Scott decided to live in the woods for a year.
All he took was a knife and a backpack with clothes. It was in Florida.
No tent. No blanket. No people just him and nature.
The first night he fell asleep on a sandbank next to a lake. When he woke up. there were hundreds of alligators sleeping all around him.
Scott woke up and just froze. He was thinking, “If I move will they eat me?”
After laying there and contemplating Scott decided that he would rather risk an escape while they are sleeping instead of waiting until they woke up. So he slowly and quietly snuck away.
The sleepy gators didn't budge. Whew! That night #1. Only 364 more to go. One spring. One summer. One fall and one winter.
The woods that became his home was about 1/4 mile from my house. He could hear traffic because he was so close to civilization.
Scott is a genius, literally. His IQ is off the charts. A deep thinker and a philosopher. Not crazy at all. He wanted to learn.
What did he eat and drink?
He drank the water of course. Water is plentiful in Florida.
He had done research on edible plants in our area. So he grubbed on those.
I am sure after a year his cholesterol was pretty low.
So what wild stuff did he eat? All kinds of goodies.
- Beautyberry. The Beautyberry shrub needs a tall tree’s shade to thrive the best, and it looks amazing along the perimeter of a property. …
- Mulberry.
- Persimmons.
- Seagrape.
- Wild Coffee.
- Dandelion
- Purslane
- Sheep Sorrel
- Curly Dock
- Wood Sorrel
- Lamb’s Quarters
- Chickweed
- Plantain
He also ate raw fish.
No power, no lights, no humans. He would make fires but he had no lighters or matches. A real adventure.
Mostly at night, it was just him and the stars at night.
To me, at first, it sounded crazy, but in hindsight, what an amazing journey. It would bring so much clarity. No money, no gossip, no politics, no bullcrap. Just one human really finding himself.
Summers in Florida are hot, sweaty and there are so many bugs. Scott didn’t mind. If Scott got hot he just dove in the lake. Simple, right?
Winters in Florida do dip into the ’20s and '30s. With no blanket, Scott covered himself with leaves and shrubs. He got cold at first, but his natural body heat inside the cover of a natural blanket prevailed. He slept like a baby.
Eventually, he came back to civilization, if you can call it that.
The hustle and bustle of humanity. Lights, traffic, televisions, rent, bills, money. All the bells and whistles. Scott was ok with that. He knew it was coming.
He just took in stride. The stories about the past year were fascinating.
So where is Scott now? He is living off the radar once again.
He is living in Mount Dora Florida near Renninger’s Farmer and Flea Market in his van. He fixes computers and is living small.
That’s Scott for you. Good ole’ Scott. A genius.
Just a quick update on my Medium $500 a month income challenge to find out if we can really make money on Medium.
This is my quest for you and me. I had said before to make $500 a month, we have to make $16.66 a day.
We got this! Yesterday I made $11.86! A couple of days ago $16.77. So it is possible.

