I was going to put this in the Real World Traveling section but quickly noticed there that this was a list of contributions, by people who'd done the traveling, for the most part, and not a lot of stretching in parameter.
This is mostly just about me and my own issues besides, but I have travel at the front of my thoughts..

I've had a bit of a wake-up call recently..
Too small, too fragile for this place, I need to get out of here, I need to make a change or I am going to really lose my shit I fear. My ambition and private aspirations have been far, painfully far off base. I've something of a napoleon complex maybe. But suddenly, loud and clear, bang! I see it, I see that I am a sick man, or boy, or somewhere between and broken. Out of touch, incredibly out of touch with my own life. And swimming, all alone, through a wilderness of garbage and everything that will suck my blood.

I am brainstorming a place to go, for frail, ill-adjusted people such as myself, to go dedicate their time towards something simple, some place quiet, some place with food and water and a bed. If I can have just these three things, and just a few of my trivial possessions, I am golden. Well, at least for a while.
Maybe tell my counsellor I'm having "KILL!" thoughts so she'll turn me in to an institution, where I can eat for free.
Maybe spend my small savings on a flight to china. I'll work in a ricefield somewhere, study the language and sleep sound.
Thinking of heading up alaska way to fish and live on a boat.
Thinking I should go be a monk, or priest. Ensconced in smoke glass tinged half-light and incense, chanting, sexually broken but happy. Maybe I wouldn't entirely mind forsaking my own personal desires and aspirations for a bit of spiritual showbusiness. Not like I don't have to do something much like that every day anyway.
Maybe kill somebody and go live like a king in prison. Yeah, king for a day. and then meet my maker in a myriad of possible man to man scenarios...

Anyone here ever seen a commune, semi-religious institution or something on those lines along their travels?
Somewhere quiet, somewhere different. To heal, that doesn't involve money, or about trust more than money.



I'm out of ideas. Jumpstart my engine, quick! Mind like a steel trap, I need a new spring.
Any leads out there to share?

I was always interested in Zen Buddhist monasteries where you practice spiritual arts, contemplation, and silence while being housed and fed for a small fee or in return for working on the grounds or in the offices of the monastery. There are many throughout the world, Google is your friend in finding one that suits your fancy......A nice alternative to Christian monasticism.

This website has lists and contact numbers for eco-villages, communes, and spiritual communities throughout the world. Worth checking out.

http://www.ic.org/

Good luck in dropping out for a bit. It's an idea I have toyed with as well.

peace corps ?

WWOOF ?

Teach English in Asia ?

Kill somebody? that sounds like a cry for help, especially in light of recent events. Go work on an organic farm and live the simple life, you might even make friends and have fun. In any case there's nothing like sweat and dirt to keep you sane and grounded. There's really no need to move to China to accomplish that.

Go to the west coast in the fall with a pair of scissors, work your ass off then travel wherever your heart desires. Make sure to save enough money to get back next fall!

Agave
What recent events? The homicidal undertones come as small offshoot of warped sense of humor, nothing more than that.


I don't know if my 'semi-'religious wording was the right choice.
I am young and starving for experience, the urge to kill old ideal structures driving me for everything but peace, anywhere in the 300 leagues below heaven, to carve out my own silence, second-hand to none.

I like where No Knowing was going, but buddhism scares me. That website is something else though, will check.

Sccissors!!
What I need is a personal masseuse. And a drink, vodka or rum, and a pair of boxing gloves. Then I'll need to go nowhere, vacation will come to me.

In Seattle there are the crust punks. I laugh at their pretention, but secretly need to hitch a ride on one of their backs. Maybe I'll go find the right backpack and jump a train. A train to alaska! that sounds fun.

Agave
What recent events? The homicidal undertones come as small offshoot of warped sense of humor, nothing more than that.

Ahh, nothing much, a (young) guy just walked into a movie theatre a few days ago and mowed down 70 people. Not sure what the problem was, guess he was kinda frustrated with life but who knows. Your original post was before this even happened and I realize that people use the "kill" phrase pretty loosely. It's just that at the moment on a any public forum that word is going to be closely scrutinized, as well it should be. Words matter. Hell, I've been trying to stop cursing for the past several years and am getting nowhere .

Sure, a trip to Alaska sounds great, but I'm picking up some other flavors here. You sound like you sort of want to just disappear rather than become. This life is such a precious gift, Don't run from it. Give it the honor that it deserves. I'm not sure if many people realize what an incredible thing it is to be human. Hey, I'm an old codger and it's taken me so long to learn that simple lesson. When you take your journey, remember to take the inner journey too. Find that place of stillness. I think that is where the peace is your looking for. Take care thymamai and always remember to be nice to old folks .

Ah yes, that. Another headcount, another comrad down. a depraved, balls-half-dropped weakling lost in the dark, batshit lonely comrad.
..Curious to know how glammed up these kids get for their big spree. Do they dress it up or down? Lucky socks? Shaven, for the girls? No possibly not, life for a mind of that kind is too much jokish, no feeling anywhere to be found. More possibly full on cerial killing garb. i.e. boots and worn hoody w/ full spectrum of stink. More likely they are not very ceremonious at all, last ditch facebooking aside, which is a depressing thought. But that suits our society just perfect doesn't it. No mucking about, straight to business. Sex on the outside, reality sealed carefully within, too many questions asked but all corroded with sugar and impotent.

Words are precious, and whose voice calls them up, one by one. Your voice matters too, cherish it, and give it to the world. But like gold or medicine, in careful moderation.

If you are as old as you say, there is still then good chance that you will find some reason for amusement, in what lies implicitly behind words that dance rather than wallow. That what I am really looking for is nobody's business but my own, in some sense has already been found, and that it is in discussion like this one that we would prefer to be especially careful not to pass words where they aren't first called for. Words that may too easily seek and stick upon us rather than sustain and strengthen.

Thank you for your feedback, Agave.

Has anybody here, or let me rephrase.. are there any travelers around here that have done the WWOOFing thing? (wwoof.org)

Cool farms // communities to go work-trade is what I'm looking for atm. Wondering if anybody here could direct me to one preferably along the US pacific coast. Or even canada or mexico.

These sites require a fee to see contact info.

I'm afraid I can't help you find your destination, but I can relate to the urge you seem to have. It often seems like all this STUFF, things and peoples and responsibilities etc. etc. that I've burdened myself with, and all the endless effort required just to keep from losing all this STUFF, is just a huge vicious cycle that keeps me from making any real progress on the things that are really important. I am not a youngster anymore like you seem to be, after so many years of killing myself for this and not getting anywhere, simply jumping out of the hamster wheel and running wild seems very tempting sometimes.

In the midst of so much noise and harsh mouthed diction, health needs not met for more sensitive body types, one easily wanders and starves for love.

The headspace everyone around is stuck in is like a barren waste to me, not all so bad, but nothing to work with and which to heal this aching body.

I might make a new thread later if I can't find more on wwoofing here, if it feels appropriate.