| SW∆MPY TRAIN HOPPER

One of my personal favourites. Makes you wanna to lead this kind of wondering life. So this guy who goes by Swampy, or SWMPDNKY, catches free rides across the country on freight trains. He lives a nomadic life and takes photos which are full of life, the kind that happens at the edge of comfort and stability.

He has been off the radar, something he is accustomed to doing and he does it very well. Both his flickr and website don’t work anymore. Where has he exactly been for the last year or even more? Only he knows and those who travel with him, but its probably somewhere you haven’t been.

Swampy is a California boy. He squats the neighborhood haunted house and is a dedicated beach boys fan. He’s a health food heister and the son of a Hell’s Angel. Travelling up, down, and in between the coasts of North America by freight train, Swampy leaves his mark on just about any surface while taking photos along the way.

“you know when you’re sitting, naked, in a giant, crusty, steel skillet on wheels, mid-day, on a sticky mississippi afternoon in august, sweat cleaning the dirt off your stomach in long crooked lines and your face feels like it’s about ready to be sliced and served, then you hear that beautiful, low steady hiss and 2 minutes later you’re flying through a swamp at 60mph, beads of sweat herded to the back of your arms, legs, and neck right before they’re vaporized, dragon flies stuck in your hair and you can’t stop smiling like an idiot?”