do most of my work via computer - I can work from anywhere.

Jamesqf

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2012, 12:42:55 PM »
Guys, that's so awesome! Care to share some homeless vacation tips?

First tip: have friends living in the destination country who can provide you with a base.  Or you might be able to arrange something similar with a friendly B&B.

Second, find guides and research biking (backpacking, camping, etc) at your destination. 

Finally, my experience doing this is all pre-9/11, so I took my own bike & gear.  These days, I would probably use Craigslist or similar to buy locally anything that might have problems going through security.

pka222

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2012, 02:31:50 PM »
Speaking of home exchanges- would anyone be from the Santa Barbara area in Cali? We're off there for a month in October.. my house in Samoa (small sunny island south pacific) will be empty.  Want to trade? You can have my car for the exchange as well.  Baring that, anyone in SB want a house sitter?
Cheers

JohnGalt

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2012, 04:28:58 PM »
Speaking of home exchanges- would anyone be from the Santa Barbara area in Cali? We're off there for a month in October.. my house in Samoa (small sunny island south pacific) will be empty.  Want to trade? You can have my car for the exchange as well.  Baring that, anyone in SB want a house sitter?
Cheers

I'd love to spend a month in Samoa.... why don't you come to Dallas instead?  It's umm, just as, umm, nice as Santa Barbara... I swear!

pka222

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2012, 04:51:38 PM »
John, sounds good, next time I come to Dallas we'll switch. Over all home swaps seem to be a good fit for mustashians, especially those who are FI- they can be flexible about where and when to travel and swapping homes saves tons of $$. I still have a few years to FI but swapping homes seems a good practice to start. I'm totally down with OWHL's suggestion of covert camping but in this case the DW will be 7 months along and needs a "more mainstream" situation.  Anyone have ideas on how to find a good house sitting gig in a very narrow geographic location?

Kazak

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2012, 05:26:55 PM »
Try out couchsurfing.org if you haven't yet. Never used it myself, but have heard great things. Also have heard of homeexchange.com.

pka222

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2012, 05:32:22 PM »
Kazak,
I have tried couch surfing in the past and hosted 20 odd people at my home, its a little more challenging for a month long stay though. I'm looking at homeexchange now, just wondering about the 48$USD 3 month fee, it seems a bit steep.
Same topic, no hijacked thread here
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/mustachian-marketplace/accommondations-in-particular-santa-barbara-accommodations-needed/msg21655/#msg21655

reverend

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Re: HomeLess In Hawaii
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2012, 11:01:40 PM »
This!
I've hosted a lot of people over the years and had so many amazing conversations with people from different cultures and areas of the world.  I've never surfed another couch though, but when I travel I always stay with friends (Europe/Australia/US/South America etc). Come to think ofo it, I have *never* paid for room and board when I travel, save for a night train sleeping cart last year. :)



Try out couchsurfing.org if you haven't yet. Never used it myself, but have heard great things.