Urban Nomad: Establishing A Territorry

Now that we have a better idea of what an urban nomad is, lets take a look at the first step to take to becoming an urban nomad.

Location, location, location!

There are some very important points to consider when choosing a territory.Where ever you decided to setup, this area must provide for all your needs without being too large. I strongly suggest getting a map out or a satellite image of your town to see what is going to be ideal. Also, from your base camp in the center, you shouldn't have to walk more than a mile to get to the outer limit of your territory. This will give you over 6 square miles to live in.

What are we looking for specially?

Shelter

There are lots of types of shelters to choose from. I will be covering shelters later. At the center of your chosen territory should be the most secluded and out of the way. It needs to be the easiest to hide. Once this area has been identified, 4 more lesser camp sites need to be chosen. These sites will be where you stay while you are still working on getting the base camp hidden and constructed. These lesser camps should be placed throughout the 6 mile circle. Examples of these types of shelters could be a debris hut, scout pit, a well suited tree to climb and set up a hammock  or an area that you can use a tarp and blanket camp.

Remember the whole point of carefully choosing all these shelters is so you don't get spotted. If you get talked to by the cops or if you notice that you were seen going to a camp site then you have a handful of other sites to go to.

Ok, what is next?

Now that we have our shelter sites picked out, we have to be thinking about another way to establish our territory  This would be to have supplies stashed in very strategic places so that when we need them they will be waiting. This can easily be done be either hiding 5 gallon buckets in the ground or in trees. These stashes need to be scattered around and place with real thought. Not every bucket needs to have the same things in them. If there is a particular area that you have noticed is hard to get food, them make sure you have a bucket full of nonperishable food that can be waiting. I will be going more in depth into this topic later.

Water

Of course we will need to have water...right? There are two types of water that we will need. We will need water that is drinkable for consumption. The seconds type will be used for bathing, laundry, and other hygiene needs. This water will not need to be drinkable. As with everything else, there needs to be multiple sources of water for each type. This will need to be considered when choosing a territory.

Food

Remember we are going to try to provide all of our food needs without any cash. There will be a time and place for money but we will talk about that later. There are lots of great ideas to gather food. Some of them are legal and some are not. Gathering nuts, berries, seeds, roots, and other wild edibles should be totally
legal. However, it is a really good idea to find out for sure for whatever city/state you are in. Dumpster diving is a really grey area and should be check on for sure. Hunting, trapping, or just picking up road kill is definitely illegal.

In all of these areas, you will need to be creative. Think outside the norm. Be prepared to do some research in to the local laws so you know exactly what you can get into trouble for and what is safe.

The Urban Nomad:A Strategic Approach To Homelessness

I am very excited to start sharing with you my project for the summer. This is a personal journey for me as it is a continuation of my time I spent in the cardboard cave off of hwy 26. My goal is to develop a clear strategy for anyone to follow who wants to try living the urban nomad lifestyle.

Here is how I would define the urban nomad:
The Urban Nomad, these are people who is able to live in a city, town, or any populated area while providing for their own needs. They do not need cash for food, water, or shelter. Most people who see an urban nomad walking down the street will never know that they are "homeless". The urban nomad does not pan handle or sleep on sidewalks. Urban Nomads have established territories that they use for the acquisition of whatever they need for their daily life. These people are very mobile and can move easily outside their territory if needed.

Since urban nomads are technically homeless and living off of the landscape, there will be many skills drawn from many different disciplines. Wilderness survival skills have the strongest influence, however, there are other skills that will keep you safe and out of trouble.

Lets start with the general overview of these skills and strategies and then add more layers of specific information.

Like with all humans, urban nomads have very basic needs that need to be met in order to live.
Air
Shelter
Water
Food

If you don't have a source of air....your already dead and the rest of this won't really matter to you. So lets start with shelter. In my next post I will deal with establishing a territory and the types of shelters that you will need to have.

Making News Paper Rope

Here is my video on making rope out of news paper.