ROOTLESS JOURNEYS PART I: SURVIVING WITHOUT A CLUE

root·less (rūt'lĭs, rʊt'-) wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community.

--The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition .

Stepping off a bus in the heart of Israel is not the same as stepping of a bus in. . .let's say Milwaukee. I lived in the mid-west most of my life so I knew what to expect in most towns. But in August of 1988, Israel was a heart beat away from a massive coronary.

I had no clue what kind of conflict was going on there. Intifada? The occupied Territories? The PLO? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict? This was long before the ubiquitous presents of the Internet. I was so blissfully ignorant of what was going on there, when I did get off the bus from Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv proper I was quite astonished when I saw the guns. Lots and lots of them. I don't know if I ever saw a M-16 up close until that moment.

Still, guns were nothing compared to the bomb scares that constantly followed me each and every time I traveled by bus throughout Israel. My rational mind thought this was totally insane way to live. But as the months rolled along, it because just one of the many fascinating things you live through daily.

In the late 1980's, the Bedouins still appeared like the nomads they are famed to be. I often encountered them in the deserts, scavenging about for wood, many still wearing traditional black robes, but with one difference. Cars and trucks.

If you stopped in Beersheva to the Bedouin Market, you couldn't miss all the trucks and cars parked in the sand. It looked like the Bedouins brought their entire families to the market. Here before me was a historic people- thousands of years of history. The Bedouins were the original rootless travelers.

Even today, with most of the ancient nomadic life for the Bedouins is gone, I still have a romantic notions of such journeys, and perhaps ultimately that was my mistake. The Bedouins had the comfort of their traditional ways and thousands of years of acquired knowledge.

I had no such thing, which brings me to this:

Looking back there can be realistic assessment of what I did wrong: a lack of proper preparation. I do not regret the places I have been to, but because of my total disregard for monetizing my adventure, I caused myself some needless problems.

One of the great features of a place like Israel is the great number and affordability of hostels in that country. From the desert city of Beersheva to the hollowed earth of Jerusalem, there was always a cheap place for a back packer to stay. Not so easily said in the United States.

I did, however, have the foresight to print up a rough itinerary of possibilities, including detailed maps. All the arrows were pointing south, I was drawn to warm weather. And all the areas I plan to cover were tourist hot spots. Virgina Beach, Myrtle Beach, Miami and Hollywood beach, the Florida Keys, and of course New Orleans. It may go without saying, unless you are willing to fork over quite a bit for a one night stay at a hotel, your pickings may be small.

Perhaps what saved much of my hardships was my dome tent. It was basically an afterthought. It had been a going away present from my sister. I never thought I might even use it. Oh, boy was I wrong.

What is a dome tent?- A light weight pop up collapsible tent made usually of nylon taffeta. Aluminum or fiberglass poles and needs no stakes to erect. Looks much like an igloo.

T.Y. Park: Also known as Topeekeegee-Yugnee Park: Named after Seminole Indian words meaning “gathering place.”

If you were to wander into T.Y. Park and found yourself in the middle of it, you just might be able to image what Florida once looked like before it was so over-developed. It is well maintained and clean, just very, very small. If you look closely at the golf courses that dot Hollywood, Florida you will notice one thing. They are bigger then any park I ever say there. T.Y. had nice shady grass for tent set ups that ran me about $15 a day.(considering what the alternative was, it was a good deal.)

Update: As of March, 2009. This no longer is available: you can pitch a tent on the AV sites for $40(non-resident).

Now if you really have a rootless soul in you, it can not hurt to be practical. If you know your destination, but not the route, fine. The destination may cost you more then you imagined it could. A few things I learn about Florida that basically made me finally leave.

--Compare the average housing rent with rent in other parts of the country.

--Car insurance requirements: Some vary quite a bit from State to State. It may be an unpleasant surprise when you see what those requirements are.

--Job market: can it sustain you when it comes time for rent? Can you afford rent with a local job?

--Atmospherics: do you feel like things are being build around you without end? Do you like the feeling,when you drive, you are living in a perpetual fear of being classified as roadkill?

--Weather: Two seasons V.S. four seasons. Which do you prefer? Do you like 125 mph winds, and having your car land in your living room?

--Crime: Do you mind Meth, crack, pot, and fake gold jewelry, gang violence. Oh, and insurance fraud.

Good luck to you on your own travel-bound journey, rootless or otherwise.

--Eltonto

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain