this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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How do you choose where you’re going next and how long to stay? Mostly weather? Social groups? Resources?
Edit: Also, how did you get into ham radio? That has always fascinated me.
On the whole, it's usually south to avoid the cold in winter, and then north to avoid the heat of summer. I have done a couple winters here in CO, but the Arctic blasts can be brutal when they happen.
Resources are pretty much the same in every city, meaning there are none. Every city is overwhelmed as far as resources are concerned. Anywhere you go is the same. They'll do an intake (so they can get paid), then tell you they're swamped with clients, out of funds, thank you for coming and have a nice day. For the most part, those "resources" are a waste of time.
As for other resources... Houston has public showers (75 cents) in most of their parks so that's a huge deal. Food prices play a factor, as well as transit. Cities that are popular homeless destinations (Miami, SoCal, San Fransisco and believe it or not Salt Lake City) are 100% no-go zones. The bigger the homeless population, the more a homeless person should avoid it. For me personally, it's less about the number of homeless people and more about the number of addicts. The former will leave you alone, the latter will cause problems
How long to stay depends on a few things. Weather is first, it can be life-threatening. If a city is "cracking down" on homeless (Most cities do every March, don't ask me why), it's also time to go. And if it's just not working out, time to move on.
Wherever you go, you have to keep in mind that it's temporary. Just like everything else.
I got in during the pandemic. There is a license test but once you get a study guide it isn't bad. I have a web page for new hams here: https://sites.google.com/view/ki5ona/new-hams?authuser=0
Very cool! Great website. I checked it out quickly, but have it bookmarked to go back to in depth when I have more time. Seems like I should work on learning the military alphabet first!
It's actually called ITU phonetics. The International Telegraph Union invented it, and the military, police, and ham radio operators still use it! It comes easy enough, especially after you're issued your FCC call sign.
Oh that’s super cool! Thanks for teaching me about that.