# If I ever wanted to run away, what would I have to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939 "2008-09-04T05:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/1 "2008-09-04T05:04:03Z")
**Let me make several assumptions to this question:** I am a 27 year old, caucasian, natural born United States Citizen with a passport, drivers license, and other valid identification. I have _zero_ indebtedness. I do not owe money or services to any organization, nor am I under any contractual obligations. I have no legal history. A spotless criminal record. I am not on any terrorist watch list. I have zero personal ties that would be interested in me doing something such as this. I don’t want to disappear “Into the Wild” style. I have minimal to no possessions. I have no transportation, maybe a change of clothes, and say, less than $500 (US) cash. I have no credit cards - though I have a credit history typical of the previously stated assumptions. I have minimal to no items on my person to barter. Let’s just say that I’m in Michigan when I decide this. And I decide it on a whim. **What I want:** coastal paradise living and sustainment of such living through normal means. I want a good quality of life. A roof over my head and meals to eat. I guess in the end, how does one run away from home with nothing only to end up with something? I realize when worded this way, the question is open ended, but applied to my assumptions, I think it has a clearly definable answer. If not, at least a practical method. **Reality Check:** It’s 1am, I’m still at f-ing work and bored. This is something I’ve always wondered about and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever dreamt of this. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/2 "2008-09-04T05:12:50Z")
Well i suppose you could just use the 500 bucks and buy a plane ticket and just pick a spot to fly too! There you go! Now as far as what you do when you get there… Well you need a place to stay. Collecting unemployment might be hard w/o an address. Finding work might be hard esspically if you have no trades under your belt. The hard part will just be finding work and a place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/3 "2008-09-04T06:13:13Z")
I do not understand the question. What’s standing in the way of your running away to the nearest beach, or even a more distant beach? If you have a shitty minimum-wage job, you can get a different shitty, minimum-wage job in a beach community. If you have a really good job, you might have to settle for a not-so-good job in the beach community, in order to have a roof over your head. Me, I have a house, children, spouse, pets, and tons of possession I don’t want to leave–but I do want to run away sometimes, a lot of the time in fact. It sounds like you could just walk away. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/4 "2008-09-04T11:28:21Z")
Why on earth would you want to run away? If you want to change your life find out from a professional why you do not want to make changes. Changing one’s circumstances is one thing, running away is a cowardly act, I do not think you are that. Moving to a different place is not running away. Leaving family and friends behind and not letting them know where one is, is running away. Monavis ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/5 "2008-09-04T11:49:49Z")
Be sure to leave a note saying you are running away, and are not responsible for any costs incurred because of an over reacting government agency, if they decide to look for you anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/6 "2008-09-04T13:51:30Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Be sure to leave a note saying you are running away, and are not responsible for any costs incurred because of an over reacting government agency, if they decide to look for you anyways. They can bill you for looking for you? 😕 Part of this question comes from an episode of “The Office” where the Scranton branch is worried about being closed. Tody, the HR guy, decides he’s going to move to a tropical island. What steps must he take to do this? In my framing, I attempt to coin it as a running away type of scenario. Say if one day I just decided to blow town for good.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/7 "2008-09-04T14:05:43Z")
You could always fly to a Caribbean island (burning much of your $500 stipend), then get a job waiting tables. I’ve met people (in the Caribbean) who claim that as their story. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/8 "2008-09-04T14:22:21Z")
What’s so complicated? It isn’t more complicated to move to a tropical island than it is to move to anywhere else. You buy a plane ticket and you go. If the tropical island isn’t part of the US you’ll have to have a passport and maybe a visa, but probably not. Many of these places will have laws on the books that prohibit tourists from working, but these laws are often winked at as long as the employer keeps the powers-that-be sweet. So you get your passport, buy a plane ticket, and go. It isn’t complicated. The hardest part is that you’re going to have to work for a living when you get there, working a crappy job on a tropical island isn’t much different than working a crappy job anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/9 "2008-09-04T15:41:24Z")
> [@Yesterdog](#): > > They can bill you for looking for you? 😕 > > Part of this question comes from an episode of “The Office” where the Scranton branch is worried about being closed. Tody, the HR guy, decides he’s going to move to a tropical island. What steps must he take to do this? In my framing, I attempt to coin it as a running away type of scenario. Say if one day I just decided to blow town for good.🆒 Have you missed all the missing people stories in the last couple years where they try to recover the costs from the person they were looking for? My opinion is the agencies trying to collect costs from you is ridiculous, if you don’t pretend it’s a kidnapping. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/10 "2008-09-04T17:54:10Z")
In college in New Orleans in the mid-1990’s, I knew several people that went there for vacation and just decided to stay. Bartending jobs paid well enough and it is a fairly cheap city. You are free to move to Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands as well. The U.S. Virgin Islands count as paradises by any measure and have lots of tourism jobs. Count me in as one of those that thinks this is a very simple problem. Younger people do different versions of it all the time either while they are in college or right after. If you are serious about this, it really wouldn’t take that much effort or planning. ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/11 "2008-09-05T03:29:37Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > In college in New Orleans in the mid-1990’s, I knew several people that went there for vacation and just decided to stay. Bartending jobs paid well enough and it is a fairly cheap city. > > You are free to move to Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands as well. The U.S. Virgin Islands count as paradises by any measure and have lots of tourism jobs. Count me in as one of those that thinks this is a very simple problem. Younger people do different versions of it all the time either while they are in college or right after. > > If you are serious about this, it really wouldn’t take that much effort or planning. This has nothing to do with me. I was merely asking out of a general curiosity for logistics type things. Besides, I love America. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/12 "2008-09-05T03:52:04Z")
As far as running away to another country and surviving there with nothing in the beginning I’ve discovered a few possibilities. -Any chump English speaker can be an ESL teacher just about anywhere. -Hostels will hire workers for modest room and board. Nothing generous, but a survivable situation. -If you want to stay in the US you can always be a railroad tramp. Seriously, all the important information wasn’t included in your OP. You told us what you have, far more important is what you can do. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/13 "2008-09-05T12:52:39Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > -Any chump English speaker can be an ESL teacher just about anywhere. Really? I’d have thought there would be a bit more to it than just being able to speak the language. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/14 "2008-09-05T13:31:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Really? I’d have thought there would be a bit more to it than just being able to speak the language. I’d imagine you’d have to speak the language in the country you moved to, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/15 "2008-09-05T13:47:29Z")
> [@WoodenTaco](#): > > I’d imagine you’d have to speak the language in the country you moved to, as well. Indeed - and wouldn’t you need to be at least competent at formal English grammar too? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/16 "2008-09-05T14:30:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Indeed - and wouldn’t you need to be at least competent at formal English grammar too? I have been told by several married enlisted US sailors that their US born wives (who only know English) that they were able to supplement the family income by teaching English to Japanese nationals, while accompanying their husbands who were stationed in Japan. I presume that the classes are “advanced conversational” type stuff, where the students understood that the entire class would be held in English only. ---
**Author:** ![papaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@papaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaw)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/17 "2008-09-05T14:35:27Z")
If all you have told us is true, there is no reason you can’t relocate. A lot less than $500 can get you a bus ride to most any coast, with enough to get you into at least a burger flipping job until better comes along. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/18 "2008-09-05T14:38:11Z")
I can’t ever run away. Anyone who knows me at all would know instantly where I had run off to and would just call up the Wyoming State Police, give them a description, and tell them to turn me around at the border and send me home. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/19 "2008-09-05T14:50:22Z")
Framing it as “Run away from” rather than simply “move to” says a lot. A fast move without much in the way of planning might convey a giant FU! to the situation you’re leaving, but the haste might make things difficult in your new location. Pick a place that fits your criteria, do some research, send some resumes out…andsee whats available there and move accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939/20 "2008-09-05T16:37:01Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > Framing it as “Run away from” rather than simply “move to” says a lot. A fast move without much in the way of planning might convey a giant FU! to the situation you’re leaving, but the haste might make things difficult in your new location. > > Pick a place that fits your criteria, do some research, send some resumes out…andsee whats available there and move accordingly. That’s a good point and well taken. The comments about being a language instructor intrigue me. I had never thought of that as a possible source of income in a foreign country. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-ever-wanted-to-run-away-what-would-i-have-to-do/461939.md?page=2)