Michael Tyler

I case your wondering why my site has gone down, for the past 6 months I have been homeless in France.

‘The powers that be…‘

Following the removal of my web-site Lonelyplanetexchange.com, I’ve found it impossible to make money. On returning here to the UK, I’m finding it like before, i.e. no chance of getting a job whatever I do.

I did however keep a diary whilst I was homeless. This records my movements, the places and conditions I slept in.

How and where I got food.

I now have to declare myself bankrupt or just hang around on the dole till kingdom come or something turns up.

In the meantime…

Starting Kit

1 x Steel toe-cap Boots

3 x Socks

3 x Boxer shorts

1 x Tent

1 x Sleeping bag

1 x Foam matress

1 x Sprayway cagule

 1 x Fleece jacket

 1 x Fleece top

2 x T-shirt

1 x Cargo shorts/trouser

1 x Jeans

I did find stuff as I went along, and where this is the case, it’s flagged up in each individual post.

I had much more but binned the lot when I realised I was going to have to continue without money.

Initially, I believed the people who sanctioned my sites’ removal from Google might help me out. This was not the case.

Vive la France

Survival was made up of a combination of scavenging and Ribary.

Ribary is an ancient French right to live on the land.
Unlike stealing, not for profit, it allows you to take advantage of the fruit and agriculture that French countryside is packed with.
Basically, you stay out of the way and pop up for the occasional corn on the cob or apple or peach or pear or whatever is available in which region at any particular time. No trespassing, no stocking up or stealing, living life simply on a daily basis.

Ribary the French call it.

Here is a Ribary map of France. The places where I stopped and the places where I ate.

View Ribary France in a larger map

Ad Lib stuff

Soles

Made a pair of soles from sewing up two corregated plastic cut outs with foam padding to make insoles.
Did this twice as the journey went on, once for the steel toe-capped boots and second time for the pair of heavy workers boots I found in the barn. Each worn out by walking.

Sewing Kit

Sewing kit darned on a Sunday when I had nothing better to do until the nights drew in, then it became impossible and my socks developed large holes in the heals and toes.

Needle I found and combined with strands of bailing twine both picked up as I went along. The twine chaffed against the skin and left blisters so it was debatable whether it was worth doing at all.

Washing kit

To wash up was really important. When you stop washing, you lose contact with humanity.
I made sure I washed every day with this washing kit.

1 x Flannel

1 x Bar of Soap

1 x Large Jamming Saucepan

With this I could wash my kit as it became dirty, I could dry them out as on Sunday, my day of rest I did nothing.

This kept me clean, and kept me feeling human.