Best products from r/vagabond

Hopping trains or hitchhiking with a computer? I got this!
____

When it comes to a laptop, and you're looking for cheap, portable, and light, I highly, highly recommend you get a NETBOOKS, not a LAPTOP/NOTEBOOK, and here's 3 reasons why:

SSD: Most netbooks come with SSD (Solid State Drives), which are CRITICAL when it comes to living on the road. Solid State Drives can take a bump or a drop without losing all of your data, whereas regular laptops with standard hard-drives will NOT survive in a backpack. Don't even try, you'll be wasting you time and it likely won't survive the first 30 days.

Size/Weight: Netbooks are usually HALF as light as normal laptops, and half the size. Great for slipping into a backpack, yet much better than a smartphone for browsing the web, typing long messages, watching movies, etc.

Battery Life: Most netbooks use less resources than traditional laptops, which means they often have nearly twice the battery life. This is certainly helpful for a traveler that doesn't have steady access to electricity on a daily basis.

_____

Just to get you started in shopping around, I'd recommend checking out this model: https://www.amazon.com/HP-Stream-13-c291nr-Signature-Laptop/dp/B01D93UHZW/ref=sr_1_14?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1478211853&sr=1-14&keywords=hp+netbook+ssd

That netbook should suit most of your purposes: 13 inches is slightly bigger than most other netbooks, but much smaller than most traditional laptops. This makes it a great balance between the netbook and laptop worlds, while still maintaining all the pros of other netbooks: Cheap, light, and great battery life.

It's also 3 lb's, which is slightly heavier than most smaller netbooks, but HALF as light as traditional laptops. Perfect size for sliding into a backpack, and light enough for a hard hike.

It also comes with a 2gb processor and 2gb ram, which is plenty fast enough for 99.9999% of travelers need.

Also checkout some of the netbooks made by Acer and Asus, you might like them as well. Most are under $300, and you can even get lighter models such as an 8-inch or 10-inch. Acer Inspire is a great model, but I honestly find the HP models to be more durable for surviving in a backpack.
____

IMPORTANT Sidenotes/Warning:

1. When searching for netbooks, do NOT get the "Chromebook" editions. Most of your data will be going to an online "cloud" service, and you often have to pay for it. Trust me, avoid the Chromebooks.
   
   
2. Back-up your netbook with an Ubuntu operating system. Ubuntu is EXCELLENT for netbooks, it's completely free, and it uses way less resources than Windows. For you, this means two things: Faster laptop performance, and LONGER battery life! It's a win/win. Unless you're a hard-core gamer or a microsoft developer that requires certain Windows software, Ubuntu is perfect for the Vagabond lifestyle and all your computing needs.
   
   

Paper work: Passport, driver's license, social security card, innoculation record and shots for any country you might go to, car insurance card.

Do you own the car outright or are you making payments on it? Either pay off the car or sell it and pay off the note. Vans are roomier. Do you own the car or is it in someone else's name? Fix that. Download the owner's manual and read it. Buy a copy of Chilton's repair manual for your vehicle and watch youtube videos of common repairs for your specific vehicle. Acquire simple tools, learn to change your own oil and service common items. Know what major repairs are likely to cost.

Get a 5 gallon gas jug but carry it empty.
Get jumper cables, 12 volt tire pump or a jump box. A tire plug kit.

Get spare bulbs for all your lights from Wal-mart or Autozone where they are cheap. Check all your lights every evening. Don't give a cop a reason to pull you over. Make sure you have a full size spare tire and rim. The mini-donut tires included as spare tires in some models are dangerous. Walk around you car and look at all the tires everytime you get in it. A low tire can be easily fixed. A high speed blow out destroys the tire and sometimes more.

A five gallon blue jug of water will take you through some very dry places.

A light weight gas canister stove. These are useful in areas like California that prohibit ground fires and other types of stoves during most seasons.

Dumpster dive.

Learn to cook and bake. Learn to cook and bake over a campfire. You will be in control of the ingredients of your food and people who can cook are seldom lonely.

Download some apps for your smart phone. Gas Buddy, Waze, Google maps, Google earth, Weather app, Duolingo, Google Translate, Olio, Fast food apps, Pilot/FlyingJ, 7-11, Guitar Tuner, Couchsurfing, Hostelworld, Campendium, Boondocking, FreeRoam, Toilet finder, Free WiFi Password and similar, free books, star chart.

Make effort to study Spanish and Canadian French if you plan to go there.

Look at coolworks.com and see whats available. You can make money with Uber, Lyft, Uber eats, Postmates, Doordash, Grubhub, or pizza & Chinese food deliveries.

Sign up with all the national temporary employment agencies, work all the short term assignments and ask that your information be forwarded to the next city.

Sign up to donate blood plasma. If there are several in the area choose the one that pays better.

Join a cheap national gym so you can work out and shower regularly. Get in the best shape you can. You can do a lot more if you are not huffing and puffin for a breath.

Get a bike rack for you car. Find a bicycle and put a cargo rack and panniers on it. Ride the bike around the cities and save gas and wear on the vehicle. You will have a lot more contact with people doing that. Chain and lock for your bike to keep it yours.

The most expensive thing to get into is addictions: gambling, drugs, alcohol, porn, indiscriminate sex, tobacco. Money evaporates quickly when you let these things control your actions.

Get high on sunrises and sunsets. Feel the exhilaration of standing under a cold water fall. Soak in a natural hot spring. Best feelings ever and cost almost nothing.

While the popular opinion on this sub is to get a more experienced traveler to teach you, if you really do your research about it, I mean really be invested to reading up on the subject, as long as you're careful you can do it. I would suggest the book Freight Hopping in North America by Duffy LittleJohn. That book will teach you everything you need to know. I don't know how much time you have before you need to leave, but I would take some time to read that book and other things online if you aren't able to find someone to go with you. Either way, good luck on your travels, freight hopping is a beautiful thing!

edit: [book link] (https://www.amazon.com/Hopping-Freight-Trains-America-Littlejohn/dp/094462734X)

/u/Travmhid gave some pretty good advice. Tarp and hammock isn't a bad rig. 3 season sleeping bag is a tough haul though, and a tarp + hammock is going to take up the same amount of space as a 2man if it's inside your pack.

If you're still making money, I highly recommend a Army Bivy Cover: https://www.amazon.com/Woodland-Camouflage-Waterproof-Bivy-Cover/dp/B008JXV2PM They are pretty expensive, but you can sometimes find them at surplus stores for 30-40 bucks. Very light, smaller than a tarp, and they'll keep you dry. They have a condensation problem, but once you get used to them, they're great.

Bivy, sleeping pad, and wool blanket are what I used to use. The camping pads are good, but a little inflexible. Try to get egg crate foam instead. Being able to just roll everything up when you crawl out of bed, and your sleeping gear always being in a waterproof container is a major time saver. Plus you don't have to worry about creepy crawlies at night. (Less of an issue on the east coast than in the desert.) Hammocks are nice, but unless you have an underquilt they get really cold even on moderately warm nights. You'll also wake up to go to the bathroom less in the middle of the night.

Sleeping aside, you should really look at what's in your pack that you don't need. Hucksta posted his kit a while back, and it's pretty spartan. Remember, you'll be spending most of your time within walking distance of a city unless you're train hopping. You don't need a water filter, shit tons of rope, full kitchen set, etc. Rain gear, sleep system, multitool, few lighters, fork, can opener, basic first aid, sharpie, smartphone, flashlight, hygiene. Anything else is dead weight, or only provides comfort/convenience.

The real problem with finding a mentor is finding one who is sufficiently knowledgeable and mature. There are a lot of people hopping trains, but many of them are not very knowledgeable about what's going on.

Start by buying and reading Duffy Littlejohn's book, Hopping Freight Trains in America, about four or five times. You can get it on Amazon for $13.85. Littlejohn sugar-coats trainhopping too much, IMHO, but the information in that book is extremely valuable. He's trying to sell books. Take that into account.

I met Littlejohn once, at the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa. He is an attorney, but he is also a very experienced and accomplished train hopper. He knows what he's talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/Hopping-Freight-Trains-America-Littlejohn/dp/094462734X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506345308&sr=8-1&keywords=hopping+freight+trains+in+america

I learned everything I know about the riding the rails on my own, through research and some help from member of STP. You'll learn as you go, especially through your "mistakes" along the way. You might be able to find a road dog to teach you the ropes once you're on the road but you'll probably never find one online. With that said, always keep people at arms length.

A decent starting point is Hopping Freight Trains in America by Duffy Littlejohn. It helped me quite a bit but take it with a grain of salt. Railroad maps are easy to read and are invaluable on the road. A CCG is nice to have too if you can find one.

Not sure if this has been posted, but I found this book to be one of tremendous inspiration for my travels.

https://www.amazon.com/BigBlue-Charger-Digital-Waterproof-Foldable/dp/B071G4CQSR I use this and it works like a champ

This book got me out of the states for a year. Very practical as well

https://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Uncommon-Guide-Long-Term-Travel/dp/0812992180