This blog post originally appeared in August of 2012. Several things have changed since then. Bob lives in an ambulance now. His friend Steve has passed on. James and Kyndal are no longer together. However, the feet still itch. Fuel prices will keep many of us from wandering this year, but there are far worse places for extended stays than out in nature.
FALL IS IN THE AIR here in the Sierra National Forest. The temps during the days have cooled off from the upper 80s to around 80. Evenings are no longer so warm but have a slight chill to them. For all of us camping here, with the subtle change of season also comes the first twinges of “itchy feet.” Amongst us there is a regular conversation about where we are going to spend the winter, even a few conversations about what we would do next summer.
Steve and I have been here for 4 months (since the first week in May—although Steve returned to Washington state for a month), so that is a long time in one place. He is really ready to get moving, it comes up in nearly all our conversations. I am too, but not as much as he is. This life is all new to James and Kyndal and they seem very ready to go. I can relate to how they feel. My first year on the road I moved constantly; I never stayed in one place for long. Wanderlust took hold of me and I just couldn’t wait to get to the next place. I look back very fondly on those days because I saw lots of new places.
I had to get a job
The problem with that much traveling is it is expensive. After that first year of moving constantly and burning gas, I had to get a job as a campground host in National Forest campgrounds to build up my savings account. That meant spending 4-5 months in one place. Afterwards I traveled in the fall, but in the winter there weren’t that many places to go, so I ended up staying in Pahrump, NV nearly the whole winter. Because I had fallen in love with camp hosting, that next spring I went back to work as a campground host and spent 5 months in the Sierras. That winter I camped in Pahrump, Yuma, Quartzsite and at Slab City. It seems like I have traveled less every year since then.
Now that I live in my converted cargo trailer, traveling has become harder and staying in one place easier. Other than a few extended trips I have planned (possibly Oregon, Washington and the Canadian Rockies next summer) I expect to stay longer in one place than I have in the past.
…the urge to go somewhere else starts to smolder like a fire deep inside me.
And yet I still have itchy feet. After three to four months in one place the urge to go somewhere else starts to smolder like a fire deep inside me. With every week I’m forced to stay in one place that fire grows bigger and bigger. Finally after 5 months the need to move becomes almost a physical ache. Do you remember the old signs on cars that said “California or Bust” or “Alaska or Bust?” That’s how I feel, “Move Now (Anywhere!) or Bust!”
The problem is that it is still hot everywhere but here, and the only thing I hate worse than staying in one place too long is heat; miserable, overwhelming, unbearable heat! So I have to stay put here until the desert cools off and that is at least 6 weeks away. But my feet are just starting to itch, so I will be fine. I’m especially lucky this year because I’m flying back to Alaska for 2 weeks on September. That will throw a bucket of water on the smoldering flame. By the time I get back here it will be nearly time to leave.
What is it in vandwellers that make us unable to stay in one place for long? Do all of you have itchy feet? How do you deal with it?
Bob’s beard is longer too…
Just for @ little while, L O L . 🙂 . :-).
Not just “van duelers, all of us get “Hitch Itch” and have to move on. Doing this for five years,
and love ever minute of it. Washington State, security guard and love it at Potholes Reservoir.
Friendly people and good wages for a workamper. Retired and have no 0plans to live any other way.
Happy travels,
Enjoy the journey, for we all know the distention.
Terry
Oh my, I can certainly relate. Now that I am in my 80’s I can’t move so easily anymore. But it was a grand life while I could do it. Keep up encouraging us, Bob
Well written. I feel as if we were having a conversation.
You bet I do! Hitch hitch strikes after just a few weeks for us. Due to covid and to some medical issues my husband had we have spent the last year and a half almost exclusively campground hosting in one place with a few moves to some other New Mexico parks. I love living in the trailer but I would not have sold my house and all my possessions to sit in one place for up to 5 months at a time. Right now we are headed north to Canada. Not in a rush but definitely moving along. We have agreed we will stay at least two nights everywhere we park to help with the diesel expenses. We boondock most of the time but even if we have to pay for a campsite I have the park pass for seniors so it’s a good deal especially compared to burning $100 worth of diesel that day. Just want to say Bob I have enjoyed your post for about 12 years now and just wanted to say thank you. We corresponded at one time years ago about driving to Alaska versus taking the ferry but that’s another discussion.
He always manages to leave out his sister’s place and the property he bought in 2016.
All is not as it seems I think.
You know, he would be at his sister’s place in order to be with his dying mother, right? Also that he would split his time there with camping in the forest. All is not as you think it is, it seems.
Well said Al. Lou was out of line. Bob has been a blessing to the nomad community, including countless people who wish they were nomads.
I challenge you to find any 3 other people in our current time who have helped as many people as Bob Wells.
Volkswagen will start selling their 100% electric minibus camper in the USA in 2024. I believe that camper like its predecessor in the 1960s will significantly change the van dwelling experience for the better. My plans are to retire in 2024 move to a yoga retreat center “Yogaville” located 1 hour south of Charlottesville, VA to use as my home base. The winters I will travel to Athens GA to escape the snow. The rest of the year I will live close by Yogaville and participate in their programs.
Mert, I know how reliable VW vehicles are, but… will @ all electric bus be good / practical for boon docking ? I mean, what will it happen if the next charging station is miles away & U have ran out of charge ?
Bob demonstrated an electric recharging kit powered by solar panels in one of his you tube videos. Another option is carrying a cell phone to call for help. Triple A provides towing insurance up to 100 miles away. Calling and requesting a Tow Truck to travel 100 miles can be expensive without insurance. Bob in this post was explaining how frustrated he felt because the high cost of gas combined with low gas mileage limited his traveling.
I’m kind of the reverse… I’m happy to live in my home of 34 years, but itch to get out and about. I try to get to Iowa and Missouri and Oregon (from southern CA) to visit relatives every 2-3 years, rotating. I so desire to buy a piece of vacant land somewhere with trees and boondock there for a week at a time, and to invite family and friends to meet me there. I’m a 70-yr-old widow and have a class B RV (Roadtrek for that self-contained long-distance travel), two tiny trailers (one all aluminum Runaway Camper; the other a Lees-ure Lite motorcycle tent trailer that just unfolds), several instant tents and gear. I seem to do all my traveling and camping alone – would welcome anyone to offer suggestions and locations (and even meetups). I never do resorts, because I didn’t grow up with fancy lodging, nor campgrounds with hookups, so I go “cheap”. Then I go back home to my kitties and my church, until my next itch during the year.
Hi Rochelle. I was wondering, what’s up with your kitties while you’re gone?