A report from the National Hobo Convention  Aug 21 2012

One of the best things that Buzzfeed does is to send Matt Stopera to cultural events around the country to report back about what he found. He recently went to the National Hobo Convention in Britt, IA and his photo essay on the 61 Things [He] Learned At The National Hobo Convention is genuine and interesting.

There is A LOT of hobo pride. Hoboes, former hoboes, tramps, and hoboes-at-heart all strive to spread the culture and history of the hobo. It's what the National Hobo Convention is all about. It was weird going up to people and asking them about being a "hobo." Non-hoboes have been raised to think the word hobo is a derogatory/negative word but it's not.