On a Saturday afternoon at the Roosevelt Street and Central Avenue stop, an 18-year-old transient who goes by the name “Lost” waited for the eastbound Metro Light Rail.
Lost said his only goal in life is “to put my foot on every state in this country.”
“I just have no destination,” he said.
Lost began living on the streets at age 13 after running away from a foster home. However, it was not until a couple of years ago that he began traveling on freight trains throughout the country.
“You just grab on and go around cross-country,” he said.
Although Valley Metro does not keep data regarding specific groups of people, Light Rail spokeswoman Hillary Foose said she has seen people onboard who appear to be homeless.
“We don’t make special notations for transient/non-transient,” Foose said.
Numbers compiled in January 2010 by the Maricopa Association of Governments showed that 1,615 transients lived in the Phoenix area.
“Some places do not welcome the homeless at all,” Lost said. “[In some places] you go up to a store [and say] ‘Can I get some cigarettes?’ and they have a whole wall of tobacco … [and they say] ‘We don’t sell cigarettes.’”
New to the Valley, Lost usually travels with his older brother, Trash — named because of a suit he wore that was made of cardboard.
Because of an argument between the two, Lost left Trash in Hollywood when he came to Phoenix.
After having been in separate foster homes for several years, Trash and Lost found each other at a train station.
“He just screamed from the station bathroom ‘This is my long lost brother!’” Lost said. That is how he received his street name.
One of the best things about being a drifter, Lost said, is that you always know someone form your “street family.”
“I just met a bunch of people and all of a sudden it’s like ‘What’s up, Lost? Welcome back!’”
Lost never made an effort to get off the streets and go to school because it would have required him to go back into foster care, “and that’s hell,” he said.
His only plan at the moment is to go to New Orleans so that he can “hang out, [and] get drunk on the sidewalk all day.”
Lost said overall, he is happy with his choice to stay on the streets and travel around the country and eventually the world.
“I think everybody should ride a freight train before they die,” Lost said. “You see cool views … it’s about the only time I feel free.”
Lost said he has seen some crazy things in his years as a drifter, but he’s noticed that the people in Phoenix are some of the craziest.
“I think the sun makes people insane or something,” Lost said.
Reach the reporter at dylan.abrams@asu.edu
