Cooking

Of course there is lots of food out there that doesnt need to be cooked to be consumed, but when cooking is either vital or just makes your meal taste that much better, having a method to cook your food comes in handy.

zipl0ck baggies seal heat in, and if you place it on say the dashboard of your car in the sun for a hour or two, your food will be piping hot and ready to eat in the military they actually cook food on the radiatior of a just recently driven humvee, i dont know if my radiator would cook my food, but some tin foil, and a few blocks of driving might do the trick.

most convienece stores and gas stations have microwaves. They are all over the place if you look for them.

If you can get away with it, build a fire. it will keep you warm, as well as cook your food. Trust me, sometimes you are goinng to want to overcook your food before you eat it. Especially if you swipe it off a table someplace.

friend..."It is easy to make a temporary stove out of tin cans. You can use anything from gleaned paper and small sticks to sterno, or candles to make heat. There are even small fold up stoves on http://www.sportsmanguide.com for under 20 bucks if you want something to have for a longer period of time, but tin cans are everywhere." - Judith756

friend..."Candle stoves are pretty easy. Take a large tin can or coffee can and poke a bunch of holes in the sides. Then nail three or four long nails through the bottom (so that the pointy ends are inside the can) and spear some long emergency candles onto them. Light the candles and place your bowl or pan or whatever on top of the can. The holes in the sides will provide the flames with oxygen. This takes a really long time to cook with, but it'll do in a pinch." - hellparadiso

Gas

No, not what beans give you. Gas. Its probably the most expensive thing you will need to find along the way.There used to be a method of collecting small amounts of gas from shut off hoses at local gas stations, (and probably still are in small towns) You just squeeze the pump, and out comes some excess gas that had been trapped in the pipes since it was shut off. I have tried this to no avail, but who knows.

Once in a while you can find gas, but be careful its not kerosene or something mixed with gas. I found a 5 gallon gas tank full once in a parking lot. Apparently someone put it down then drove off. More for me.

You can siphin gas, but this is technically stealing. So its up to your morals. You insert a tube preferrably plastic into anothers gas tank, and suck on it till gas starts spouting out. Put the tube in a bucket or your tank, and fill till both are equal. (got this from abbie hoffman, but have never tried it)

Apparently you can just ask people for gas. I haven't tried it yet, but soon i may have to, i heard from a friend all you have to do is approach people at gas stations tell them you are trying to get back to someplace, (insert sob story) and they will give you gas. Said he made a roundtrip cross country vacation out of free gas.

friend..."go to a chuch, say you ran out of gas down the street and you have no money. my church has special coins they give out for the gas station down the street, so that they know your only getting gas. try it.

hell, they will probally feed you too." - phortyzz

Im offerring rideshares all over the country. I call it my long distance taxi service. I base my destinations on where other people want to go, and make due when I get there. This saves me a ton on gas money as i make them pay for it, or most of it, i make new friends, they get where they need to go, and for cheeper than a bus train plane etc. and in better company. Try offering rideshares where you are headed. Not only does this save you money on gas but its better for the environment, by carpooling.

Where ive been so far, Where you are currently.

create your own visited states map

Hmm, lets see.

Ive been to... and it was...

Florida. Born and raised till i was 18, and wisked away by the military. Central Florida is mundane, perhaps im jaded due in part to havinng been born there. But other than a semi-tropical climate, old people dying like flies, and humidity that would put a pimple on Michael Jacksons plastic face, central florida is pretty dead. Daytona bch, famous for Nascar, and driving on the beach, is filthy, but i have a lot of fond memories there, some with my entire faimly some with my sister, and skipping school with her, some with my brother, whom i havent heard from in a long time. But wish he would find us again. Orlando with its flashey roller coasters, and water parks which would always clear out durring the frequent thunderstorms and we would stay behind and wait it out, and ride times were sliced, and we would run up and slide down faster than light. or pee in the lazy river. (you cant help it, they dont call it lazy river for nothing) South Florida, where my sister lives, is full of half naked women, turquoise beaches, 100,000$ cars, night clubs, and nothing that really interests me except wild iguanas and cuban anoles. St Augistine is old, and spanish, and the rest of florida is pretty much the same as GA

S.Korea. and it was eye opening, poor, cordial, and the people would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, even though they had nothing. The DMZ was a joke, like being in a movie from the 50's. I got spit on by a college student for being an American there, as they are not fond of being occupied, and Americans tend to look down upon Koreans, even mock them quite frequently. I spent a year in S. Korea, and it changed my life. I remember when i came back home American greed, and obesity really struck a nerve with me and i decided I wasnt goinng to be that type of person. I became anti-war, anti-corporation, anti- alot of things really. I suppose I was to some extent before, but not like this.

Georgia. With its laid back atmosphere, and front porch rocking chair townsfolk is wonderful. Syrupee sweet tea is drank like water, and the summer nights are filled with musky air, starry skys, and millions of critters sinnging the blues. I do love hot GA summer nights. Savannah is a great place. Atlanta, not so much.

South Carolina is heading backwords in time, with its rediculous ledgislature, (like how i spell redickulous ledgislature) plenty of segrigation, and stupid cops, and homophobia. The only reason i went to SC was to hang out with friends in the capitol which appropriately flew a rebal flag over the courthouse. I got frisked by a douschebag cop walking with the african americas at the MLK day parade, cause they thought i was gonna start some shit, wearing a peace sign. Go figure.

NC is beautiful, camped out in the Mts, on the blue ridge pkwy, saw a car drive over the cliff one foggy summer night, swam in the clear freezing white waters, visited the hippie comune bubble known as ashville, where everyone is a freak, and if yourew not, youre not welcome. I love the mts.

Pensylvania smells like cow farts, and pig farms, but its super green. everytime i go there the grass is the greenest i have ever seen, i think its all the manuer.

The virginias are prety much the same, west is a bit more yankee, regular is a bit more flat, and the cops in regular virginia are sticklers. Dont speed through there like i did and have to go to court. Its a pain in the ass. These two states are nestled in the middle of the appalachian trail, harpers ferry where john brown took slavery into his own bloody hands, is the centerpiece. Very laid back country here. Highly reccomended for people who love mts, and slow pace of life.

Maryland, and DC are fun to visit, but let someone who lives there drive. Christ, this is where the real New England starts, and the driving is intense. Snuck innto an organic consumers convention and purchased an overpriced book from some communistic union hobos at red emmas book cafe, went to the touristy places in dc in about 3 hours, so I didnt see much, ill have to go back, but only for an anti-war protest or something worth my time there. As my mom ensured me, if i decide to lobby congress about the ad voloreum tax, shes got a list of things i should lobby about in her mind as well.

NYC. Home of immigration, and roughly 9 million egotistical, backstabbing, trendy, poor driving, cracked out, divas. And tourists. which is the only thing ill ever be in nyc. Got my pocket knife confiscated at the ellis island ferry, rode the elevator to the top of the empire state building for free by pretending to be in the military, slept in my car in upper manhattan in 5th st, spent a day in the natural science museum, (everyone should do that) strolled around the metro museum of art, (another everyone should see) go tlost in lower manhattan several times looking for greenwich village, (never really found it) and starved thanks to millions of thrifty homeless people who ramshackled all the trash where i would have gotten some substanance. Visit nyc, but never drive there if you can avoid it. But i do love the subways, there is just something overbarringly romantic about nyc subways. Its my favorite thing about nyc.

Boston rules. There is no way to discribe that place. I want to live in boston, as long as it doesnt get cold, which it does, so i suppose ill never live there. Nothing but scully caps, free food, good looking women, top notch party schools, and dropkick murphies on the radio. Starbucks puts out free food all over boston, the nightlife is amazing, and drivinng was a breeze, (even if it was confusing, it was wayyy better than anywhere else in new england. Yeah i could live in boston.

Ohio. The football stadium in OSU is freaking huge!!! Like seats 100,000 people, and the students cant even get tickets. It was bizzarre, houses are stonewalled. people are fairly republican and close minded, not too informed, and the land is flat, and barron. But its the home of wendeys and there are white castles everywhere. Cleaveland was nice, small, but nice, and lots of parks, and kyackinng teams.

Chicago was a great city, tons of good food, supposidly if youre white you get more perks than if your black, but who knows. The gay district was campy, (over the top), and i hear the museums are awesome, im deffinately going back to chicago. (one of these days)

Philidelphia was big, and confusing, but it had its nitches. Chinatown was warm and welcoming, and i saw a great movie in a park in chinatown, there were tons of murals all over the city, perhaps to keep grafiitti down, but they were great.

Minnesota is different than anywhere i have ever been. Its cold im sure in the winter, but i imagine its nice, summer in minnesota, is full of ticks, which i had never seen before, and was kindof freaked out by, there were bald eagles everywhere, and skunks, and apparently moose. People are nice, and have funny accents, and there are wild christmas trees all over. Duluth is rich, and small, and minneapolis is fair. Its welcoming if you know how to navigate it, but its pretty nutral.

Iowa, nothing but green pastures, and wind farms. If you have never seen a wind farm check out iowa, its breathtaking, literally.

New orleans, ive never seen anything like this place. A mixture between 1950s europe, miami, and 1920s well, honestly, i dont think there is anything like it anywhere on earth. The people are just as friendly as can be, talk real twangy, always say hi, rarely honk at you if you stop on the road, the dumpster diving is good, you drive down one block of million dollar homes, and the next is delapitated ghetto, hurricane s destroyed already failing structures, women as big as semi trucks dance in the streets, there are more beads than leaves in tress well into oct. now where near mardi gras, the music has its own flavor, new orleans funky brass bands rule the night, and everyone loves them. Havent tried the food yet, but i cant wait!