It is the deep south, they've been trying to find ways to get slavery back for 200 years now...
I always found drag to be weird and "not my bag, baby!". But what's even weirder is a corrupt politician thinking he can tell citizens what they can wear, how much (or if any) makeup they can use, or who they can sleep with.
But hey, you can shoot people through closed doors in other states and use Texas as your escape route to Mexico as a fugitive -- Abbott won't extradite criminals so long as your heinous crime was committed in a blue state. Extraditions only happen for members of certain political parties...
Home made salsa is the best!!!
I do ham radio. Probably the coolest thing I've "made" is a setup where I can send email without the need for an internet connection on my end. I use a small laptop connected to a transceiver to send out high-frequency sounds (VARA) on very low power (5-10 watts) to towers around the world that will decode the signals, convert it to a regular email, and send it to the recipient (bob@overthere.com). Then reverse the process when I check for a reply. The whole setup fits in a small backpack and I can use a piece of speaker wire for the antenna. It's about as fast as dial-up used to be, but it works!
I've been there, and wouldn't want to live there. They work hard, insane hours and have one of the highest suicide rates on the planet.
But it still beats starving to death in North Korea and watching your kids die from malnutrition, zero internet access, etc.
It really is. But it also costs a lot.
I really wish I had the "ultimate algorithm" for everyone to find happiness. Not even joking. In my 52 years on this rock we call Earth, I still haven't found my own "ultimate algorithm". The rules change. The situation changes. People... Change.
My life never involved the white picket fence, nice house, beautiful wife, or kids. And the shit part is, when I was young -- I thought that was the ultimate weighing scale of life. Get all that or die. No room for inbetween. You're a failure if you don't succeed, blah blah blah.
None of that is true.
I once hopped in a car with a guy from Phoenix who "had it all". Nice house, his wife was trophy-level, he had 3 kids all going to college. Perfect life. Showed me photos of his house. Eight hours later he was yelling and screaming about how his two boys just smoke weed, his daughter only calls when she needs money, and his wife hasn't laid him in six months. Perfect life, huh?
I'm not saying to pack your bags, I'm not saying go get a home loan. I'm saying your life will be a different trail. Maybe you get married, maybe you don't. Maybe you end up rich, maybe you don't. And I really HATE to coin a phrase, but it really is about the journey.
Prepare for that as best you can. If you're in school, finish it. If you have a job, save.
What you don't realize is that you're already on your own trail. You just haven't realized it yet.
Just wait! Life actually gets worse!!!
I am making a joke but at the same time, I'm 52. I squeaked through the 70's and 80's with an alcoholic father who liked to beat up my mother and I. Once I turned 16, I left home. Mom committed suicide after I left.
Ended up doing some college, then computer programming after a stint in the Air Force. Spent my 20's pretty much dizzy as hell, I loved girls and pool and darts and bars. Spent my 30's teaching English in Asia. Had some fun and dangerous times over there, always research your destination country well before you commit to a job abroad.
I lost my passport in Cambodia, was finally medically evacuated from Cambodia via the US Embassy (I'm 5'9" and weighed 110 lbs, not good!) and was dropped off in L.A. in the middle of December with no money, no ID, and nowhere to go. I had just turned 40.
I spent the majority of my 40's hitchhiking the USA. California to Florida and back twice, then up to Monatana, Idaho, back down through Nevada and Utah twice, then AZ back to FL and finally started hanging out near the places I liked. Eventually that became Houston in the winter and Denver CO or Bozeman MT for summer. I got into house-sitting, I don't hitchhike anymore. I have clients primarily in Denver and Houston and friends all over.
Now I'm 52. Recently diagnosed with spinal stenosis, CES, PTSD and other health issues. It went by fast, although I would have said life moved at a snail's pace when I was a teenager.
You will have to find the motivation to survive whether there's music or not, that's a fact. Life does not come guaranteed with good tunes, although we'll both probably agree it should. Some people tell me I lived the wrong life. Others tell me it's interesting. And some of the drivers that picked me up while hitchhiking -- have told me it was beautiful.
Some rich people are bad. Some are good. Some poor people suck. Others are not. Take everyone at face value. Never lump them into groups. Never burn anyone, and never burn yourself. Watch your back. Hope my little rant helps. You have to find you. You have to decide where you'll go. You have to choose what is important, and what isn't.
And listen to this song regularly by Baz Luhrmann -- "Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now"
They get South Korean assistance (think welfare, housing, citizenship classes) in the beginning. But no joke, and look it up for yourself -- they still have a hard time integrating. The languages are different between the two countries. The culture is vastly different. Most are limited to unskilled labor, which pays very little. Many find it impossible to adjust. Some actually try to go back. Not because North Korea is better, but because they have no friends or family in the South.
I've been homeless for 13 years, so I'll give what advice I can --
First off, you will live through this.
I've had zero luck with shelters. They're dangerous. Theft, drugs, disease and violence. Maybe the shelter near you is better, and I hope so, but if not you'll need to have a backup plan.
Hotels will drain you dry. DO NOT spend your last dollar on one. In fact, leave now. You need your money for survival. A hotel will eat the dollars you need to survive.
Make sure you have one large duffel bag and a large backpack. You'll need a 1-man tent and sleeping bag (thermal). Keep those and your clothes in the large duffel. Keep toiletries, paperwork (ie: birth certificate), laptop, phone, chargers, etc in the backpack. Get a $15 pocket stove from a Walmart, a $6 small pot, and a $10 can of fuel so you can cook. Get on food stamps and Medicaid ASAP. Do not wait on that. You're homeless, you'll get both, and you'll need both. EBT is roughly $300 per month in food, and you can use it in all 50 states. Make a cardboard sign that says "HUNGRY" and keep it in your backpack. You'll get food and cash. You just need to learn where to fly it.
Winter is coming, and if you're in the DC area it's not a good thing. Cold, wind and rain/snow are your enemies. And DC is not exactly "homeless friendly". Winter is coming, you'll want to relocate. Don't get too caught up in the "red state vs. blue state" balogna. It's more like "can I survive this place for X amount of time?". I do Colorado for summer, and Houston for winter. For your situation, you'll need to find LGBTQ-friendly cities. Texas may sound hick and redneck and all things conservative, but Austin is about as San Fransisco-y as it gets. Shop around, travel around. Chase the weather.
Places to avoid is basically any place that's popular for homeless. Florida. Don't go there (it sucks for homeless people because there's just too many). Same with SoCal. Same with Frisco. Same with Salt Lake City (they're actually in the process of warehousing homeless people against their will, stay the hell away from that!).
I've usually hichhiked between locations, but I've also done the whole panhandle --> short bus ride to nearby town/city --> panhandle for the next leg. It involves swallowing your pride a little, but it's better than going hungry. And don't be afraid to put down "NEED TENT" or "NEED BUS TICKET". You'll be amazed at the help you get.
Stay away from other homeless you see. Visible homeless are almost always guaranteed to be on drugs and willing to steal your stuff. Avoid them like the plague. After a while, you'll learn which homeless people you can trust. And you won't meet those people on street corners.
Avoid downtown areas. Safest places to camp are almost always on the outskirts of cities that still have public transit. Camp out of sight and out of mind. Tent goes up after dark, get some sleep, and take it down at sunrise. Eventually, you find a spot where you can leave your tent up for a while and actually find work. It doesn't happen immediately but it does happen.
In all honesty, the entire Northeast and DC areas are the absolute worst places in the country to be homeless. If things don't start working out, plan an escape to somewhere (literally anywhere) else. No matter where you go, libraries are your friend for charging electronics and using wifi. Showering can be difficult depending on the city. In Phoenix there's municipal pools for just a few bucks that have showers. Houston's parks all have showers for 75 cents. Florida has beachside showers, but a massive homeless population and an overburdened social services system.
That's about all the help I can give right now. It's completely doable, so keep your head up. Keep a very open mind to traveling, it'll likely be your only way out. Feel free to ask if you have any questions, I've been doing this a while.
FYI -- I'm still waiting on my disability case. But in the 13 years I've been homeless I've managed a 735 FICO score, 4 major credit cards, a ham radio license, and I do house-sitting. Still camp when I need to. It's not as bad as it seems, and when I started I literally had nothing more than the pair of shorts I was wearing and a t-shirt. In December. I had been teaching English in Asia, lost my passport, and was repatriated. Started at zero. If this idiot can manage that, you'll do far better. Good luck!
There's tons of value! Venture capitalists and tech firms sinking their last dimes into circular debt... The government changing finance rules so investment firms can sink your 401k retirement funds into unregulated private equity firms so they can sink YOUR last dime into AI... Investment banks tranching bad AI debt and reselling it just like they did back in '08 with mortgage-backed securities... There's tons of value. You just need an Enron mindset...
It really does depend on location. If I'm in Houston, Central Park has a few buildings with 75-cent showers. Here in Denver the VA has an office off 35th and York with private showers. If I'm on the road, usually a creek or river. Worst case scenario -pay $12 at a truck stop.
What's even funnier is the Southern Poverty Law Center actually funded the Klan. Until they got caught (literally) in bed with them just a short time ago...