Met many souls like you at the thrift by the river.One guy had a sign on his back pack”Happy Wanderer”((((Hugs))))
Glen Campbell - Gentle on My Mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFIRTtn_ZSE
He’ll have to go - Jim Reeves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smlaq1ezQRM
Those sound more like hobos, while you can’t be a drifter without occasionally falling into living like a hobo for periods, I was more of a drifter.
Think something like “The Postman Rings Twice” film noir drifter, except hitch hiking instead of buses.
There was a time, before immigration, when low end work was always available, and restaurants were always good for a job, with cute waitresses, and instant party family, sometimes the waitresses were the factor in choosing the job.
There is not much in life that is more fun than to breeze into a town as a total stranger and to be able to hold your own on the pool tables, win with the local girls, and have the guys either afraid of you or wanting to be your friend, and only staying there for a week or two or a month.
In later years it was done with a vehicle but the pay-offs were the same.