It seems being a vagabond is no longer in style. Actually, I’m not sure you can even be a vagabond anymore. According to Syd’s dad, Jim, he and his friend were arrested in the 1970s for being vagabonds (well, vagrants actually but they’re pretty much the same thing). Apparently at that point you were considered a vagrant if you had less than $20 to your name (now I think that just makes you part of the 99%). Sticking to the 1970 definition, I am definitely a vagrant/vagabond since I currently have negative money (owe more than I have) and have a tendency to “wander place to place”. But I’ve decided being a vagabond is pretty cool!

This past week has been a perfect example. About a month ago when I decided to attend the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA I immediately pulled up My Friend Map on facebook to figure out who I knew in the area. I came up with a couple of friends including Niall who I had met in Patagonia while I was traveling there this past February. I emailed Niall to find out if he would be around while I was in the area so I could see him. Long story short, he ended up offering me a place to stay both before and after the race and let me borrow a car for the weekend which saved me a huge amount of money.

The best part though was that I got to hang out with Niall, his wife, Sheila, and their two boys, Aiden and Shane. We went out in San Francisco, I got to watch one of Aiden’s baseball games, got to explore the Silicon Valley and got to know the whole family. This likely would never have happened if I hadn’t decided to see who I knew in the area instead of forking over a couple hundred dollars to rent a car and get a hotel in Monterey. And now I’ll definitely go visit them anytime I’m in the area.

Another great part about being a vagabond is meeting new people. As part of my quest to save money during this trip, I got introduced to Shane through some mutual friends and stayed with him and his daughter in their RV at the Sea Otter Classic. It was great getting to know them and I met a bunch of the AZ DEVO racers while hanging out at the RV. I’m looking forward to seeing all of them at other races so we can hang out again.

I also got connected to Dick and Thomas while looking for a ride from the Bay area to Prescott, AZ for the Whiskey Off-Road. Once again, had I not been looking for a ride I probably wouldn’t have met them. Turns out they are super cool guys and I’m looking forward to seeing them at races around the US!

So it turns out that being a vagabond is a blast. You get to meet cool new people and hang out with people you already know. And save money! Who wouldn’t want to be a vagabond?

My current vagabonding itinerary