[alanmcorcoran]

Wow, Mr. Softie. I had some similar experiences, but my days as a free spirit were sadly too few. What's great about those times is you tend to remember the excitement, the freedom and, possibly, the romance, but you forget the bad stuff, or at least some of it. (Getting arrested, jailed, tear-gassed [or all three] does tend to stay with you.) I mostly remember being a lot more in the moment and running with a more "interesting" crowd. Course, many of them were spectacularly stupid and more than a few were dangerous/violent. You learn a lot about people quickly, good and bad.

Your advice was rock solid. In those days, I never had much to lose, but even then, I always tried to look like I was not worth bothering with (I still have my green canvas Army Surplus jacket, my uniform/tent/luggage/home from those days, hanging in my closet.) I didn't shave, had a caveman beard, had the "homeless" look down (although we didn't use that term back then.) Unfortunately, as I'm sure you can attest, youth, poverty, drinking and general aimlessness attracts a lopsided amount of attention from the authorities, some of which are sympathetic and some of which are not.

Back then I could afford neither a motorcycle nor the gas to feed it (plus I had a suspended license), so my travels were mostly limited to the northeast. Eventually, I bought a used Peugeot moped to expand my range. Took me thirty years to get around to an "upgrade." Thanks for reminding me of my salad days.