Historically, vagabonds were pretty tough, anti-establishment characters who lived as homeless drifters by choice. Modern vagabonds tend to be people who live off the grid or those who travel the world from out of a backpack.

Traditionally a vagabond is a person who wanders from one place to another, with no real home of their own. In modern culture this could be a homeless person or a street person. However, vagabonds aren't the same as people who stay in a city (or any one place) and live there without having a typical home. Vagabonds are a subculture of their own making.

Some offbeat world travellers call themselves vagabonds. They travel the world, they travel as cheaply as they can (in order to keep travelling , they work here and there... but they do have a home to plan to return to once they finish travelling. The vagabond tourist is about seeing the world and stretching their resources for as long and as well as they can along the journey. Historically, vagabonds were more rebellious and travel was their way of avoiding putting down roots or really belonging or being found anywhere.

Vagabonds (tramps, hobos, or drifters) during the Great Depression lived a homeless lifestyle by choice. Often they were fugitives from the law or just avoided the law after having a few run ins with the police and/ or jail. My Grandfather was a drifter for awhile. He told me about some of his adventures. He said the tramps were dangerous and he learned to avoid them. Those men could be brutal and were living by taking what they could get.

After living that way awhile some of them adapted the lifestyle as their own subculture. They created rules and guidelines for who they were and created a culture out of their vagabond lifestyle.

There's a romantic ideal of the vagabond (the little hobo with patches on their clothes and a pack slung on the end of a stick), but that's not based on the facts so much as the idea of travelling and seeing the world, meeting new people and enjoying different cultures. The modern is about adventure.

Could You be a Vagabond?

• You really need a change, like a jump start for your life or your spirits.
• You haven't figured out your career path or all your jobs seem to be dead ends.
• You don't have a lot of obligations, personal (family and kids) or financial (mortgage on a house).
• You feel burnt out or you've lost (or never really had) your sense of who you are.
• You've never really travelled, never left your own country, or even your own home town.

 Other Words for Vagabond

• vagrant
• tramp
• drifter
• hobo
• wanderer
• nomad
• landloper
• train hoppers

 The Downside of the Vagabond Lifestyle

• Living out of a backpack, suitcase, luggage of whatever sort.
• Always looking for travel arrangements and destinations.
• Finding temporary work on the road, year round.
• Not having a place of your own where you can put down roots and keep your stuff.
• Living under someone's (couch sitting, hostels, etc.) roof with their rules and ways.
• Meeting and getting to know people but always moving on and not having any real relationships with anyone.
• No routine, having to adapt and make plans every day.
• Packing and repacking everything into one bag and then hauling it all around.
• Eating on the fly - sometimes not eating when the money is low.
• Living on a tight budget and having to be thrifty.

Vagabond Lifestyle

• Vagabond 101
• Vagabond Evangelist

Vagabond as a Traveller

• Rolf Potts Vagabonding Blog
• Rail Rogues by Wes Modes
• Trek Hound
• Wandrly | Blog
• Transitions Abroad
• The Professional Hobo
• Vagabondish
• BootsnAll
• Hostels.com
• Lonely Planet
• CouchSurfing
• Travelers' Tales
• World Hum
• Thumbs Out Canada
• The Vagabond Project
• Light and Darkness

Articles About Being a Vagabond

• Wandrly | Interview with the Professional Hobo
• What is a Vagabond?
• A day in the life of a vagabond: What is it like?
• A day in the life of a vagabond: Frugal extras

Update: Again, About.com did not pick me. Another declination (that should be a word) from About.com. I'd be discouraged except every writer is supposed to have rejections and when you write for your own sites you lack that sense of rejection. So I have to rely on these random applications to About.com for my rejection slips. So... thank you About.com.

I applied for the Obesity topic at About.com today. I spent most of the day getting distracted, writing about why I want to write about Obesity for About.com, deciding which links to send them and adjusting/ adapting my web resume to send. On the resume I just took out some extras.

This is what I sent about why I want to write:

*I am a fat woman, have been large sized for most of my life. I would like to give other large women the chance to live (not taking a back seat in their own life) as they are, yet be aware of health risks. To find their way through the current trend to accept fat and the other side saying accepting being fat is a bad thing. I see a middle ground.

It is ok to like yourself and live as yourself, as you currently are. But, we need to think of our health and try to improve. Not just our weight but our lives in every way. The slogan on my blog is "Life keeps happening even when you don't look like you fit in". This is exactly how I feel as a large woman having my own life with good days, bad days and every day trying to be myself.

Having said all that, I do read and keep track of current trends, facts and social networking. I'm really interested in the paleo diet right now. I routinely read other blogs about BBW fashion, large women and campaigns about body image. I read about health issues and experience a few personally. I network with other large women through my content curation, BBW Life, on Scoop.it.

I am not a medical professional but my life has been full of all the experiences and challenges of being a fat woman. I've tried diets, fitness plans and I have lost some weight but put it back on again. Like most large people I know how to get fit but I have all the trials and errors along the way which have kept me the size I am. Over all, I am ok with me, lumps, bumps and all.

I don't think a topic about obesity should focus on diet, exercise or weight loss. Health is more important than actual size. Body image is more important than appearances. I'd like to showcase plump, chubby, fat, obese women, helping but not limiting them.*

Of course, now that I've sent it in, the first thing I notice is a typo I missed.

Now and then my fingers stray around on the computer keyboard and I end up clicking a few wrong buttons in a row. Most often this just gives me typos - but, now and then I get my keyboard messed up. It types the wrong characters. I can't type things like @ or ? and other stuff comes up instead. I'm typing the characters which show up in blue on my keyboard, alternate characters, instead.

This is not something which needs to drive you crazy. The fix is simple!

press hold left ctrl+shift and tap right shift key

via How do I turn off the alternate BLUE keys on my HP keyboard - HP Support Forum - 1426059.

This works! I don't remember how I fixed the blue character keyboard problem the last two times I've had it happen. But, it was something simple like this. It did not involve changing the keyboard language - but that is the tech support advice which comes up most when you search for help.

I am adding this here hoping it will help someone else. Maybe even me the next time it happens.

I know about custard and fish fingers but what else does the Doctor eat? In between all that running he must need something to refuel. But, we seldom see him eat anything. I was curious about a Doctor Who cookbook when I found this one. What does he like to eat and when does he get around to actually cooking himself a dinner, or even just a light snack?

Would you eat with The Doctor?

This book has been created from the new Doctor Who series, 2005 and onwards. Chris-Rachael Oseland, the author, has spent a year watching and re-watching the Doctor Who series to pick out recipes and recipe ideas. Taking inspiration from the past shows she has given Doctor Who fans (Whovians) recipes to explore whether they are great cooks and bakers, or prefer simple fare. If you want to host a Doctor Who dinner party, take a few pages from the book (not literally, that would be dangerous – think of spacesuits and the Library!).

What would you offer the Doctor if he showed up on your doorstep one day? Only a small chance it would actually be your doorstep of course, It could be the shopping mall, just as much as any other place in time and space.

Which companions would you hope to drop in with him? Donna Noble is my first pick. Donna is my favourite companion plus, she isn’t likely to pass up a good conversation and a great coffee. Maybe a slim slice of cheesecake too.

One thing I would not be serving is angel food cake. You just can’t trust those things!

What are his table manners like? He made a mess in Amy Pond’s kitchen. Maybe you should put newspaper down before dining with The Doctor.

COINS LEFT ON TOMBSTONES

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.

This was on Facebook today.