Let me first start off my staying that I am on vacation. Riding my bike though Argentina with a friend. It’s clear we have different comfort levels. I admire him for his commitment to less consumption and sustainable living.

Today however has opened my eyes briefly to how others without choices live. Back in ‘79, my family had a hard time, my parents decided to take us camping for the entire summer. Never did I feel or think we were homeless. It was the best summer of my childhood and the only one I really even remember.

Getting back to today, we never really woke up from last night’s sleep in the local sports complex. It was overly hot, full of mosquitos and echoed every single noise on the street 10-fold. We departed early – around 0630hrs. We easily made the 69km before the -real- heat of the day kicked in – it only got up to 34° by the time we got to our next stop at 1045hrs. I don’t like to ride in the heat, it’s killer.

Looking at the weather forecast, it’s not expected to cool down until about 2000hrs that night. So that means spending 9 hours in the diner of the gas station and watch life go by for so many travelers. No point in taking a shower before then as you sweat like you came out of a sauna as soon as you get out of the shower.

As soon as we got out of the shower we prepared our dinner. A can of tuna, a bag of mayonnaise, a loaf of bread and a tomato – oh and a packet of mustard. We parked our butts on the concrete pad outside a closed market and ate it and relished it. Then I went and bought a couple of beers at the gas station. A good dinner if you ask me. The only meal we actually had today as gas station diner fair is less than… well you all know what it’s like.

After dinner we started to strategize about where we are going to sleep. Note that this couldn’t be done before as it was too bloody hot to step outside. So the things we thought we needed to think about were: rain (80% chance overnight), flood lights, noise from the road, the heat in a tent and mosquitoes. All equally bad. It took a while but we each came up with our own solution.

Guillermo went for sleeping out in the open under the shelter of a covered walkway. He won’t get rained on tonight. But, he’s wearing long pants and sleeves to protect against the mosquitoes, is directly under lights, has foot traffic near the bathrooms, has road noise fairly close, is sleeping out in the open, etc.

I chose for the tent in a grassy area. My tent should protect most of me against the rain, I don’t have light pollution, I have protection against mosquitoes but I have: hotter than blazes in a tent that doesn’t breath, I’m out of the light (I’ve already had a wandering visitor asking me what time it was). I do have ear plugs so that barking dog… oh wait. Bliss.

Anyway, back to the point of this note, I’m on vacation. While this might not be the ideal accommodations, it provides. And I have a choice. I feel a bit off even comparing these last two nights to someone who doesn’t have a choice, but it’s the closest thing I can compare it to while providing a sense of realness I suppose.

I know a respectable person in our community who refers to the homeless as the unsheltered. At first thought, I kinda like that term. But I don’t think it’s up to me to say whether or not it’s what they would be prefer to be called or described as. But it is an attempt to provide some dignity and recognition to those less fortunate than us.

I’ve been on personal pilgrimages before and this is certainly another one. I am putting myself up against difficult physical and emotional challenges way outside of my comfort zone. I guess it’s how I have chosen to grow and understand this life. I had no idea what this trip would bring to me to contemplate, homelessness – but here we are.

Peace