# Did you ever run away from home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326 "2024-07-16T15:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/1 "2024-07-16T15:29:16Z")
I did. I was maybe four and had had it up to here with my mom being all bossy. I told her I was leaving and slammed the door on my way out. Then I was all out of ideas and sat down on the steps. After a while Mom asked me to come back in. (I got this thread idea while watching a completely stupid episode of Adam-12.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/2 "2024-07-16T16:31:53Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I got this thread idea while watching a completely stupid episode of Adam-12. There were more completely stupid episodes of Dragnet than Adam-12. I was going to tell about the time I ran away from home, but I was in my thirties and it wasn’t cute at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/3 "2024-07-16T16:39:36Z")
Not from home, but I _did_ run away from the preschool I was in. This was in Juneau in about 1952. Juneau has always been a small town. Everybody knew everybody else and their kids. Anyway, several of us were standing on the sidewalk corner and pretending that we were going to step off the curb and run away. I remember being very unhappy with the woman who ran the place and finally said “Well, I’m really going.” And I went. I walked a fairly significant distance to get home for someone that age . In the meantime people had called my mother saying they had seen me walking, and the pre-school owner had made a frantic call. My parents were just about to launch a search when I showed up at the door. I seem to recall asking for pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/4 "2024-07-16T18:22:05Z")
I ran away for the first time when I was sixteen. I was being demanded to sign up in an arranged engagement. At that time it didn’t last of course. Sixteen is still really young. I ran away, or more formally, didn’t come home at 20. Parents called me and said to come home and agree to the arranged marriage they had set up and “be a good girl” or don’t come home. So I didn’t come home. Surprised Pikachu face on their behalf. They cut off my funding for school and I had to leave school and get a job and an apartment REALLY FREAKING FAST. Not cute unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/5 "2024-07-16T18:23:47Z")
But way more interesting than mine! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/6 "2024-07-16T20:09:16Z")
I packed a small suitcase and ran away from home when I was 4. When I came to the end of the street, I couldn’t go further because I was not allowed to go off the sidewalk. At that point my mother (who had been following me the whole time) led me home. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/7 "2024-07-16T20:35:21Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > But way more interesting than mine! Heh. It’s an interesting story to tell now. Back then of course it was deeply tramautic. They brought all these weirdo guys. One was 25 when I was 17! Eeek! ---
**Author:** ![SpinyNorma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SpinyNorma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinyNorma)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/9 "2024-07-16T23:08:15Z")
We were stationed in Hawaii in the very early 60;s when I was 4 and staying in a hotel in Honolulu while we were trying to find a place to live. My mom told me that I got mad about something and said I was leaving. She went with the usual advice at the time which was to say “Fine” so I’d back down. According to her, I packed my tiny suitcase, opened the door, and headed out. She chased me down and brought me back to the room. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/10 "2024-07-16T23:41:24Z")
I did in my younger years get laid off. Twice. Two different jobs. (one was the day before Christmas, REALLY!) Now this was Colorado in the 80’s. A 4x4 could get you anywhere. Trails not shut down as they are today. A camping spot was a flat piece of ground (stream is nice). My backpack was always ready to go. All I had to do is grab it and split. So not running away from home, I told my roommate I’m splitting for a day or two. Clear my head. Still haven’t succeeded in that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/11 "2024-07-17T09:16:24Z")
I ran away at about 5 but planned my future because I took a half loaf of bread with me. I made it about 2 blocks away to a nearby playground, sat on a swing, and contemplated my future for about 10 minutes before I returned home. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/12 "2024-07-18T12:17:04Z")
I ran away a few times as a teenager. The first time I think I was 14. Coming home is blurry to me. Another time I was 16, and I pretty much stayed gone, more on than off. I got married when I was 17 because my mother disapproved of me “living in sin” but she agreed to me getting married! She kinda ran the show over my Dad. We split up a year later, and divorced another year after that. I got a job and an apartment, then decided to hitchhike with my boyfriend to Colorado. We split up and I hitchhiked to New York state, then on into NYC. I was pretty homesick around Thanksgiving, so came home and went to school. Got a job, met a guy and married him and had a baby. Anyway… there’s more but that was my runaway days. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-run-away-from-home/1004326/13 "2024-07-18T13:05:04Z")
I was maybe 6 and had had a big fight with my mom. Probably over cleaning my room- that was always a big point of contention with us. We had _ **very** _ different opinions of what constituted a clean room. I remember being very angry and deciding I’d had enough and had to run away. I grabbed a blanket or sheet and started putting some of my things in it. I think I was actually planning on making a ‘hobo bindle’ like I had seen in cartoons – where you wrap your stuff in a piece of cloth and tie it to a stick. Like this: [![](https://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/norman-rockwell/the-runaway-1958.jpg!Large.jpg) ](https://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/norman-rockwell/the-runaway-1958.jpg!Large.jpg) Even as I was packing, common sense kicked in and I started thinking “what do I even pack? Mostly clothes? A couple favorite toys? Where will I go? Where will I sleep? What will I eat?” I realized my couple dollars worth of saved allowance was not going to get me far, and I abandoned my quest before I got out the door.