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I wonder what percentage are want and need with vandwelling or similar rigs. Recessions sway the need percentages for sure.
Back when I used to travel I would run into them sometimes when they would gather and I would guess 20/60
As in 20% want 60% need but I could be wrong cause I'm basing it on their rigs many of them are retired military, so they have income and tend to have nicer rigs and money for supplies as their military retirement stretches much further when not paying rent, mortgage, electric bills, property tax, water bill etc etc many of them in their late 30's - mid 40's.
One guy I met was a retired cop with an RV and the inside of it was nicer than most apartment's he was 43 and living like a king.
But many are victims of the recession in old crappy vans, but it's cool how they all mostly treat each other as equals "mostly".
Hell if I ever lost my house I would use the insurance to buy a camper trailer in a heartbeat(because I would not get enough to replace my house in this market but it would be enough to fix up my Suv and buy a nice camper to pull) And I'm a telecommuter with a flexible schedule so all I need is wifi .
Back when I used to travel I would run into them sometimes when they would gather and I would guess 20/60
As in 20% want 60% need but I could be wrong cause I'm basing it on their rigs many of them are retired military, so they have income and tend to have nicer rigs and money for supplies as their military retirement stretches much further when not paying rent, mortgage, electric bills, property tax, water bill etc etc many of them in their late 30's - mid 40's.
One guy I met was a retired cop with an RV and the inside of it was nicer than most apartment's he was 43 and living like a king.
But many are victims of the recession in old crappy vans, but it's cool how they all mostly treat each other as equals "mostly".
Hell if I ever lost my house I would use the insurance to buy a camper trailer in a heartbeat(because I would not get enough to replace my house in this market but it would be enough to fix up my Suv and buy a nice camper to pull) And I'm a telecommuter with a flexible schedule so all I need is wifi .
I suspect the pandemic has thrown a lot more into vandwelling/old RV living. In the movie, the van Fern had was definitely older and inexpensive.
I suspect the pandemic has thrown a lot more into vandwelling/old RV living. In the movie, the van Fern had was definitely older and inexpensive.
You got me thinkin, if this had been a pandemic with a 5-10% recovery rate, nomads would the vast majority of the population as 90+% of the rest of the population would be wiped out and the plague would have burned it's self out before it got to most of them the isolation would save them unless it struck when they happened to have been working.
But yes, all the people losing their homes, even before the pandemic gentrification has been forcing people out of their homes because all those people from the suburbs have been moving back to the cities buying old crappy houses fixing them up and driving up property taxes so the people already there can no longer afford to live there. it's even happening to those formerly poor small towns(right outside of the cities) that were mostly run down farms and trailer parks and trailers on a patch of land, the grandkids of the those long dead old farmers are selling those unused farms to housing developers who are building expensive homes driving up their taxes many of whom were paying as little as $50 a year in property taxes 6 years ago now owing $1,000-$2,000 because the area is now developed.
I wonder what percentage are want and need with vandwelling or similar rigs. Recessions sway the need percentages for sure.
there's a pretty vast middle ground here. there are people living in their vehicles because their vehicle is the only substantial shelter they own. if the vehicle breaks down, they're on the street, with a very long climb back up. then there are people living full-time in half-million-dollar rigs.
Most nomads do have living choices, but those choices are constrained by finances, often boiling down to - you can afford to travel the US comfortably in your own vehicle, or you can afford to live comfortably in a house/apartment, but you can't afford to do both.
You are correct, recessions can tip the decision point one way or the other. You might decide to stay in your house and forego your life-long dream of traveling widely, satisfying your travel itch with weekend trips several times a year, or you might decide the opposite.
the main characters in Nomadland are more toward the "forced" end of the spectrum. Would I say they're typical of most nomads? No. But there are a substantial number of them. And they tend to be more visible. Someone drives past you in a big RV, you know nothing about their living circumstances, and you know you know nothing. Someone drives past you in an older van, it needs a new paint job and has curtains on the windows, you think you do know.
Another benefit of being a nomad is when things and people get to you, you just drive off and start anew somewhere else. I think there a lot of people like Fern out there in that regard. Heck, I would be like that if I was nomadic..
Yup. It's a pleasant surprise how many problems can be solved with an ignition key!
I saw the movie in the theaters yesterday, I thought it was good, but not great.
I'm definitely not a fan of Bob, but can understand his appeal and do give him "props" for building his brand and business. The thing is, Bob now has a condo in Pahrump and rarely lives in his van and rarely, if ever poops in a bucket now (why?)!
Bob's easily pulling in $70,000+ a year from his Cheap RV Living website and YouTube channel, he's more of a "Do as I say, not as I do!" type. I sort feel bad who the older single ladies out there that look at him as some sort of Messiah and all-knowing guru when it comes to living in a van on the road, when most of the stuff is just common sense.
He gets people to buy into that nomadic van-life lifestyle, while he has his sticks-and-bricks condo, laughing all the way to the bank!
It would be interesting to meet and interview some of these older ladies, who live by themselves and who bought into Bob's shtick and how many are still nomads, living in vans and RV's and pooping in buckets after 2 or 3 years ?
I saw the movie in the theaters yesterday, I thought it was good, but not great.
I'm definitely not a fan of Bob, but can understand his appeal and do give him "props" for building his brand and business. The thing is, Bob now has a condo in Pahrump and rarely lives in his van and rarely, if ever poops in a bucket now (why?)!
Bob's easily pulling in $70,000+ a year from his Cheap RV Living website and YouTube channel, he's more of a "Do as I say, not as I do!" type. I sort feel bad who the older single ladies out there that look at him as some sort of Messiah and all-knowing guru when it comes to living in a van on the road, when most of the stuff is just common sense.
He gets people to buy into that nomadic van-life lifestyle, while he has his sticks-and-bricks condo, laughing all the way to the bank!
It would be interesting to meet and interview some of these older ladies, who live by themselves and who bought into Bob's shtick and how many are still nomads, living in vans and RV's and pooping in buckets after 2 or 3 years ?
I could not live very long in a vehicle that did not have a toilet. I agree about Bob. He really got lucky with YouTube
I could not live very long in a vehicle that did not have a toilet. I agree about Bob. He really got lucky with YouTube
Like I mentioned, Bob has the charisma, persona, etc., whatever you want to call it and has been able to basically repackage common sense things, that have been around for a long time; most of these things were even on YouTube before got started there.
He also has his non-profit HOWA (Homes On Wheels Alliance) and pays himself a nice salary as the director from all the money they collect each year. Many people feel it's all just a scam to make Bob even more money, who knows, maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
Bob himself will admit, he's no saint.
In the end, the only person Bob is looking out for is himself!
there's a pretty vast middle ground here. there are people living in their vehicles because their vehicle is the only substantial shelter they own. if the vehicle breaks down, they're on the street, with a very long climb back up. then there are people living full-time in half-million-dollar rigs.
I met a few of the latter but they are a definite minority the few I met all had the same story, had a super well paying but super stressful career and got out before they had a heart attack, one guy said he did the math, and figured they had enough saved to live on for a few years with all the expenses that come with a house property taxes, and bills or live like a king for life on just his interest with only having to worry about food, gas and occasional repairs to the RV, but that means that guy must have had in the neighborhood of a million dollars in the bank when he left the rat race. he had a USMC tattoo so he may have also been retired military.
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