"How to drop off the country's radar"

Just do what the animal that collects acorns for food does. Sure you can live like that with no ID. Sure you can get cleaned up at sinks in good public restrooms all over. Sure you can wash your clothes at hotels open 24 hours or laundry mats. Sure you can live on food that doesnt have to be cooled or cooked. It's as simply as that. Then you dont have to pay for a house to stay at. Just sleep in airports or outside. Plus, you wont need a car since there are taxis and local buses. You'd have more money to spend than a house owner and car owner combinded. For entertainment just go into some hotel lobby to watch T.V. or go play some video games at an arcade.

Anything further to add so it works? Anyone think this would not work?

What do you do for money?

Originally posted by InertiaZero
What do you do for money?

Exactly, what do you do for money?

Do you not see anything wrong with simply living off of other's hardwork/money and not contributing any to society? It's almost like one would be a parasite, just living off of others.

In my opinion, if you want to "drop off the radar", you need to really drop off it and forsake modern conveniences for good. Don't go halfway.

Inertia, I suppose since in this idea one would need very little cash, you could just find quarters on the sidewalk to do your clothes, ride the bus, etc.

reply to post by octotom


I'm not sure I get the point of this thread exactly, but how is that being a parasite? He said nothing about taking anyone's belongings, or asking for handouts from the state.

reply to post by fanthorpe


You'd be like a parasite because you're living off of others, in some cases, to get by.

Just go in and sleep at an airport if you're tired. Just go in and watch a hotels TV if you're bored.

i thought he ment being invisible but cameras could record your face.

reply to post by Tormentations


thats the life of a bum... id rather get a job.

Its nearly impossible to drop off the radar, even with what you suggested. You would have to be completely isolated from society to truly be off the radar.

reply to post by octotom


The parasites are the power elite. The insanity they project onto the establishment necessitates the need for a bum-like mentality. I choose not to funnel my energy into funding black-holes, and black-ops. If this makes me a parasite in someone elses eyes, so be it. It's a sad truth that for the average person, the elites values have become our own. Evil, trickled down.

[edit on 22-11-2009 by unityemissions]

Originally posted by InertiaZero
What do you do for money?

Just be a street entertainer for some money. Choose an instrament.

That'll work.

What about your birth certificate, social security number, education and medical records, and your job?

I guess you could get a job that pays cash but you would never truly be "off the radar".

It would be hard to keep track of your whereabouts if you did everything you listed but eventually you could be found.

Maybe you could fake your own death and that might work?

(and I am in no way suggesting you do that.)

[edit on 22-11-2009 by elaine]

meh,
see you'd still need cash.
I've lived on the street before,it sucks.
not nearly as glamorous as it looks on tv.
If you thinkyou have it bad look at some of those care commrcials on tv.you know,the ones with flies crawling on their eyeballs and stuff?

I have a two person sea-kayak,fishing gear and a tent for whenever i want to bug out or if the shtf.
can stay out almost indefinitely without being a parasite to society.

It is possible to live off the grid if you use proxies.

Someone I used to know spent several years dodging a warrant (successfully too) by working for cash and renting rooms from private individuals.

To pull it off, he had to be very clean-cut and break off all associations from the past, including family and friends. He moved to a populated area on the southern coast of the USA where bicycle riding is not unusual.

He cashed checks by signing them over to associates with bank accounts. The associates would take a significant percentage (25 or 30 percent) in exchange for cashing the check.

A big part of making it work was avoiding associations with dodgy people. From what I gather, he managed to avoid contact with police for a significant amount of his time off the grid.

reply to post by Tormentations

Anything further to add so it works?

It would help to know what exactly your goal is. What qualifies as being off the radar? Whose radar? Are you simply trying to elluminate the paper trail that modern life tends to create? Are you trying to make it difficult to be physically located? Are you on the run from the FBI and you want to disappear completely?

What's your goal?

reply to post by InertiaZero


work construction or waiting at places that hire illegals. get cash.

Doing the things you have suggested are really no solution to dropping off the radar.

As a matter of fact, the very opposite may happen.

If you hang around a place of business using their amenities and you are not a customer, someone will eventually notice and call the cops to warn you for trespassing or loitering.

Laws differ place to place; some places require that you have a certain amount of cash on you or you can be arrested for vagrancy.

A good book on this subject is JJ Luna's, "How to Be Invisible" - www.jjluna.com. It's the only book I've read on this subject that gives a straightforward, honest, practical - and ethical - approach to maintaining some modicum of privacy in today's digitized world.

Nevertheless, as our society becomes more technologically-oriented, it's hard not to leave a digital trail in some form or fashion.

One other suggestion is to read books on self-sufficiency. If you own your home free and clear, and run a self-sustaining farm, you will have gone a long way to achieving self-sufficiency. One famous book on this subject is John Seymour's "The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it".

One more comment: Don't live your life in fear. Running away from problems isn't always the healthiest outlook on life. Things are tough, but they could be much worse. Count your blessings.

[edit on 22-11-2009 by CookieMonster09]

to drop off the radar you would have to live like those underground rebels in "Demolition Man"

don't you get arrested if you can't provide identification papers on demand? in almost any country anymore? that'd put you back on the radar pretty fast.