I'm 18 years old, and I've lived in Maine all my life. I'm hoping to get to California sometime around November.

I don't have too much money, so I'm not sure if I should travel by bus instead of plane to save some money. All I'll be bringing with me is my guitar, my laptop, and basically some clothes.

What I'd like to know is how hard should I expect it to be to find work and a place to stay once I get there? Like I said, I don't have too much money, so I need to have some source of income asap.

I'm planning on probably trying my luck with couchsurfing that way I'll have a place to crash when I first arrive.

Should I also look into hostels?

I'm just not sure what my first step should be once I do get there, and I don't want to end up some homeless punk, so any tips as to what I should expect are greatly appreciated.

Why aren't you going to college? Seems like a more intelligent plan.

How much money is "not a lot"? Do you have any work-related skills? Do you know anybody in LA?

You can find a shit-cheap place with some roommates in Venice. I'd look there first.

I know I sound pretty stupid for saying this, but at this moment in time that's irrelevant to my mission. This is no time for me to start writing my autobiography, however. If and when I do go to college I would much rather do it wherever I'm living at the time, but for now getting out of this state is of utmost importance.

How much money is "not a lot"? Do you have any work-related skills? Do you know anybody in LA?

It depends how much money I can get for a couple things I'm trying to sell, but I should have around a couple grand. I know that's a joke, but it's all I have to work with, and I plan on making it work at any cost.

I have some work related skills, just not any on the job experience. I'm versed well enough in some technical and automotive fields that I'm certain my abilities in said fields exceeds that of some of those who are currently working in those fields.

Having no on the job experience, and nothing to really back me up, I understand I'm probably gonna get stuck with some minimum wage job flipping burgers or working in retail when I get there, and that will be fine to start with as long as I'll be able to get by on that.

And I do know some people in LA, but most of them are punks around my age that are still living at home with their parents, so besides being company and being able to show me around, they won't be of much help to me.

You can find a shit-cheap place with some roommates in Venice. I'd look there first.

If it wasn't for the fact that I know people in LA, I would definitely be looking in Venice or probably even the Bay Area instead. It's still definitely a possibility though.

If you know your stuff with cars, you push to work in a garage or a dealership. As long as you know what you're talking about, you can find work.

I'm going to go ahead and name a number, you shouldn't move with less than $2000 in your pocket.

Before you get there, make sure you have accommodations of some sort. You'll need to get cleaned up for job interviews and have an address for a bank.

Best of luck, moving can be great fun.

FYI NYC has a pretty fast moving public housing authority, you might want to just call them up and see if you can get something there first.