Wanderlust During Childhood

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I've been taking stock of my life lately, and I clearly remember something from ages 8 thru 10: intense wanderlust. I felt a strong desire to wander from town to town, explore new places, take in sights and sounds everywhere I go, ride around in railroad boxcars and Greyhound buses, eat leftovers that pizza places and grocery stores discard, sleep in abandoned buildings in the winter and in forest preserves in the summer, use public libraries to read books related to my special interest, do odd jobs and day labor for money, rely on kindness of strangers (that I grossly overestimated as a kid), and live out of a large backpack that I carry around. TV shows and movies like "Stand By Me" or "The Goonies", the ones that romanticized such a lifestyle, only fueled the fire. Basically, I wanted live like a hobo, relying on existing infrastructure and my own intelligence

This was a far cry from my daily life: wake up, go to school, get disciplined by teachers, come home, get punished by parents for getting in trouble at school, attend swim lessons, do homework, go to bed, and lie awake for hours before falling asleep. Can you blame me for getting wanderlust in the first place, especially after seeing those movies?

The wanderlust manifested itself in me wandering the streets on my way home from school. (I went to a private school in grades K thru 4, and it didn't have school buses.) It was a small town, so it wasn't dangerous; many kids did the same thing. I loved to wander and explore different streets. Heck, one time, I even walked along train tracks to take a shortcut. I managed to stay safe, as far as cars are concerned. However, my wandering often got me into dangerous situations: many a time, I wandered into a neighborhood that belonged to a rival school district, where random kids would pick on me on the street. Or I'd run into bullies from my school, who'd offer to "show me something", and steer me into an industrial area with warehouses. I'm thankful beyond thankful that my parents didn't come home until around 4:00 or 4:30 (and my school got out at 3:30), so they never caught on to my wanderings and the trouble I got into, until...

One of my parents' colleagues saw me wandering around, and tipped them off. Needless to say, they were FURIOUS! They still had me walk home from school, but my privilege to wander had been forever revoked. On top of that, they tried to scare me with horror stories of abductions. However, since they also spent a lot of time telling me what a bad kid I am, I figured the abductors would quickly get sick of me and return me home. Plus, the notion of being driven from town to town only sounded appealing, since it would save me the travel expenses, plus I'd see a lot of new places. I also saw it as an opportunity to earn money, by doing simple skits like reciting poetry or dazzling audiences with my knowledge. So needless to say, the horror stories had zero effect, and I stuck to my parents' designated route strictly out of fear of punishment. On top of that, the loss of privilege to wander only intensified my desire to do what I described in the first paragraph, which remained forever out of reach.

* * * * * * * 20 YEARS LATER * * * * * * *
Long after I became a legal adult, my childhood wanderlust resurfaced. And I found an amazing outlet for it: solo cruising. That's right: I went on cruises by myself. It was JUST LIKE the wandering I desired as a kid. One, I actually had to fly myself to Florida to get to the cruise port, and stay in a hotel (a new place) the night before my cruise. Two, my ship took me to different ports, where I got to explore new places (via shore excursions), and take in new sights and sounds. Three, I was able to wow people with my stories, like how I flew a small plane or learned to dance merengue. I even got to practice my Spanish with store workers and security officers in foreign ports. All while relying on existing infrastructure and my own intelligence. At the same time, with no requirement to compromise with even one person, because hey, I came on the cruise alone (but met lots of new people). And definitely way safer than living as a hobo kid. Come to think of it, I wouldn't have a good life as a hobo adult, either, due to lacking physical strength and social cunning needed for such a lifestyle.

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Has anyone else on here experienced the same wanderlust when they were little? How did it manifest itself? Were you able to indulge as a kid? Did you find an outlet as an adult? I'm more interested in hearing from guys/men than girls/women, since wanderlust is more common among the male gender, plus their experiences would be closer to mine. But I'm open to all input.

Last edited by Aspie1 on 09 Mar 2014, 3:36 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I just saw how they are trying to monitor Autistic kids electronically for this reason (I think especially since the kid in NY died). It reminded me of how when I was a kid I would crawl out my window in the middle of the night and go running all over the neighborhood. My poor parents never knew what to do with me, I may as well have been an alien to them for sure.

I also used to skip school and go to the library. I was always very well read, way above my level (but still can't do math for s**t), but I flunked all of grades of elementary school and they just kept moving me up me despite that because I got the high grades on the yearly standardized tests. I think they thought I was hopeless and would never be able to function normally so just pass me - this was in the 70s.

I grew up on a very pretty very social family, any kind of laying around and reading was considered lazy since I was flunking school all the time.

I wandered around a lot as a kid and still have strong wanderlust.

I was supervised much too closely to ever have gone wandering the way you described at 8-10 years of age! What I used to do as a child is wander away from where I was supposed to be. For example when we were all on the field to play baseball in gym class and I was supposed to stand on a base I would just start wandering away from the game or when I was in class but the teacher would come and get me soon enough. When I was with my family at Sesame Street Live, a musical, I just wandered away from my seat and around in the lobby until my mum and grandma came and collected me, all frantic because they couldn't find me. I did that in movie theatres too if my mum took her eyes off of me for a minute but because I was so "out of it" and "in my own world"<my mum's words < as a child ,my family was generally over-protective of me. My mum used to have nightmares of me just wandering out in front of a car , not paying any attention and getting run over.

Interesting.That might actually be a good idea for some kids. It might save lives.

Yes this was totally me as a kid! I wanted to live as a hobo in the woods and hopping trains just wandering all over the place. I have always loved movies that showed kids wandering around and traveling on their own. Yeah Stand by Me was one of my favorites, also The Journey of Natty Gann. And a more recent movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, which is based on a true story.

I did a lot of wandering around in the woods as a kid, at home and anytime we went camping in the mountains. That was pretty much the only outlet I had for it. I would have liked to wander around by myself in towns but I was never allowed to do that.

For years I thought about running away and just living on the street somewhere. One time when I was a teenager I tried to leave but my grandparents picked me up and brought me back home. I gave up on the idea after that. I finally realized that being female, it would be too dangerous.

I still think about wanting to live out in the woods, even though I know I would hate it, I am much too fussy about my food, my clothes, my physical comfort. But I like the idea of being completely free to roam, untethered to anything. I feel very much at odds with myself because part of me wants that, but I am very deeply rooted to one place and having my environment a certain way.

I like jobs that involve travel. I can't stand to be hemmed up in the same place with other people for too long. I was okay when I worked in an office by myself, because I could let my mind wander while I was working. I like staying at home by myself. But if I can't be closed up somewhere by myself I usually need to be on the move.

I like to wander around driving. Before gas prices got so high, I used to love just driving around, especially to remote places in the country or in the mountains. Then I might get out and explore on foot. I have lots of dreams about driving around like that and about exploring places.

I used to wander by myself in the woods near my house when I was a kid. It was my favorite thing to do.
I don't know if my parents were aware of it.

"wanderlust", Interesting word, I'd never heard of it until now. It kinda describes my life as a kid. I grew up in the forests of north Idaho and spent most of my life roaming these places. I would climb the trees and walk for miles everyday. I built 4 tree houses (1 at home and the other 3 out in the forest) and I would spend the night in them all the time. I would sleep in the one at home on school nights and go to the other ones on days off. My mother didn't care what I did with my time after school and with hundreds of square miles of forest to go play in. It was the best adventure and solitude I could get.

BTW: Taking a solo cruse. I'll have to try that. Got any suggestions?

I always liked seeing new places and once in my early teens was given by my parents a bus fare for a day out around Kent; I went around a lot of places I'd never seen before and, in the years that followed, often did this. Later on as an older child and even later as a young adult I got into walking and would often walk around the several rural footpaths where I lived. I must've been around 13yo when my parents decided it was safe for me to go out a lot by myself.

Later on as an adult I got into walking and would often walk around the several country footpaths or cycle around urban areas to places I had never been, especially if there was any interesting industrial archaeology to ogle; I would combine this with my love of cats and go all over England visiting cat shows; even later I would walk the canal banks of London.

Now I do a lot of walking and it's not just for the exercise; I love seeing new places and there are often new things to see around the river and marina where I live. It's great for the thinking and for solitude; though at other times, I wish I had someone to share the experience with.

Yes, definitely. I had a very good experience on Carnival Cruise Line. Twice, actually. It gave me just the right wanderlust fix that I desired as a child. First of all, I had to get on a plane and stay in a hotel before even reaching the ship. Two, the ship did the logistics of the wandering for me, leaving me free to enjoy the sights and sounds, met new people to share fun stories with, and enjoy the ever-so-soothing movement of the ship. All of the good parts of a wandering lifestyle I desired as a kid, none of the bad.

Speaking of movement, the gentle rocking and swaying of the ship somehow affected my brain, and caused me to act like an NT. Also, I fell asleep in five minutes, rather than the half hour it usually takes me. Best of all, I was solo, so I never had to worry about compromising with anyone. The only person with any say in my decisions was the ship captain. If you need yet another reason to cruise, just look at the photo below. It's the wakes that trail behind the ship when it's moving.

Not my own work. Credit goes to the original owner of the photo.

One caveat. I talked about my cruising experiences on here, and got polarized responses. Half the people praised me; the other half said it's an aspie nightmare. On that note... Cruising is a hyper-social experience. Given the nature of the ship's social ecosystem, you'll be interacting with people constantly, both passengers and crew. I had no problem with that, but some aspies might, so take note. You might also be happier on a quiet cruise line like Princess or Celebrity. But they have an older crowd.

How quiet was your room? Also, are there other quiet areas as well? One thing I am thinking about is. If I get a sensory overload. Could I get to a quiet spot in less then 5 minutes?

BTW: do they serve alcohol as well and are your meals free?

When I was young my family was fruit tramps, so I got to go to and see many places. when I became a teen my family finely settled down but when they did it was around hills and mountains, I often gone for long walks/hikes up onto those hills most every week, sometimes up to 3 times a week. when I became an adult I gypsied around the united states, been to all the continental states, I finely started to settle down when I hit my 30's.

My cabin was very quiet, despite the public areas constantly having stuff going on. The key is to pick a cabin that doesn't have public areas or crew areas above or below it. Look at your respective ship's deck plan to find out. Quiet public areas include the library, the adults-only pool area, and during the day only, the empty theater and comedy lounge. (These examples are Carnival-specific; spaces and their usage may vary on other cruise lines.) Again, check your ship's deck plan to find out how close they are to your usual spots. Or on any ship, go all the way aft on the outside deck, and look at the wakes trail behind the ship. If that's not soothing, I don't know what is.

All your meals are free (included in your cruise fare), except specialty restaurants, which aren't found on older ships. The food is very good, and at least one food station is open 24 hours. Check your ship's instructions for exact details. Yes, they serve alcohol onboard, but it costs extra, and it's not cheap. Soda costs extra too. Coffee and tea are free. You can bring your own soda, but not alcohol.

If you get motion sick, pick your cabin strategically. Cabins located low and midship get the least motion. Spring for a cabin with a window, if you can swing it. Oftentimes, looking at the horizon resets your brain's vestibular centers and stops the motion sickness. If you get motion sick in a public area, immediately go to an outside deck, and look at the horizon. Or maybe you'll enjoy the movement, like I did. And best of all, solo cruising will give you a wanderlust fix like you wouldn't believe, all without the drawbacks of the hobo life.

Big time! My mom would complain where the hell did Michael go off to!

I grew up a stone's throw to the Illinois Central Railroad. We would go over the tracks and into the industrial park and goof off. With friends or solo didn't care

I'm not much of a wanderer as an adult though. In the summer I like to take really long walks but on the same route and in the winter I get lazy and hibernate. I had more desire to travel as a teenager and in my early 20s but then when I did travel I didn't much like travelling because of sensory overload and anxiety. Also , when I traveled with my family I'd get in huge fights with them, particularly my sister.

Last edited by daydreamer84 on 10 Mar 2014, 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Still have wanderlust. It's when I'm out walking that I can process information and get new ideas.