It's worthwhile, I think, to distinguish among the words "bum", "tramp", and "hobo".

Many years ago I read an interview with "the king of the hobos", whose name, after all these years, I forget. I probably don't have the exact words, but in essence he said:

"A hobo will work, and move on.

"A tramp will bum, and move on.

"A bum will just bum."

Dave Oesterreich