[blackglasses]

Not a troll thread. For anyone who has seen the movie, he lives under the radar in cheap hotels paying cash with no phone. I feel like in this society that is the only freedom. Any tips on amounts of money I need or just ideas to get completely off the grid within the next few years

[WestIndianArchie]

You should read the books.
He works blue collar jobs that pay cash, in essence, he's an undocumented Mexican laborer.

Having personally gone dark for a bit (this summer actually)
- weekly hotels are almost always full of unsavory types (and most of them stay up late at night drinking cheap beer)
- weekly hotels get expensive
- hotels without kitchens push up your food bill
- eating out all the time, is both expensive and unhealthy
- guys that use their bodies for work, get injured and burn out
- health care is the drug store and walk in clinics, and emergency rooms.
- bus travel (he only goes by buys) is a tedious way to travel

In the books, the only clothes he has, are the ones on his back. So he buys clothes at thrift stores. You start to understand the value of good clothes, access to laundry, and a place to store clothes that you're not wearing very quickly.

It's only cool and romantic in the movies.

Unless you prefer a life of uncertainty and unpredictability...

WIA

[Moma]

I love the books (Lee Child).

[Hotwheels]

Quote:

weekly hotels are almost always full of unsavory types (and most of them stay up late at night drinking cheap beer)

When I was working in Rockford a while back we had to step over a passed out broad laying the in the hallway at 2AM.

Days Inn for those wondering.

Fuck it. Worked out to 22.50 a night when paying by the month.

I don't always stay at nice places when working as it all comes off the bottom line.

[relo]

Hotel I'm staying at now is 300$ a month.

I just bought a 20$ stove heater thing for food. Costs 10 fkin bucks to wash a pair of clothe so I just buy new at goodwill across street, 2$ per shirt/ jeans.

[megatron]

(01-07-2013 10:00 PM)relo Wrote:  

Hotel I'm staying at now is 300$ a month.

I just bought a 20$ stove heater thing for food. Costs 10 fkin bucks to wash a pair of clothe so I just buy new at goodwill across street, 2$ per shirt/ jeans.

300? Sweetass deal. Is this in the states? Where?

[reaper23]

going jack reacher also requires a steady stream of passive income.

thats maybe the biggest hurdle

[Dulceácido]

Unless you are wanted for a crime or some sort of legal settlement that you are trying to avoid, what is the advantage to doing this?

[WestIndianArchie]

(01-09-2013 08:06 AM)Dulceácido Wrote:  

Unless you are wanted for a crime or some sort of legal settlement that you are trying to avoid, what is the advantage to doing this?

Reacher makes it look cool in the Movie. Go and come as you please. Show up, do some damage, get back on the bus. Imagine being able to drop in to some new locale, game so local chicks, bang em, and leave town on a Monday morning to repeat 80 miles away in some new environment. Recreational Ronin (naughty nomad has already been taken)

Millions of people are transient workers. It isn't nearly so glamorous, especially in these tough economic times.

WIA

[Dulceácido]

(01-09-2013 08:37 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  

(01-09-2013 08:06 AM)Dulceácido Wrote:  

Unless you are wanted for a crime or some sort of legal settlement that you are trying to avoid, what is the advantage to doing this?

Reacher makes it look cool in the Movie. Go and come as you please. Show up, do some damage, get back on the bus. Imagine being able to drop in to some new locale, game so local chicks, bang em, and leave town on a Monday morning to repeat 80 miles away in some new environment. Recreational Ronin (naughty nomad has already been taken)

Millions of people are transient workers. It isn't nearly so glamorous, especially in these tough economic times.

WIA

Hmmm... I guess I'd have to see the movie. It doesn't sound appealing living in shyte hotels, eating shyte food, and wearing clothes from the thrift store--unless, of course, I have a mob hit team looking for me or something. Then you do what you have to do. I mean, you could run the same game on chicks living in 5-stars and flying from location to location... Why is the dude "off the grid" in the books/movie? Just felt like going anon?

[JohnKreese]

Part of the deal, especially in regards to the no phone/technology is that most of the books take place in between the late 80s and mid 90s (at the latest). Not having a phone, being "off the grid" was a lot easier/more socially acceptable without the kinds of devices that we now use to keep track of other people and how people get a hold of us.

[relo]

(01-07-2013 10:55 PM)megatron Wrote:  

(01-07-2013 10:00 PM)relo Wrote:  

Hotel I'm staying at now is 300$ a month.

I just bought a 20$ stove heater thing for food. Costs 10 fkin bucks to wash a pair of clothe so I just buy new at goodwill across street, 2$ per shirt/ jeans.

300? Sweetass deal. Is this in the states? Where?

Cedar falls Iowa. Nice spot to game, 3 large cities all very close.

There are 3 bars and a club within 5 min walking distance.

But yeah its a great way to save money. My living expenses are 10k A year so I can take a lot of time off work to game(I'm new to it).

Whenever a girl asks about living in a hotel I just tell her a cool dhv story about a guy burning my house down.

[Hotwheels]

Cedar Falls=Northern Iowa U

Game on playah

[flyfreshandyoung]

@relo

I can definitely see you pulling that off in cf, that place is so cheap to live in I basically got by on plasma donation. I'll be up there MLK weekend, shoot me a PM if you want, I'll be tearing up main st.

[worldwidetraveler]

I haven't read this yet but this may be of interest if you want more privacy.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Invisible-E...0312319061

[Hotwheels]

Just watched the movie last night.

I liked it a lot, so may pick up the books.

Kinda upset how he wasted that 1970 Chevelle SS though...

[DiorHomme]

I've read some Frank Ahearn books.

Even he admits, it's nearly impossible in the US. The government has been collecting data on you your entire life and that's not going to change anytime soon. The most you can do is remove yourself from all public "pay to people search" websites, start using cash or prepaid cash cards, set up all your checking accounts in the name of an LLC, prepaid phone, and be self-employed. Use fake name even when ordering a pizza, although you'll probably forget.

Basically advises you to start over in New Zealand never return to the US.

[JackDavey]

I haven't seen the movie, but I've done something similar. I'll just note a couple things here.

First, travelling by bus, in addition to being one of the worst ways to travel (although I've gamed chicks and once got an under-the-blanket handy on Greyhound), is no longer anonymous. You generally need to show ID to get a bus ticket these days. Many bus stations have mandatory searches, baggage inspection, ID inspection, K9 on site, etc.

Second, cash jobs are simply not abundant. You can get them, but not reliably, especially if you're new in town. They don't pay well, and neither do temp jobs that pay by check. Labor Ready is a company that provides unskilled day labor. I've used them for work all over the country. The pay sucks. If you work hard and the client isn't an asshole (which they often are), you can get hired on directly, but this in itself is a breach of contract. Of course, you need ID to get these jobs, and the agency will send you a W-2. You need either a bank account or an ID to cash the check usually.

In sum, it can be done, but even the approximation I achieved was logistically very difficult. Mostly I lived in tents, or just a bedroll, rather than motels, because the money just doesn't flow like that with that lifestyle. Living in tents or a bedroll is itself against the law almost everywhere, so you have the additional hassle of police avoidance if you go that route. On the other hand, it took creditors 10 years to find me, and they only did so because I finally settled down and got a regular job.

[BigDonDickDangler]

(01-07-2013 10:00 PM)relo Wrote:  

Costs 10 fkin bucks to wash a pair of clothe so I just buy new at goodwill across street, 2$ per shirt/ jeans.

Do you wash those? I wash new clothes; never seen that section at good will. If you dry clean it is that much a load maybe but I've washed stuff in the sink when I've been on the road and not packed enough underware. There are coin-operated laundromats everywhere in the US and abroad it is usually cheaper to get someone else to do the dirty work.

[Suits]

Except for my legal entry and exit from countries, I essentially live off the radar most of the time. This isn't a cool thing for me, just something I've developed into for convenience sake.

(10-17-2013 06:40 PM)DiorHomme Wrote:  

I've read some Frank Ahearn books.

Even he admits, it's nearly impossible in the US. The government has been collecting data on you your entire life and that's not going to change anytime soon. The most you can do is remove yourself from all public "pay to people search" websites, start using cash

Good.

Quote:

or prepaid cash cards,

Buy everything in a store and only carry cash. No electronic paper trail.

Quote:

set up all your checking accounts in the name of an LLC,

Unnecessary, just don't have a bank account.

Quote:

prepaid phone,

Good

Quote:

and be self-employed.

Very important.

Quote:

Use fake name even when ordering a pizza, although you'll probably forget.

Don't order pizza.

Quote:

Basically advises you to start over in New Zealand never return to the US.

I typically sublet a room from another renter, so I usually don't even sign anything, let alone have a credit check done on me.

I pay cash for everything.

I earn my money from private clients, cash only, no receipts or paper trail of any kind.

I cheat when I take trains in China, since that requires providing ID if you use any of the faster trains.

If I did all of this with the actual intention of staying under the radar, I could take buses and slower trains without using ID.

I use SIM cards I buy on the street. Never in my name.

Internet and other services not in my name. Either in the landlord's name or the actual primary renter's name.

[DiorHomme]

I see you're Canadian, so it's probably different there (I'd imagine not that different). Anyways, in the US.

Off the grid is possible to an extent, but there will always be state/local databases that can be publicly searched and that you can't be taken off (unless requested by a judge). Anyone who's gotten a speeding ticket can be searched in most states.

There's a lot of variance by state (even by county sometimes), but in most places you can find something on someone if you try hard enough.

It's simply not feasible for everyone to always rent, use fake names ordering pizza, always use cash, always use pre paid phones, have a car titled in someone else's name, etc. Even then, you aren't completely under the radar in the US. Overseas, possibly.

[Suits]

(10-17-2013 10:35 PM)DiorHomme Wrote:  

It's simply not feasible for everyone to always rent, use fake names ordering pizza, always use cash, always use pre paid phones, have a car titled in someone else's name, etc. Even then, you aren't completely under the radar in the US. Overseas, possibly.

Why not?

[eradicator]

(10-18-2013 05:40 AM)Suits Wrote:  

(10-17-2013 10:35 PM)DiorHomme Wrote:  

It's simply not feasible for everyone to always rent, use fake names ordering pizza, always use cash, always use pre paid phones, have a car titled in someone else's name, etc. Even then, you aren't completely under the radar in the US. Overseas, possibly.

Why not?

Just thinking theoretically here(I have no desire to go off the grid), how exactly are you going to have a car in someone elses name? You mean like a dead relative? Let's say you do that once, and it works then your car finally dies after 5 or 10 years.(depends on how old and what condition the car was when you got it)

But as you are now living with nothing but the clothes on your back, maybe in another state or another country, you don't have access to any one else to put the car's name in, you have to put the car in your own name, would you not?

I am harping on this because the DMV is one way the government has a record and paper trail on you. I assume you are also not going to get registered to vote or have any mailing address.

I assume you are also putting the insurance in your dead relative's name? correct?

And why are you doing all of this again?(assuming you haven't done anything wrong, don't owe anyone money and not in trouble with the law)? How exactly do you benefit from being off the grid?

[mental]

You can be deleted from the Internet for a hefty price of $129 per year or $209 for 2 years... Become a modern Jack Reacher today!

[Suits]

Why would you get a car? Isn't the whole point to minimize your possessions footprint and get around by bus, never airplanes?

Just live in a city with good public transportation. Big cities are easy to disappear into.

(10-18-2013 06:33 AM)master_thespian Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 05:40 AM)Suits Wrote:  

(10-17-2013 10:35 PM)DiorHomme Wrote:  

It's simply not feasible for everyone to always rent, use fake names ordering pizza, always use cash, always use pre paid phones, have a car titled in someone else's name, etc. Even then, you aren't completely under the radar in the US. Overseas, possibly.

Why not?

Just thinking theoretically here(I have no desire to go off the grid), how exactly are you going to have a car in someone elses name? You mean like a dead relative? Let's say you do that once, and it works then your car finally dies after 5 or 10 years.(depends on how old and what condition the car was when you got it)

But as you are now living with nothing but the clothes on your back, maybe in another state or another country, you don't have access to any one else to put the car's name in, you have to put the car in your own name, would you not?

I am harping on this because the DMV is one way the government has a record and paper trail on you. I assume you are also not going to get registered to vote or have any mailing address.

I assume you are also putting the insurance in your dead relative's name? correct?

And why are you doing all of this again?(assuming you haven't done anything wrong, don't owe anyone money and not in trouble with the law)? How exactly do you benefit from being off the grid?