If you have to survive on the street or in a tent, the first and most important thing to do first is to find a safe place to live.

If you have to survive on the street or in a tent, the first and most important thing to do first is to find a safe place to live. <br><br>If you're lucky enough to have friends or family who can take you in, that's what you need to do. If you don't, the safest place to go is a homeless shelter. Yes, they suck worse than anything you can imagine and are usually run by the most sadistic people you've ever met. You will be treated like trash, you'll be forced to sleep on the floor in a dorm that's always freezing or always hot, they'll wake you up at 4:30 am, they'll make you do slave labor for 8 hours a day, they'll feed you dog food, they'll steal your stuff, they'll allow other residents to steal from you or to threaten you or to bully you, they'll turn you in to the cops and have you arrested for running away, they'll have rules that force you to be outside in the heat or cold or rain, etc, etc, etc. I've been in enough shelters that I can't name all the different ways they abuse you. It's better to be abused by the shelter than to be abused, raped, murdered or have your throat slashed on the street or in a tent. Shelters suck. But they aren't as bad as living on the street. If you're lucky you might get into one of the few good ones. 90% were disgusting. 9% were bad but livable. 1% were ok. <br><br>If you have to live on the streets, you need to find a place to live that is as safe as you can get it. The safest places are usually parks in upscale areas. Avoid any park that is in the area of the projects. Even if you are white or Asian, always avoid any area that is black. Let me repeat that. Avoid any area that is black. The reason for this is that most violent crime is black on black. But they see you as an easy target because you're a lone homeless person. There is one county in Maryland that has a higher murder rate than Baltimore City, which is the 7th highest murder rate in the US. This county is 70% black. All of the cities in this county are considered dangerous. Because they are. The crime is almost all black on black. But the police will tell you that if you're homeless, you are a target. And if you're white or Asian, you're an easier target. It's sad to have to say that. It shouldn't be that way. <br><br>If you can't find a park, find a downtown area. These are usually safer than anyplace else because there are always police around. But if you're in a visible spot, the cops will probably bother you a lot or will turn you in to social services who will turn you in to a shelter. <br><br>There are stories online of people who live in secret places in downtown areas. They live inside of water meters or hidden areas under street structures, etc. If you can find a place like this, it will probably be safe. But you need to make sure you have food and water and warm clothes, etc. That's hard to do because you will probably have no place to store anything that you have. <br><br>I've lived in secret places in the woods. I've lived in cold places and hot places and I've lived in safe places and scary places. If I had to do it again, I would. It's safer than living on the street or in a tent. Living in the woods is easier if you have a tent and a sleeping bag and a backpack. If you don't have that, you can make a tent out of a tarp or a poncho or even a sheet of plastic. This helps to keep you dry if it rains. It also helps to keep you warm in the winter, even if it's not a real tent. It gives you a way to have privacy. Animals won't get into it. <br><br>I don't want to give advice on how to live in the woods because it really depends on the climate and the weather. But I will say that it's safe. <br><br>I know this post won't help you find a place to live. It will probably make you feel bad and make you angry. I'm sorry if I did that. But I'm not going to tell you lies or half truths. I'm telling you the truth. If you have to live outside, the first thing you need to do is to find a safe place to live. Once you have that, you can focus on finding a job or getting social services or anything else you need to do. But if you're scared, you can't do anything else.