Short backstory: Broken critter, 34 Earth-around-Sol-goings old, probably agoraphobic (as in fear-of-crossing-thresholds, not fear-of-public-spaces) and AuADHD. Stuck living with "family" but now they're abusive and near-violent. Called cops on me, tried to throw me out with nothing miles from the nearest town, threatened to cut off my Internet access as if keeping me from working out how to leave is the best way to make me leave. Hatefool logic stuff 🙄, bullies both.
This-post story: Is there anycritter who can
-Pick me up when I figure out where to go and/or give me/point me at a safe place to stay (am currently in northeastern Oklahoma, outside of a little town about forty minutes from Tulsa), or
-Help paw-holdguide me through figuring out how to settle in somewhere safer, even a decent* roommate who can maybe help me find the best places to go/be/work/eat/live/etc.?, or
-Just straight-up flee somewhere with me and help work stuff out together? Weird scary idea, sure, but... whatever I guess. Not as scary to me as going it alone, I think maybe. May be able to help financially, even. Probably ridiculous to even think any of this but it's a nice dream to just hop on a bus/plane/silt strider and piss off with somecritter to greener pastures 🤷 ...Presumably flipping every single bird at where we came from.
If not that, some advice on how much things even cost could be really useful. What does it cost to move these days? In time and US Dollars, particularly. And phone calls. Those are terrifying. Anyway Idunno what kind of budget to expect beyond single, discrete things. $100-350 bus fare to Minneapolis, $150-400 air fare depending on when. $60ish per night for a cheap hotel room near here, plus a $100-200(?) deposit I may not get back that apparently isn't mentioned very upfrontly. Those I can just look up but getting a full mental picture of like, a 25-hour bus trip including food/drinks, the bus fare itself, stuff I've not even thought of yet...??? I'd prefer to fly if I can, but then maybe I need a hotel somewhere because of a cancelled flight, and either spend twice as much on the ticket or have to find somewhere to stay for a bit over two weeks, and cab fare to get to the hotel if I need one (or more!), and... ugh!
PS: Sorry this is all really weird and maybe creepy. I'm really weird so maybe it's not unfair to be upfront about that 😅 but also I'm "a little" unsettled by this mess so I'm just kinda blurting things out hoping something makes sense and maybe helps :-\
*"Decent" in terms of interpersonal respect and whatnot, not like... "not weird" or something. Certainly not the video game, that's Descent.
Update 27th March, 03:36 CDT/08:36 UTC
Just gonna talk to myself for a sec, I guess. Probably nocritter else up at this hour. 😓 Welcome to my diary! Or rather, you now are my diary. Congrats! It's an odd role. So, every day's a hell of a trip, and not a fun one. Hours of bad followed by struggle. Just now finally got around to doing some work. Bets on whether I make it? 🤷 Helps to talk...don't wanna drag anycritter down 🤷 Bleegh. Anyway, turns out stuff is big and space for packing stuff is not. Gotta figure out how much I can handle carting around, maybe see if I can find (and get) my carry-on luggage-thingle. Easiest just to cram what I can into a backpack and big-luggage I guess. Already have a couple of each in here. Was using them as catchalls <.< What goes, what stays... ugh. Very ugh. Triple hyper ugh! And the checked luggage fees... damn. Hurts being alone, in every way. Chatting yesterdayish was nice, just sad and quiet now. Am just crying out loud I guess 🤷
Could still really use:
Somewhere to stay: for a week or a day (or until mid-next month when air fare's better, but who's wishing for miracles? Oh, it's me.)
Somewhere to go: could be somecritter's weird wiggly wroommate 🤷 Else maybe advice on where to look for an apartment. Idunno if "cheap and walkable" is a thing that exists but Idunno how the hell I'm gonna be able to get around 🤷 Currently just assuming I'm going to Minneapolis. No freaking clue what to do after that beyond looking for a box to hide in and snatching up like, a bowl and something cheap and edible to put into it. ... What a ridiculous "princess experiences real life" movie I've got going on here 🤦♀️ Anyone want a weird ugly pet to take care of 😅
Maybe even just some company? At this point even a voice call sounds great. Fair warning: might just cry the whole time. Am already doing that, in fact.
Will even accept cis people! Only asked here because I'm a little bit familiar around here and can't bring myself to ask anywhere else.
Also, how does one get, say, a bunch of groceries from a shop to a home without a car to store it in? Just haul a bag or two at a time, make multiple trips if needed? Seems like that'd get unwieldy and dangerous really fast, even with like, only two bags but there are cans in there so they can't both be in one hand so like... 🙀 Kindof a shower thought I guess. Still hoping to get one of those today. 💡 Oyeah, maybe use the rolly luggage thingle.
Okay, it's been like an hour and a half just... rambling another wall of crap. I hope somecritter can like, study all' this or something. Maybe I can play a part in advancing Brokenology (scientific study of broken things).
Update 28th March, 04:50 CDT
Just booked the flight. I've been looking at things, bus routes, shelters, apartments, hotels. Feels like I'm kidding the hell out of myself thinking I can do this at all. I should just quit. It'll be harder if I leave. I'll get there and I'll have no one and nothing but a big bag of crap someone's going to want to take. I can't do this. Why the fuck would I think I can do this? It's gonna be dozens of calls and days of wandering the city bleeding funds and maybe literally bleeding just to find out how fucked I am. I'm not built for this hell-world. I can barely handle getting a Discord call from someone I like, how am I gonna survive creating a life from nothing in a new city when there are people who've been there their whole lives, who aren't as broken as I am, who still rely on shelters and soup kitchens? I'll just die a slow, cold death instead of a quick painless one I can have here.
I'm sorry, I know no one wants this crap around. I just feel so damn lost, and like everything's set up so well to make sure I can't possibly be okay, ever.
Can't just buy a place to stay, even if I can afford it. Could get a hotel for like a week, then be totally fucked. Who's gonna hire me? Maybe somewhere truly horrific. And I'll struggle like hell to even apply. Why even try 😭 This is stupid, I'm just throwing my idiot self at a "nicer place" like it's gonna save me.
Managed to schedule a Lyft for Friday morning, to get me to the airport. I just feel really sick. Maybe I'll get a fascist driver who'll just shoot me and dump my corpse in the river. Probably a better fate than what I'll get trying to live a dream, like a total shithead. Ugh.
Nobody's even gonna show, I'll have to freaking scramble up an Uber, then when that falls through just go fuck myself trying to dream up a cab company that'll come out here. FML.
Make sure you extract some cash from your bank account. It is always best practice to carry some cash in case anything happens with your debit card. $50-100 is a good amount to carry, just put it in a place where you won't lose it (like inside of your phone case).
It wouldn't be a bad idea to go ahead and contact some of the organizations in the resource doc and explain when you'll arrive and what you need.
Also for groceries, there are these little cart things that you can buy which look like a combination of a laundry basket and a suitcase but they're made specifically to carry groceries and stuff. You might could use one of those roller plastic laundry baskets in a pinch. Might could find one off Amazon or something when you get there. Maybe Walmart or target. A nice-ish one will work well.
Remember to roll up your clothes instead of fold them in your suitcase. It saves room. Some airports have luggage carts that you can use to transport your luggage. Keep your most important things (toiletries, meds, chargers, etc) in your carry on as opposed to your checked bag, because they can get lost or delayed occasionally.
Btw, thanks for the update. I'm willing to hop on a voice call later. Ask Zorsith if they want to join too. We can all play Minecraft or something.
Remember to roll up your clothes instead of fold them in your suitcase. It saves room.
Really?! Aahhh I'm gonna try that!
Didn't know there were grocery-carrier thingles, but that makes sense. Thanks.
Zorsith has been informed of the threatoffer of voice callness 😅 Dunno how or when or where though 🤷 I probably can't do Minecraft because Microsoft decided to lock off my account because they want my phone number :-\
Those grocery carrier things are neat! I think they fold up super flat and compact for storage and carrying! Also, an insulated fabric bag to keep things cold is super useful, I didn't think I'd use it as much as I do but it's super handy!
Seconding the rolling up clothes, it does save space, just be prepared to have to re-roll them because "F u we're the TSA"
Alas, I do not possess a microphone (nor the spare cash to go get one real quick. I've actually been thinking about getting one) Which is weird for an (I guess former?) MMO player, I agree, but I DID learn to type fast!
Plus, I'm in the process of moving furniture around and setting my desktop back up 😅 this desk is stupidly heavy and hard to move...
Oop, hadn't seen this when I messaged you. I also never really did voice calls. Nerve-wracking, almost like phone calls. Dunno how I managed to rope myself into one today 😅 Mostly avoiding humans, especially ones who demand voice comms (which, considering my voice made me feel ill for a while and I really hated it even before that...), tended to help mitigate the need for, well, voice comms.
No worries! I only just saw this/ your message. I'll Def chat at you on discord (and Matrix when I someday get around to trying it). Just had dinner after forgetting to eat for checks notes 10 hours and wondering why I was feeling a little shaky 😅
I found conversations in general a lot easier/less stressful when it's with folks with similar interests. Anime and gaming are big ones for me (I'm a nut and was, about a year ago, caught up on subbed One Piece. I paused at the start of the big Kaido fight and need to go finish it), but it's rare for me to be playing "current" games.