The Hobos of Instagram | Hacker News Reader

The Hobos of Instagram

motherboard.vice.com

57 pointsbehoove10 comments

I'm totally enamored by this group; it's the main reason why I actively use Instagram. Tons of backpackers, nomadic families and weekenders that regularly post incredibly inspiring content.

Recently I've begun seeking out and meeting some of these people in-person. No other service has supported connections like this for me. There's an honesty on Instagram: story telling, real life, often real-time that doesn't exist anywhere else.

Not that the content people choose to post isn't curated, but it seems to be less abstract. The form of expression that developed inside 140 characters is still pretty strange to me. Sharing news and articles designed for social media doesn't really give you an idea of who that person is, just like reblogging images doesn't give you any information about a person's actual life.

Having grown up around these folks, I'm a little bit less enamored. But I'm hardly one to reject them outright. I just don't feel the romance the way I did before I knew the particulars.

If you're specifically talking about riding freight trains and camping under bridges (like Kevin Russ and Molly Steele in the article do sometimes) then I can understand. However, there is far more variety in these lifestyles than you or I even know.

Here are a few examples of one's I've personally met:

Family of 5 and a cat living full-time in an Airstream since '08. It's not novelty, it's sustainable and truly enjoyable for them.

Guy and his dog drive out of the city Friday nights as far as they can muster. Wake up with the sunrise, hike all day, camp overnight, wake up with the sunrise, hike all day, back home in time for work Monday morning. There's an incredible amount of drive keeping him active most weekends – passion for the outdoors – and he's going full-time as soon as possible.

77 year old retiree has been living on the road in various motorhomes for the last 7 years — an evolution of his years backpacking and traveling between work. Loves the freedom, loves the open space, is going to keep going as long as his health allows.

If you're specifically talking about riding freight trains and camping under bridges

The whole gamut. Crustpunks, oogles, hippies, old timer hobos, dropouts, scumfucks, trainhoppers, wobblies, squatters, etc. Although my experience is America (US & Canada), I know it's different elsewhere.

It's not bad. I just don't think it's quite so romantic. It just is.

Enjoying our exchange. Admittedly risking taking the back-and-forth too far, but:

Entrepreneurs, ninja coders, CTOs, sysadmins, dorm startups, progressive syntaxes, ergonomic chairs.

It's not bad, just not as romantic as the freedom to travel.

Oh, no, I would argue that stuff is bad. I think startup culture is generally toxic, held together only by the exceedingly rare promise of success.

I used to find some romance in that. I don't know why, just did. Some crustie ate a pizza crust (no pun intended I guess) I threw in the trash once and I felt terrible.

> Family of 5 and a cat living full-time in an Airstream since '08

We have met them a few times. Awesome family though I have no idea how they do it. My wife and I live in the same size Airstream they have and I can't even imagine 3 kids in here. Not to mention trying to work.

It seems like /r/vagabond is getting the "15 minutes of fame" treatment - this was last week's version: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9403385

Check back in August or so to see if a moral panic has erupted about the dangers of young people hopping trains, or if Britt has become the new Burning Man :-)

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