Timo Noko – The Professional Hobo (2016) | Hacker News Reader

Timo Noko – The Professional Hobo (2016)

timonoko.github.io

105 pointsmwenge59 comments

"My ultimate hobo dream has been a suit, which is comfortable to wear at all times and which protects you from any kind of environment. You wont need a tent or a home."

One of my eternal pub discussions has been about an Urban Mobility Suit which looked like a business suit, but was actually designed for backcountry hiking. Plus a briefcase actually containing ultralight and compact camping gear. To really confuse people in the outdoors. Then as you overtake anyone on the trail, say things like "Excuse me, running late for my 10am."

I need this in my life... "I know I dropped the presentation somewhere here"

This reminded me me of the _stillsuit_ from Dune [1]

[1]: https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Stillsuit

I have good news for you, this exists.

It's called the "suitsy" and it's made by the SF clothing company beta brand:

https://gizmodo.com/a-hands-on-review-of-suitsy-the-silicon-...

Unfortunately Beta Brand doesn't make them anymore, maybe it's fortunate, I don't personally know of that were good or bad.

Almost every other mammal has one!

But few to none can survive across the breadth of environments humans can with the aid of sometimes highly advanced clothing.

There was a time in my life where I was feeding the cement mixer and building walls wearing a pair of expensive kenzo shoes and a business suit. I was convinced that cynicism was the only possible ethos. Now that I don't work anymore in the field I don't even wear suits.

Which field

construction ...

don’t forget destruction

Drykorn actually has a line of designer clothing made from sports materials.

I wouldn't call him a hobo in any way, but if you really like a calming way of wandering around North America, I recommend checking out: Foresty Forest YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@forestyforest

He lives in a van with a dog. And he will summit random mountains across Canada, go on hikes, cook some food in his van. There is a weird comfort that I think might echo with people who have a fascination with nomadic lifestyle.

Haven't watched him in a while but in the earlier days, his production values were quite charming. He's at a great intersection of vanlife+summiting+pressure-cooking. Not much pretence or glamour.

I took a very long break as well, but I started re-watching again. For some reason, I have become very fond of the idea of finding comfort in routine. He posts a video and the format is pretty much the same, so I just play his videos as I go to sleep.

Post10 [0] has a similar tone to his videos.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/@post.10

Here’s a video that happened to come up on my YouTube feed today. It’s by someone doing what I’ve always thought of as the quintessential hobo activity: hopping a freight train. Beautiful scenery.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xlPWF8LFXS0

Beware, this is kind of a deep rabbithole.

I suggest to look up his trip up from Mexico, following the migrant route. For a different view of the same trip, his travelling companion (automous something) has his own channel.

RanOutOnARail isn't really a hobo though ... I think he's a software engineer in Texas somewhere.

Hobo Shoestring has an interesting channel also, albeit with a home base. You'll learn a lot about trains, and hobos' most hated adversaries, the 'homebums'. :D

And of course, there's a 10x hobo, in stobe-the-hobo (RIP), well worth watching all his videos.

Stobe's videos got me through lockdown. Was so sad to hear he had died. Stunning videos, huge character, and so much soul in the journeys he went on.

You might find this channel interesting: https://youtube.com/@shiey

And you might find this channel interesting: https://www.youtube.com/@VagrantHoliday

Love Shiey and he also goes on quite a few trips with this guy (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8iPVSFr42KUFf8DKsmnvSw) who is very well educated and more philosophical and artistic than Shiey. Like them both a lot, but they're different flavors of the same genre.

Can't beat Stobe the Hobo's videos, though sadly jumping trains killed him in the end:

https://youtube.com/@hobostobearchive6909

Also check out:

Camping with Steve

We're the Russos

Sleeping bag kimono, tent that looks like a car (and is "parked" next to a real car). The Finns' subtle sense of humor always makes me smile. Totally love it. Warmest greetings from Estonia!

Also, look at the wear and tear of his HP100LX (main portable computer for 20 years). It's been a close relationship for sure: https://github.com/timonoko/HP100LX

I think all this is also an expression of the Finnish "sisu", isn't it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu

If you are rich you are the Nomad, if you are broke you are a hobo.

Which is he? He looks broke/hobo. But some pics seem like there is apartment, and that he travels some. So does he have some money and is nomad? (some nest egg? he doesn't look like millionaire).

He worked for Nokia until 1990, theoretically if he held onto some stock for 10 years it could have been quite the windfall.

What does a millionaire look like?

A million dollars ain't what it used to be.

There are lots of millionaires which are not stereotypical rich people.

I would say most, most of the millionaires I've met are in this bucket

A 4% return (which is pretty easy to get, even after tax) on $1 million nets you $40k per year.

It's not a lot of money, but you could live off it if you were frugal.

I think you have no idea what it costs to live in most parts of the world.

In most parts of the world? A lot less, but also in those parts of the world it's probably hard to get $1million in the first place.

Indeed,but it's easy for a person to move around the globe these days. It's conceivable and even common for people to work their careers in a high cost part of the world and then retire in a low cost part. I.E. the entire state of Florida

You can live rather comfortably at $40k per year in Europe.

Living off of investments means you’re less tied to geographies. And frugal means you choose among the cheaper locales.

$40k USD is a fine amount of live off of is you are living in Carbondale, IL. But less so Chicago.

It's a pretty decent way to live in Belize or Costa Rica. Good luck in the UK. Germany, probably not, but Czech Republic may well be fine.

It depends on where you want to live. One of the factors which makes a huge difference is how old you are - the older you are the better healthcare you're going to need. Some of those low cost destinations don't have that great of healthcare - but some do!

Especially if you own your home and things like vehicles.

(Reminder that the median income in the US is $44k a year). So lots and lots of people make that work...

I don't know, that is why I was asking.

The parent post was making distinction between rich/poor and nomad/hobo. I can't tell which this guy is and was asking for more background.

The Nomad can quit at any time, the Hobo can't.

50 years of Youtube is quite amazing. If I watch old video I can feel how I felt that day. That is why I dumped so much "unedited" shit to Youtube.

-- I am the biggest consumer of my own content.

It says on his bio page that he was "blacklisted" from working. Does anyone know what exactly he's talking about there?

The lisp stuff in the bio sounds interesting too (https://timonoko.github.io/Timo_Noko.htm)

The website hasn't had any updates in years, but Timo's YouTube channel is still alive and kicking:

https://youtube.com/@TimoNoko

He's also an active community member on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=timonoko

I keep seeing foldable kayaks around - what a small world it is to think this guy has a part to that!

In his latest youtube video I spotted him using the inflatable Nortik Cityraft.

https://youtu.be/f7QxZnSWzN0

Ohh the Cityraft looks really interesting especially if it inflates like a packraft.

I have a Intex inflatable kayak which is ok, but it uses a pump for inflation ad no way it'd carry a bike.

This guy puts MacGyver to shame.

According to [0], he's now 70 years old.

[0] https://timonoko.github.io/curricu/IRTISANO.jpg

Can someone elaborate on what this is?

Noun

professional (plural professionals) (...)

2. A person who earns their living from a specified activity.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/professional

Noun

hobo (plural hobos or hoboes)

1. (Canada, US) A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hobo

it's awesome is what this page is

A hobo's website.

a blast from the hackernews past, when obscure hacker's personal home pages made it to the front page. timonoko is a hacker's hacker, but then it's kind of hard to figure that out without attentively going over his website, something there's no motivation to do without some kind of pitch.

I was motivated to digest the stirrings of a crazy man, and it was a wild ride, ho(o)-bo(y).

Interesting page.. but some stuff is pure wtf material:

"Sol emits indeed Nukular Particles and solar panels thus have tendency to produce Nukular Energy, but the accumulation of these particles can be avoided by using "Green" batteries. NiMH-batteries are more "Green" than NiCd-batteries -- and usually labeled as such.."

Say what now?

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