The Early Years:
Or how my young mind was turned to a life of crime.
Me at age 6 or 7 (?) crawling out of a hole somewhere...
What causes people to become Urban Explorers? Curiosity? Boredom? An
urge to rebel against society in a nondestructive way?
For many people these are all factors, but being introduced to abandoned
structures and urban decay at an early age definitely helps.
I grew up in an area where there are many former communities and industries
which have been abandoned over time, and as I got older
my interest in these areas remained. While I don't reccomend taking
your kids exploring in dangerous areas, exposing them to such areas
can help them gain an appreciation of such alternative environments
(and warp their minds into a new generation of vadders!)
A wrecked small plane that I hiked to with my parents when I was quite
young.
The plane was overloaded on takeoff and came down in the trees, and
the passengers walked out uninjured.
Some early mine exploration. The same rail cars can be seen about 15
years years later here.