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Hello, I was wondering how often other people run into other explorers out there in these abandoned places, and if you engaged in conversation and maybe made a new friend or two.
The closest I'll ever be to exploring a fantasy dungeon! |
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Personally I've never run into anyone (I try to stay away from the really popular spots) but the last location I went to we found 2 Powerade bottles that were half drank and significantly colder than the temperature. Those along with some cigarette butts next to them, I don't think we missed them by much but thats the closest I've come.
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Posted by TheYuman
Personally I've never run into anyone (I try to stay away from the really popular spots) but the last location I went to we found 2 Powerade bottles that were half drank and significantly colder than the temperature. Those along with some cigarette butts next to them, I don't think we missed them by much but thats the closest I've come.
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I haven't met anyone that isn't a hobo, haha
The closest I'll ever be to exploring a fantasy dungeon! |
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It's happened maybe once or twice over ten years. I've run into virtually everybody else, but the closest to "urban explorers" is usually ghost hunters, which usually means teenagers who want to test their bravery by going to a "haunted" place and smashing something.
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Yup, only met two squatters once. The closest I came was in the same location, I walked into another room where a guy and his girlfriend were making out. But after conversing with them, they just liked secluded places to kiss.
One day I got a good camera.
https://www.flickr...hotos/fleetsurbex/ |
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I've run into taggers a few times. Luckily (and somewhat surprisingly), every tagger encounter has been pleasant. I've been really shocked at how considerate and polite they've been - I'm still thinking that part is some sort of weird fluke though.
I wandered till the stars went dim. |
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I've run into other explorers once and they bailed fairly quickly (I'm assuming they thought I was a cop). I run into taggers more than anything really, and then homeless/train kids a handful of times.
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I've seen/heard some explorers at a really popular spot before. They went into the building and left in a period of five minutes.
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I have run into other explorers, homeless, and taggers. You can usually tell what they are doing from a distance based on what they are carrying (camera, mask/paint, just sitting around/sleeping setup). I luckily haven't run into any hardcore drug users
Winning is temporary but looking cool is forever! Stay Fresh! |
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Posted by Steed
It's happened maybe once or twice over ten years. I've run into virtually everybody else, but the closest to "urban explorers" is usually ghost hunters, which usually means teenagers who want to test their bravery by going to a "haunted" place and smashing something.
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^This^
You're far more likely to run into vandals and dumb ass ghost hunting kids than explorers.
Generally I avoid contact and have been known to haunt dark tunnels
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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I once ran into some guys photographing the exterior of an old factory I was trying to find a way in to. We kept our distance from each other and did our own thing. I asked them if they were from UER, but they didn't recognize the acronym, so I didn't have any further contact with them.
They left, I found a PoE, and I never ran into them again.
"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.
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We ran into a gentleman once that used the location as an extreme quiet spot to pray and reflect. He was pretty chill and gave us a cool picture opportunity.
At our last spot our presence scared the crap out of some kids that took off at dead sprint into the woods - that was pretty entertaining.
Never climb after somebody with ulcerative colitis. -Steed |
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Rarely other explorers but it has happened, sometimes there is a brief interaction, a couple I'm still friends with and explore with when in their neck of the woods, and others I've exchanged little more than a nod with. Oh and once they saw me and ran, really fast out of the building; must have looked super cop like in my hoody and jeans that day lol.
I have encountered a few taggers all of whom were quiet, polite and nice enough to answer my annoying questions about their art. Homeless are the most common but that goes with the territory here in general. I usually nod respectfully in their direction and interact if they approach me. Only once been asked to leave in over 10 years and I said sure, it's your home not mine.
Stealth: adj. designed in accordance with technology that makes detection difficult. Wraith: n. A wisp or faint trace of something |
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I've met people on a few of my explorations. They were all pretty chill (one guy was extremely paranoid about security even though they never come inside that specific site, and plus there were a million feasible places to hide... but anyway). One of the people that I bumped into actually ended up hanging out with us and touring us around for like an hour. He knew the site very well so he was telling us about it, showed us around, very nice guy. If only I was on this forum before I met him I woulda asked him if he was on here/encouraged him to join. Anyway, my experiences so far have been positive. Maybe I've gotten lucky. Mind you the site that I'm referring to is kinda highly trafficked so that may account for the amount of encounters I've had.
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Depends how you define "explorers". If we say anyone else who is NOT legally in the building, but also NOT hostile towards us, that has happened many, many times. Taggers, scrappers, squatters, etc. If we're talking about people who would actually self-identify as "urban explorers", that doesn't happen often at all. I can think of only 3 or 4 times that ever happened (not counting when it happens during a big UE meetup). That's back when I used to explore on a daily basis, which was '07 - '13. But these days, urban exploring is a bit more mainstream than it was back then, so maybe it happens more.
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." -Dr. Suess |
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I was with RichterScale in the basement of a hospital and we heard someone so we turned off out lights. We hid there because we didn't know who they were but we saw that it was a woman and a man. It was fun because they didn't know we were there but we saw them multiple times.
That's the only time i've ever seen anyone else. I think a lot of it has to do with when you go to the site. There are times that are people are more or less likely to be there and if it's a problem for you it may be good to go at 8am on a Monday when other explorers are at work and everyone else is sleeping.
Side note: who's down to go to a huge building and try to tail each other and play hide and seek? I'm a child at heart (:
Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is, are we living a life that is worth the harm? |
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I ran into a wild boar today. Does that count?
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Posted by Steed
I ran into a wild boar today. Does that count?
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only if it self identifies as an "Urbex Explores" otherwise its just a pig..
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Posted by Steed
I ran into a wild boar today. Does that count?
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That's an urban forager... slightly more intelligent than the vandals, similar to scrapers.
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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Posted by 2Xplorations
only if it self identifies as an "Urbex Explores" otherwise its just a pig..
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It didn't have any camera gear but it sure seemed to be exploring.
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Ethics
