Very interesting thread and good stories. Thank you all, especially mistwalker, for the insight.
I grew up in pretty good conditions. My parents are middle class people, my dad's a high school teacher (bio and music) and my mom's a singer/singing teacher. Homelessness was something I sometimes noticed at the edge of my life, people begging, in front of the supermarket we used to get our groceries at. I distinctly remember an encounter me and my parents had with a homeless woman who asked for a cigarette. My mom told her we didn't have any, and she asked for some spare change. While my dad was fumbling with his wallet, I asked her "Don't you have any money yourself?". She said "No". I asked "Not even in your bank account?". I think I'll never forget her sad smile as she shook her head and answered "No, little one. Not even in my bank account". I must have been very young at that time, probably 7 or 8.
The first experience I personally had with being homeless was when I started going on trips with the boy scouts. We used to go on 3 week trips in the summer, exploring a foreign country. I was in Slovakia, Spain, Norway and England. We used to hike around in small groups for 2 1/2 weeks and then meet up with the whole troop in the capital city to spend the last 3 days together. My patrol always arrived there early, and we had to spend anything from 1 night to 3 nights/2 days there. Sure, it wasn't real homelessness, but it gave us some insight how miserable you can get in London, for example. We tried to sleep in a park, got sent away by the police. They told us to get to Victoria Station. We walked there, took us 1.5 hrs. When we arrived, they were clearing everyone out of the building and locking it up for the night (about 0200). Suddenly we found ourselves in a group of maybe 200 homeless people who had all tried to get some sleep in the train station. We were all just standing there, aimless, not knowing where to go next. The police came, ordering the crowd to disperse and go away. We put our last money together and bought a burger (1 burger for 6 hungry boys isn't much) and then went looking for another place to sleep. We finally found some sculpture that provided some cover (7ft wide steel frame with steel plates on the sides), rolled out our sleeping bags and were out in a second. 3 hrs later (0600) we were woken up by a security guard and a few police men. Their plan was to lock us up for trespassing, but when we explained our situation they let us go with a warning.
We spent the rest of the morning just walking through central london. No money left, nothing to do. We tried to sing a few of our songs at street corners to earn a few quid, but there was always some bike police officer out of nowhere, often even before we started to sing. Crazy. We eventually met up with our troop in the early afternoon, and it was the most relaxing feeling ever.
I wanted to take it up a notch, after moving to the inner city and walking the streets, often at night. I noticed how many homeless people there are around here. In the summer of 2011, I packed a bag with a few essentials, told my roommate I'd be back in a week, and walked out the door without keys, mobile phone or wallet. It was a crazy experience. I think I was equipped a lot better than most homeless people I see daily, with an expensive multitool and a small fixed blade, a sleeping bag and pad, all that good stuff. I got by pretty well by collecting bottles and cans (we have a pledge system for those here, a bottle will get you between 8 and 25 cents, depending on the bottle) in the first days. I helped out at markets, I helped a few storeowners, got a little money or some food. I didn't beg, there are few people who give money to beggars here and I didn't want to take anything away from the people who really needed it. I had 50€ of emergency cash well hidden.
Water was a problem. It was pretty hot in that week, and keeping warm at night was a piece of cake, but I needed a lot of water, and sometimes I simply didn't have the money or food was more important after not eating for a day.
I didn't socialize with the "real" homeless people, I stayed away from the spots where they usually meet (which, unfortunately, are also the best places to beg at). I didn't have any ID on me, would the police have arrested me, the experiment would have been over, and I would have spent about a day in custody, my things taken away and probably never given back. I didn't want that to happen, so I stayed on my own. I slept in parks, under bridges, on top of buildings when I could get there. I think I was pretty stealthy, and I think nobody noticed me sleeping.
No joke.... I was married at 19 and a dad shortly thereafter...wife ran out with son at 23. Busting my hump and living off cornflakes to pay support and mortgage. Slept in truck just before payday a number of times because I lacked the gas to drive home and back. Thoughts of selling it all and packing the truck with tools and camping gear and making my way slowly across the US were very enticing!!!