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This chapter describes homeless life on the street. Statistically, most homeless veterans like Ross Moore “choose” an “unsheltered” life. Often averse to the restrictive rules that shelters impose, they find that living outside is the lesser evil. The unsheltered life includes a wide swath of living situations, from sidewalks and tunnels to parks and forests to bus and train stations to cars and vans and more. The most important “location” variables involve legality and visibility. Generally, homeless are looking to find a spot that will not cause them to run afoul of the law and will keep them out of clear sight of the public. Most people think that the homeless do not have possessions, at least no possessions of value. Homeless people definitely do not see it that way, and one of the challenges they have is to protect their belongings from human and natural elements. Self-care is also a challenge for those without a sheltered routine and resources. The chapter then looks at the daily routine of homeless people.

This chapter details the departure of Gotama from the palace for a homeless life. Life in the palace became ugly and gloomy. One day an inhabitant of the heavens appeared before Gotama in the form of an ascetic. The recluse told him that his knowledge that life was nothing more than an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth had led him to adopt the homeless life. Relatives and strangers had become the same for him; greed and hate had ceased to be. He told Gotama that wherever he found himself, at the root of a tree, a deserted sanctuary, a hill, or a wood, that became his home. He had no possessions, no expectations; intent on gaining freedom from rebirth, he accepted whatever was given to him. And then before Gotama's very eyes he flew off into the sky. Gotama now knew very clearly what had to be done, and he made plans to leave the palace for the homeless life.

This chapter provides a look at homeless life in the shelters. To anyone who frequents shelters, it is an institution with a common feel, with well-known pros and cons. A warm bed, food, and a shower are the most frequent foci of gratefulness, but the Community Shelter also provides an address to register to vote or receive official mail, a place to get needed clothing, and an avenue to connect with social and health service programs. However, there are still many homeless people who do not use a public or private shelter. One of the reasons for this is that they chafe at the rules. Grumbles about shelter life typically become more frequent when the facility is overcrowded, trying to serve more people than its resources allow. The most pointed objections to shelter life, however, involve people's sense of personal safety and control, with many concerns focused on other shelter clients.

This chapter discusses how the author first met Ross Moore, a homeless man in a dog park. Moore later became the author's friend; indeed, he co-authored this book on homelessness. Drawing heavily on Moore's experiences, as well as those of many other homeless people, this book studies the experience of homelessness, seen from a homeless point of view. The details of homelessness that the author glimpsed through her long-term relationship with Moore made her more aware of how her own perception of homelessness had been directed into the grooves of American narratives. It is not that these stories are untrue. It is simply that they represent a fragment of homeless life that fails to paint a portrait beyond a caricature.