Seattle Man Offers Tours of Homeless Lifestyle for $2K

Mike Momany offers people a "Course in Applied Homelessness"

A homeless Seattle man is offering  three-day tours for people looking to experience the homeless lifestyle, for $2,000.

Mike Momany operates a website called Real View Tours where he's offering a "Course in Applied Homelessness."
 
"You will gain a new respect for the folks that find themselves in this predicament," the website reads. "You will see the seedier side of Seattle in a new light and have an experience that you will never forget. Embrace the Experience!"
 
Momany says he has been living as a homeless person for the last two months out of desperation and exploration, according to his website. He previously worked as a freelance computer programmer while living in a vehicle, which eventually led to him becoming homeless, according to  The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
 
While living without a permanent residency, he says he has "met many interesting people and experienced a minimalist life style like none I'd ever experienced before."
 
For his course, Momany says he first changes a customer’s “look and persona into an anonymous homeless person,” according to  The Toronto Sun. Then, Momany takes them to places in Seattle frequented by homeless people and finally to a hostel.
 
Currently, women are unable to take part in the tour due to hostel’s rules, according to his site.
 
Momany has been staying at a hostel at night and using a library as his makeshift office by day, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He says the website is not a joke, according to UPI.

"It's to bring an experience to people they can't get very easily," Momany said.
 
But not everyone is fond of his idea. The Facebook associated to Momany's website has received a number of negative comments from visitors, claiming his course exploits the homeless.

"This is horrible," wrote one woman on the Facebook page. "It is one thing to bring attention and awareness of the homeless situation in our community, but to charge $2,000 AND take away a bed from someone who has no other choice? Repugnant."

As of Oct. 3, no customers have taken advantage of his tour.

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