I have been attending Grateful Dead, Phish, Rainbow and other festivals for 35 years. I have known a lot of road dawgs. Many damaged from military service use t

I have been attending Grateful Dead, Phish, Rainbow and other festivals for 35 years. I have known a lot of road dawgs. Many damaged from military service use there monthly retirement or disability to live a nomadic life. I have spent summers when I wasn't teaching traveling from festival to festival. Another summer in the woods of Oregon living in a teepee, no electricity, running water, cell service, etc.. I always had the income and backup options so it wasn't as difficult as those who have no choice, I could always go home. I have found some of the most interesting, intelligent and genuinely good people in these circles, also the most dangerous and mentally ill. I have Lupus and can't live any of that life anymore. I am so glad I did though, the experience made me a better less judgmental person. If I could tell young people one thing, before you settle down, have kids, buy a house, spend at least 3 months living on/with the fringe of society. Be careful, it's not a safe life, especially being a woman but common sense and good judgement kept me safe. I look at these folks as people who fit the quote “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”