Freight Train Hopping : Why I Do It

Okay so I dropped out of college when I was 19... I left sophomore year. Never fit in with anyone...hated studying for my classes...always looked at a different ways to make money.. Till I was fed up with it all..

I saw a documentary from Vice called thumbs up and fell in love with the idea of hitchhiking and seeing the country with just a few belongings...and so I told my parents and left.. They wanted to disown me as well as thought I wanted to commit suicide. This documentary has brought me a lot of joy and I highly recommend people watching it. It two asian guys who hitchhike and hop trains all across America. Super fascinating and they do a great job getting all the people that picked them up to share their own stories.

After 100s of rides... I met trainhoppers. They usually have dogs. They hop trains from city to city and panhandle to get by. So I lived like them. Eating out of trash cans...begging for change, playing music on the street, and of course hopping freight trains.

To give you an idea of what its like to be on a train I made a youtube video thats already got over 2,000 views. I embedded the video. This is what brings me joy! This video shows you my ride from Allentown to Harrisburg PA and I even go thru Hersheys Park! I got out at a sketchy part of the neighborhood but thank god it was daylight and it was not in the nighttime.. I even sing a mantra on the train called Shiva Shambo and it really depicts how happy I am on these trains. I also always watching birds fly and so this was my way to open up my wings 

Anyways, the ability to travel with no money, the historic scenery of the country, and just the feeling you get while doing it is the definitely a high.

Its also illegal and dangerous so I don't recommend this to anyone but as a free spirit it really suits my taste.

What makes you tick? What makes you feel good? What activity puts a smile on your face? These are the things we should be doing more of.

My first train hop was with a heroin junkie who had a dog he abused. We waited 4 days sleeping on gravel by the train yard. We had to panhandle for food during the long waits. Finally at 5 am on the 4th day a train came and we snuck through a hole that was cut out in the fence. He got on one and told me to find one quick before it starts moving. I was panicking. I got on a double stack intermodal which is what you will see in the video. My head against the steel, the cold sensation from laying on dirty rusty steel. I looked up at the stars and thought I was going to die. That was one of my best train rides ever.

After 20 hours or so we got off at a historic town called Sweetwater, Texas. Some good folks at a restaurants got us fries and beer. A lot of people took interest into what it is we are doing since we look dirty and are walking with our backpacks. They were fascinated by our lifestyles.

A social media account I now follow after stopping with the lifestyle for a while is StobetheHobo - he died about a year ago but he would make these amazing train hopping videos with his commentary and his piano arrangements in the background. This brings me a lot of joy seeing someone live so free.

Thanks for reading. Appreciate your time!