Genre: Memoir / Alternative Living
Before “van life” was a hashtag, CD Damitio was living it. In 1996, he traded his TV and VCR for a broken-down VW bus and moved in. He did it again in 2001 — $100, another bus, the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, figuring it out as he went.
Rough Living: Tips and Tales of Vagobond is the book he wrote from that period. Not a lifestyle brand. Not a travel influencer origin story. A real guide from someone who had no money, no plan, and had to make it work.
The Tips section covers the actual logistics: finding work without an address, living on almost nothing, hitching, camping without gear, getting fed, staying safe, handling cops, and building a life outside the machine. Written in 2003, updated in 2026 — both versions included and labeled.
The Tales section is the lived story: the buses, the islands, the people, the close calls, the moments when freedom and homelessness look exactly the same.
For people who’ve ever looked at the rent, the commute, the job, and thought: there has to be another way. There is.
Get Your Copy
Buy Rough Living: Tips and Tales of Vagobond on Amazon →
Browse all of CD Damitio’s books at indignified.com/books — travel memoirs, philosophical fiction, satirical novels, and more.
View the complete catalog on Amazon Author Central →
About CD Damitio: CD Damitio is a nomadic writer, traveler, and philosopher who has lived in Morocco, Hawaii, Japan, and across four continents. His work spans travel memoir, satirical fiction, utopian speculation, and philosophical adventure. Find his full catalog at indignified.com/books.
CD Damitio writes at indignified.substack.com — essays on utopias, dystopias, and the spaces between. Free to read. No algorithm, no sponsored content. His books can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/CD-Damitio/author/B001JP7NWA
CD Damitio writes INDIGNIFIED — utopias and dystopias explored. Free to read.
