My Hand at Vagrancy

Last week I set a record. I slept in a different place every night for 6 nights in a row. I was going for a whole week, but I did a repeat on Tuesday. So why the vagrancy, you may ask? It all started last June when I got it in my head that I was completely disatisfied with my current situation and that chasing after a boy I hardly knew would be much more fulfilling. My lease ran out at the end of June, or rather, my period as a rent-paying squatter since I never signed a lease and wasn't legally supposed to live there (the apartment was capped at 2 by the City of Berkeley, and I made 3). I then moved back to Danville to my Uncle Mike and Aunt Shelley's house. I prepared to leave first by the end of June, then changed my date to the end of July, and then the middle of July, and then the end of September, and then indefinitely. In the midst of all the plan changing, I packed up all my things, sent half of my clothing home, and sold my car because I was "moving home". I came to the realization that I needed a change and that my current job wasn't cutting it as far as making me feel like I was accomplishing anything. I decided not to take the promotion they were offering me and find another job in the area. It was then that I was finally in the position to heed the prompting to go on a mission. It took quite a lot to humble me, but I was finally ready to listen. I already had my doctor's appointments set up, so I thought it would be a breeze to get my papers in quickly. They are in now, but it took a little longer than expected and since I put my availability date as essentially immediately, I am stuck in limbo, not knowing how much time I have left here. That leaves me in a weird situation. The bulk of my stuff is in Danville. I work in Pleasant Hill. The majority of my friends are in Berkeley. And I have no car to get between the three.

Therefore, I've become a vagrant, a mooch, and an avid public-transportation user. I've become fairly adjusted to this type of life-style. When I started, I often went hungry or made other people feed me. I grew weary of always packing an overnight bag, but I've become accustomed to always having a change of clothes on my back. Biking in the street no longer causes me anxiety, though biking up large hills still does. I have claimed one of my uncle's bikes as my own, nabbed a sleeping bag to cart around, and even taken all my clothes to stash in the basement of the Berkeley Institute building. I keep food at work for breakfast and lunch, so I'm fairly set. I used to have stuff across the US (CA, UT, and NC), but now I mostly just have stuff strewn across the Bay Area. It reminds me of my dad complaining about how my socks and snot rags were everywhere in the house. I just want everyone to be reminded of me always :) I try to rotate through my friends, so they don't get tired of me. I always find a place to sleep and have yet to sleep at the institute itself or in People's Park in Berkeley, but it's just a matter of time...

Next time...Life lessons learned as a vagrant...