To live like a bum in the US

@Motomom34 , we differ on what "bum" means, I think. To me, a bumbhas no future, and no attempt to find one. They ride the welfare train into the grave. A train I'm pushing by hand. And the strength of my back.
And the kid ain't wanting a year to see the country, he wants a few years. He will never catch up with life after that, he will be left behind, as younger, faster, brighter kids suplant him. He will always be that "slow kid" that people need to make allowances for.

 

You must've had an english sports car with Lucas Electrics. Work on it two days and travel 6 hours, continue on till you get where you are going.

First coined "It's not a trip it's an adventure sponsered by Lucas Electrics, Prince of Darness." by a Triumph TC owner.

 

Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.....

 

Spent 8 years as sort of the "Shabbat Goy" at the office there...somebody had to be on-call Sunday.

Never got converted, but sure liked the way they run a city.

 

I have to differ with you here...though I'll admit that if one is seeking position and status it is true more than not.

I dropped out of HS when I was 17...I took my first college class at 22. In spite (or maybe because) of that, I actually learned a lot more in the quest to get my degrees and was far more qualified when I graduated than my classmates in general. Granted I was never the top guy, and wasn't crooked enough to get rich, but I had a rewarding and interesting career and a comfortable retirement starting at 50. Yeah...some things it made a little harder...chemistry 101 at 23 when you've never had a chem class in your life was an early example...and sometimes I had to work a little harder but overall I pretty much always felt like I had an advantage.

My 23 year old grandson who didn't go to college out of HS like his siblings but chose to work oilfields, as a waiter and as a bartender in the interim (sort of "bumming" around) will be starting to college this coming fall and I think he will do OK. He at least picked a better way to find what he wanted to do than going off to exotic places and getting his ass shot off like his gramps...

 

Been there done that, like so many. I remember the day I really ripped my lower back bad for the third or fourth time in a day trying to pull a 5 ft diameter shake block out of a cut log section in the mud. I was 25 then, had done two tears pre-engineering then dropped out. I lay across the log trying to get sorted out and a brilliant idea flashed through my mind: I need to get back to college on my degree, or I will end up crippled at 40 with not a penny left.

Took me the rest of the shake season, a season short logging, and a year roofing to get money saved but finally got back to college and ended up switching to computers and loved it.

Like you say, there is no motivation like working your fingers to the bone to help gain appreciation for the mental work!

 

"To me, a bum has no future, and makes no effort to find one. They ride the welfare train into the grave"
@PaxMentis , clearly you were no bum.

 

Yes a chamber maid. I was a good one. People used to request me.

 

I worked a quarter, then college a quarter, work, then college. It was the only way I could afford it. It was not easy. It was brutal, and every classmate I had passed me by.
I had five part time jobs trying to make the nut I needed by inrolement time. I was averaging four hours a night sleep.
What did I learn from it? I learned to hate the welfare system and quotas. I learned to hate a system where my grades were better, but a skin color took my seat. I learned to hate a system where my skin color was used against me, yet illegals get what I fought for gratis.
If you have money for a year long vacation, fine see the country, sample the culture, have a ball.
But without money waiting to be spent, and college prices rising ever higher, don't wait. We get to keep less and less of our paychecks every year, as cost rise, and taxes rise, and colleges tuitions rise, yet our pay is not.

There is a breaking point that will prevent college from happening at all.

 

I grew up in construction. I did my first sodder joints when I was about 5, I think. Carpentry, plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, concrete, all of it. Demolition, and reconstrutive work, fine wood work, siding, roofer for a few years, then locksmithing, picking, broadcasting, and a few dozen more skills to make a living.
Growing up, I never knew we were poor. I thought everyone learned how to do these things.

 

I didnt mean bum as in homeless, my bad. But I like what this thread has turned into.

 

If he's a young guy he might be able to get a job at disney world for a year. They like to have foreign kids to work there. They might also Provide housing and such. He will get paid and get to travel on weekends.

 

JOIN THE MILITARY!!!
All the sightseeing you'll ever want, free meals, discounted liquor, a girl in every port or (don't ask, don't tell)
free room and board, a few bucks in your pocket, who knows you may even like it and become a "Lifer".Retire at 40 with a steady income, still young enough to start another career, Free instruction on how to be self sufficient/ motivated. Really not a bad deal!
If you want to find yourself, you might want to become somebody first.

 

Our youngest son entered college at 17-two yrs later joined the Army and retires in 1 1/2 yrs at 39. He has been to many countries/several states/now in Anchorage till Sept. Has been shot at and shot at others--thankfully he has come through unscathed. Tickled for the lad--has seen much of the world, fished in many waters, shot game of all kinds, plays with his sniper buds, and poker over the weekends--lol. He and his kids education is guaranteed plus med/dental/eyes/etc. He can shop at the PX and use military stuff-space available. Not a bad deal. He and his wife were lifeguards in college and have grown up together almost.
Now--second son is a wanderer. Has been in most states doing menial tasks for 20 yrs--still is and he has a college degree. Tried tried tried to let me put him through tech schools for a high paying skill but the wandering call was stronger. Great guy but is wasting a lot of time.

 

Hey, as long as he has no wants and no warrents and is making his own way then be happy.