Living in a hammock vs renting accommodation

[That Dude There]

Well now you have to try it. If you don't, you'll always wonder and think you missed out on something. Don't use that logic for illegal, immoral, or stupid ideas though. Wisdom keeps us out of trouble and regret.

[ObiJohn]

I've been to the Manchester area. There's a nice rail trail/park that runs North-South about 15k east of Manchester proper, roughly parallel to the train that runs between Addington and Macclesfield out of Manchester. I could see taking the train from Manchester to Addington and then hitting the rail trail and setting up close to it. If you picked several spots and rotated among them you might not get on anyone's radar. You would have to set up and take down daily, and have somewhere else to store belongings like clothing, maybe at school. I could see having a pack and a duffle, the pack holding your hammock, tarp, etc, plus a change of clothes, and the duffle staying at school holding everything else. This would be doable but not enjoyable, and you'd have to spend one day a weekend getting ready for the next week, cleaning and repacking instead of working or studying. Winters would be rough. Forget any social life. I would think you'd have a better quality of life sharing a flat with others, getting a job, and living a fairly normal life. Get a degree, get a good job, and then start to save and invest.

1078901_526609077394565_581844621_o.jpg

[rustyshack11]

Yeah, if it wasn't for that whole getting laid thing it might work.

[lostagain]

I think ObiJohn meant social life period. Unless the OP likes hanging out in pubs and other public places just to interact with friends. Living the way he proposes would mean you'd never be able to invite ANYONE back to your "place", for pretty much any reason. I mean what would you say? "C'mon over to my place. We'll drink a few brews, and talk. Bu that's all we can do 'cause I've got no telly to watch football on, and you'll also have to bring your own chair to sit on and if it starts to rain some of you might be S.O.L. for getting out of it, so bring a 'brolly just in case." Stealth camping as a way to live = no social life out side work and public spaces.

[Sleepyeyes]

Here is another option that might be easier. Then you can hang your hammock off the tiny house.

[cruise]

Been there, done that. Totally doable and fun for awhile but kind of a giant pain in the *** unless you can get a long term campsite somewhere. Definitely not something I'd do again out of choice.

[Gadgetgeek]

Given what I've read from Cory Doctorow about the treatment low income folks face in the UK from law enforcement and councils, I think you need to think about options that don't use public land. The other thing is that no matter where you go in a city, you will be in someone's territory, likely someone with more reason to be out there, and much more familiar with it.
As much as living free and going where we want is a really romantic idea, there is a reason the system is there. It might not work right all the time, but it does work. buying a small camper or van and parking it on a friends property and paying rent may be a plan, but might not be legal, so keep that in mind, also converted vans tend to be really hard to insure, so check your rules on that as well.
That being said, lots of people don't advertise spare rooms and shared accommodation because they either can't due to legal reasons, or don't really need to. So using your connections to find someone with an attic space or basement that might be livable, could be an option. If you have any like-minded friends who have good financial standing, you could look at buying property as a collective. I was looking into this option with a friend of mine before leaving Canada, and since then he's made it work. By focusing two family incomes into paying down a house, they are then able to leverage that property to buy a second one much faster than they would have buying separately.
Saving money is always a long term situation, so you need to come up with a long term solution that can grow. Another option, depending on what your work situation is, while living in commercial spaces is not strictly legal, you wouldn't be the first person to have a office/home rather than a home-office.