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So does CamperVanKevin, and Pandamonium. They also have Patreons and other income streams. Carolyn's RV Life, which is very good also, derives much of her income through YouTube and Patreon but she also still consults part time. There are many nomads who are quite "upwardly mobile" meaning they live in high-end RV's and live quite the life. I really like Traveling Robert, he's a travel channel in his own right. There's a strata to nomad life, just like life in stationary society. But people on this thread know that already!
In the case of Bob Wells, he derives his income from his YouTube channel.
Bob Wells also has retirement income. He has a book, though I doubt that brings in a lot of money, which sells on Amazon.
Sadly, I have noticed over the years that he seems tired and tends to be even more reclusive. Gosh, I think I started watching his youtube videos when he started making them. He seems to be a kind man, and is quite interesting to follow.
Very recently Bob has a young man who has taken over reviewing various boondocking and camping sites, etc. He has a 501(c)(3) which has volunteers (and likely a couple of paid assistants). He is 67 and that's part of why he seems slowed down. But he's still very active with HOWA, the 501(c)(3) that helps compromised seniors get into a vehicle. They do amazing work.
Here's a video posted today about Debra Dickenson's community and other friends (many of them in this video are men) talking about how much they love boondocking and making friends out there.
Living near public land, I've definitely noticed the increase in car campers/boondockers over the past few years. Going to research this USFS study that the YouTuber Debra was talking about. I'm curious/concerned about How many boondockers are living as such out of necessity rather than choice?
I'm always curious who's sitting around all day watching all these vlogs. It seems people must either spend all day online viewing them or spend all day making them. Kind of defeats the purpose of "getting back to the land," doesn't it? They might as well be sitting in a cubicle in some office building.
Kind of defeats the purpose of "getting back to the land," doesn't it?
These days seems like it's more about finding a cheap way to exist, or hang out with friends (party in the woods!)
When I did this in the '90s and early '00s, it was easy to find places in the boonies where I wouldn't see anyone at all. But back then, no one else was doing it. Never had internet. No one ever knew where I was. Spent my days wandering around in the wilderness. Making youtube videos would have been a completely different experience... and not something I'd enjoy at all.
I met a national news manager once, who wanted me to write a regular article about my life. I thought about it awhile and agreed, so long as I could remain anonymous and my location secret. She had the opposite idea, so that was the end of that.
BTW, the law wasn't after me or anything, I just would have hated the idea of being any sort of celebrity, even a very minor one.
That's very cool and I'm with you on that. I'm glad there are YouTubers but it's definitely not for me.
Apparently it's still fairly easy to boondock but now it can be a bit more difficult to find a good spot.
Starlink appears to be in flux, let's see what happens with the Dish dispute. Elon Musk withdrew the Twitter bid so what's going on with him (isn't Starlink part of Musk's deals?)
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