This is our December 2015 camp here in Ehreneberg. It’s such a large area we settle in a different spot every time we return. You can’t beat that view!
Sometimes people ask if I get tired of always coming back to the same place, and that’s a good question. I have friends who would say yes, they get very tired of it so they come here for a few days or weeks, and then they’re gone, following the call of the open road. On the other hand, I’m very content to return to the same place every winter and stay for months at a time. I’ve given some thought to the difference between us and why some people can never stay in one spot for long, and others are like me and can happily travel all summer but then just as happily settle down to one spot in the winter. In this post I’d like to share my conclusions.
This laundromat is only 3 miles from camp and it offers free wifi, laundry, a dump station, water for very cheap, and a mail box for $8 a month. It also has a shower and if you buy a bulk amount it gets as cheap as $3 each.
Saving Money
Traveling means burning gas, and that’s expensive. Many of us are on such tight budgets that no matter how much we want to travel, we have no choice but stop and be stationary at times. Since the weather is so bad in most places in the winter, it just makes sense to stop and stay where there is decent weather. Even though gas is cheap right now it’s still expensive and by sitting in one place during the winter we can save up the gas money for the summer when the snow is gone and the land is alive again. The main reason I come to Ehrenberg is I can live so cheaply and easily here:
- Because there is no Ranger Enforcement, we don’t have to move camp every two weeks, saving on hassle and gas costs.
- It’s a very large area and can easily accommodate 30-40 campers without being crowded, so we get to see old friends again.
- We’re only 7 miles from Blythe, CA which has good, cheap shopping. It would be better if it had a Walmart, but the local grocery store, Smart and Final, is quite cheap and we can still eat for a minimum amount of money.
- There is easy access to the necessitates like water, trash, dump stations, mail and showers.
- While it can get cold here, generally we don’t need to burn propane for heat, and when we do its not often and even then only for a few months.
Saving money is a big consideration for many of us, but I believe there is another, deeper and more profound difference in how long we stay in one place during the winter.
Conflicting Instincts
Humans are odd creatures! While we all have some degree of itchy -feet where we instinctively want to move and travel, we also have an instinct to establish a “nest” (to continue the bird metaphor). By that I mean we all want a sense of “home” and belonging to a place. I think the Lakota tribes of the plains are a perfect example of that. While most of them were nomadic and moved with the seasons, they also had an extreme sense of belonging to the land and that the land belonged to them.
It’s nearly impossible for the civilized mine to understand their feelings because we are totally caught up in the concept of “ownership” and “property.” The Lakota didn’t own the land and it wasn’t their property. Instead, it was the place where the bones and bodies of their fathers and mothers were, they had come from that land and they would return to the land. The only way to understand it as a spiritual connection; they loved the land like family. So at the same time that they moved constantly, they also treasured and revered the place they called “home”. When the Europeans came to steal it from them, they were more than willing to die to keep it.
The concept is summarized in in this simple Lakota phrase (quote from Wikipedia here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitakuye_Oyasin):
Mitakuye Oyasin (All Are Related) is a phrase from the Lakota language. It reflects the world view of interconnectedness held by the Lakota people of North America.[1] This concept and phrase are expressed in many Yankton Sioux prayers,[2] as well as by ceremonial people in other Lakota communities.[3][4]
The phrase translates in English as “all my relatives,” “we are all related,” or “all my relations.” It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life: other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks, rivers, mountains and valleys.[2]
So we have conflicting instincts. On one hand we are born with a desire to wander and to have adventure, but at the same time we long for and need a connection to the land and to place. If you’ve been around on-line gatherings of vandwellers like my forum, the Vandwellers facebook group or the Yahoo Vandwellers group, you know this is a topic that comes up constantly. On a regular basis someone recommends we collectively buy a piece of land that we share. Another topic that comes up is the idea of merging homesteading and vandwelling by growing your own food or having chickens while living in a van, RV or even truck. Unfortunately neither of them are practical ideas, but it reflects the longing of our heart that it constantly reoccurs.
It seems like all of our camps welcome us home with a light show of some kind. The Arizona desert never disappoints! This was the second night we were back.
Different Ratios of Instincts
It seems to me that the pull of the conflicting instincts has a different ratio for most people. With some the instinct to travel is so strong, and the need for a home is so weak that they simply must keep moving no matter the cost to them. With other people travel is a definite tug, but it’s not strong enough to overcome their need for place. For a very large group of people, their civilized training has virtually obliterated their awareness of the desire to travel. Or the constant fear-mongering they’re subjected to has made it such a fearful idea they recoil in terror at the thought of it, even while they long for it
I’m convinced the instinct to travel is still there in all of us, but the practical reality is the majority of people are so out of touch with it, it might as well not exist for them. I’m also convinced our dis-connect from it is one of the main causes of societies social ills.
Like migratory birds, Humans are naturally migratory creatures, moving with the seasons and returning to nest. By feeding both instincts, we’ll be healthier and happier. Photo taken at Bosque Del Apache NWR, New Mexico.
Finding a Balance
For me, I actually have a fairly strong need for place, but my need for travel is greater. That’s reflected in my choice of vehicle to live in. I have a converted cargo trailer that becomes a comfortable but easily movable home in the winter, and then in the summer I put it in storage and travel in just the van–I get the best of both worlds! I travel 5 months out of the year and “nest” for the other 7 months. So I’ve come to believe I have about 50-50 ratio of adventure instinct and need for place. The reason I consider them even, is that even when I’m nesting I’m still on wheels and can and do move around.
This is how I’ve found balance; a trailer that roots me to place in the winter and then goes in storage for the summer when my van becomes my wild mustang that flies me across the landscape so I can see and explore new places. How have you found a balance?
On the other hand, I have friends that it seems like their travel instinct is 90%! They can not stay still! Even after a few years of nomadic life, they never stay in a place for more than a few weeks. So we’re all different and there is no right or wrong in it. You travel as much as feels right to you and sometimes you travel more and sometimes you travel less.
The main reason people come to this website is that they feel the tug of travel and adventure. I’m under the impression that many, if not most of you aren’t travelers and you may never be. Your instinct to travel is strong, but your fear of change or instinct for home is stronger so you come here to live vicariously through us.
Finding Your Balance
Whatever your circumstances, it’s important you accept yourself right where you are and embrace your life. But, at the same time you should try to bring your life as close as possible to your natural balance. Maybe that means you can never be a full-time nomad, but can you be a part-time nomad, taking trips as often as you can? Here are some possible steps you might consider taking:
- Can you trade your car for a mini-van and get it ready to spend weekend trips camping and traveling in?
- Embrace the minimalist attitude required by the nomadic life and start selling and getting rid of your excess clutter and stuff. Save all the money you can from it.
- Stop buying more crap you don’t really want and need.
- With less clutter can you move into a smaller home and start saving money every month?
- Can you move into a van and start paying the rent to yourself every month?
- Can you get a bike and start riding it to be healthier, build up your stamina, be closer to nature and to save money at the same time?
- With the savings you build up by 1) selling things, 2) no longer buying as many things and 3) moving into a smaller place, can you afford to buy a vehicle to travel in and start taking trips?
- Can you work less hours or change to a job that you like more?
- Even if you still can’t get as much travel in as you’d like, wherever you are there are parks and natural places nearby where you can go and spend time connecting to nature. You’re life will be greatly improved if you start doing that.
It’s almost certain that every person reading this can take some of these steps. I firmly believe that if you will take as many as you can, your life will be better and you will be both healthier and happier.
Give it a try!! You have very little to lose and a whole lot to gain!
I’m making Videos on my good friends James and Kyndal’s YouTube Channel. See them here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_W_E5SFCxwpSOaqMjOOBTg
Thanks for supporting this site by using these links to Amazon. I’ll make a small percentage on your purchase and it won’t cost you anything, even if you buy something different.
A map to my current camp. Check with me before you visit, I may well have already flown away.
I thoroughly agree that each of us has our own evolution and our own balance of potentially conflicting needs. I’m having an interesting time with this. A specific turning point is coming to me soon, and I’ll have to make decisions around the end of the year.
Practicing minimalism and experiencing nature as much as I can get out seem to come naturally to me. In addition, I do not experience strong ties to specific places. That may be because home “ownership” was not something my family did until I was almost grown, and then it didn’t go well. I come from a line of people, on both sides, who answered the call of faraway places.
Two other issues have arisen, though. One is that I have experienced strong, loving, spiritual-not-religious community and replacing what I have will be difficult, as far as I can see. Continuity counts in this. I am studying and seeking examples of people who travel and still find this community.
The other issue is a modern problem. I have Medicaid, and I need to continue having it or something to cover some of my medications, tests, etc. Medicaid is a state-by-state program; I might not have coverage outside whatever state I use as a residence. There are a few related issues, but saving the cost of rent and traditional utilities would give me money enough to take care of most of them.
The way I foresee my journey, if it materializes, is that I will travel as much as I can for a few years to see some things I value, then settle into a cycle somewhat like hunter-gatherer peoples.
Calvin, you’ve got a lot on your plate and a mine-field to get your way through. All I can do is wish you the very best as you negotiate it.
Bob
Thanks for that, Bob. (On the other hand, I have the Internet for ideas and plenty of time to study and plan.) The important things are to keep a realistic “attitude of gratitude”,to keep in touch with my own reality and the Supreme Reality embodied by our planet.
One way or another, life will work out as it should.
Indeed it will Calvin. The more we get out of the way, the better it works.
Bob
The Internet resolved the Medicaid issue. One down, one to go.
One step and one day at a time Calvin–that’s how you make a journey of 1000 miles.
Bob
Calvin, I would love to know what you found out about the Medicaid issue.
“On the other hand, I have friends that it seems like their travel instinct is 90%! They can not stay still! Even after a few years of nomadic life, they never stay in a place for more than a few weeks.”
Hmmmmmmm… I wonder who you have in mind. 🙂
I thought of you, Al, when I read that. But it could have described me as well. I think the longest I stayed anywhere was 2 weeks. I would use my need to dump my tanks or to buy groceries as an excuse to move on if I hadn’t already moved by then.
I’ll never admit it Al!!!!
Bob
Off topic but something I have been wondering about. Re: the Amazon link, when I change .com to .ca to go to the Canadian site, do you still get a referral fee? If not, should you set up a separate link for Canada?
Thanks for indulging my curiosity.
I’m sorry BC Guy, I don’t know, but my guess is no, it doesn’t work. I appreciate your asking though!
Bob
I’m definitely the traveler/explorer type of nomad, rarely staying in one place for more than a week, but Bob’s post brings up a key point in deciding on a rig…
If you like to “go to ground” for weeks/months on end, then by all means get a cargo trailer, travel trailer, fifth-wheel, or RV/toad combo simply for the comfort, but if you’re the traveler/explorer type, then nothing beats a van (no trailer) for “go anywhere without a game plan” type of traveling. With a stealth van, you really don’t need to make any plans whatsoever (ie: today, my plan was: “South-ish”)
On the gas issue, what many people don’t consider is that in true van dwelling (no trailer), you never have to return to camp, you just keep on going. When the van dweller leaves camp A and finds a new camp B—he just makes camp. He’s already there. But for the trailer dweller, he leaves camp A in his “explorer vehicle,” finds camp B, then has to return to A to pick up his trailer, then tow the trailer to B. Same thing applies for trips into town (and back to camp)… the van dweller goes into town and either camps stealthily right there or just keeps on going. No return trips are required.
So for those contemplating this lifestyle, determining the TYPE of traveler you are (or want to be) can be a key deciding factor for rig selection.
To clarify the gas point. Say to go from Camp A to Camp B cost a tank of gas. The van dweller pays for ONE tank of gas, but the trailer dweller pays for about THREE AND A HALF tanks (1 to find the camp, 1 back to pick up the trailer, 1.5 to tow the trailer). Same thing with trips into town. The van dweller may travel more, but in effect, he only pays a third the price for gas as the trailer dweller.
This is why my camp setup is very minimal. I can usually have everything back in the van and ready to go in a couple of minutes (five if I need to fold the solar panel back down). Most of the time it’s just a matter of putting the step inside. Sometimes, when I intend to come back, I’ll leave a chair and/or table behind to mark my territory, because peeing around the camp doesn’t seem to work with humans.
Yeah, the peeing thing didn’t work for me either. Maybe Jack Nicholson (The Howling???)
Now that is a big reason to not get a trailer, they are a pain to break camp and move! But, if you only move them a few times a year it isn’t really a big deal.
Bob
Brahaha!?
Wayne, that’s an interesting idea and the trailer does limit where I can go and drops my MPG by about 1/3 while towing it, But I’ve never done what you describe here. The reason I chose a cargo trailer instead of a bigger trailer is it can go more places. What I do is head down a forest or BLM road and if it starts to get iffy I get out and walk down it to be sure the trailer can make it. I don’t mind that because I am a walker anyway and it’s a pleasure for me.
I don’t believe I’ve ever taken a scouting trip and then gone back to get the trailer.
Bob
Good points on the cargo trailer Bob. My experiences were with a Class C + Jeep and a pickup truck + 8′ wide travel trailer—not very “explorer” friendly set ups. 🙂
You’re right about that Wayne! One of my primary reasons for choosing a cargo trailer was it was short, narrow and had high ground clearance. I can still go many more places without it, but it does pretty good.
Bob
I’m not sure that has to be the case (in terms of the amount of gas you say an RVer might burn versus a van dweller). While I might be happy in a van if it were just me, I would have no chance convincing my wife. Our Class A with a Jeep in tow allows us to use the Jeep for exploring (something we would want to do anyway) and allows us to note potential camps for future use. Since we would be exploring anyway, I’m not sure your gas use analysis fits in our case.
your camp looks really good right about now, we’re having back to back to back to back… rainstorms up here in the PNW!
I second BC Guy’s question about the Amazon links. I’ve looked at a few items from your store, but they either don’t ship to Canada or charge a mint to get it to me.
That’s a nice video you did on building Debra’s bed. Could you do a follow-up segment at the end of the next video to show how she ended up setting up her storage units and boxes? My partner and I like her polka-dot totes. 🙂
Nicely written article, Bob. You have become quite the professional writer. Extremely well structured and easy to read articles right to the point. I think travelling and writing was your true calling. You are THAT good!
Our life on the road is progressive. We are generally moving most everyday. We set a goal of just 25 miles a day and where we end up is home for the night.
After five years on the road we find this works best for us and our animals. We travel with our cats and they love it!
The 25 mile span allows us to do several things at once. We are moving and never a target for LEO or the nefarious side of life. We get a great feel for different communities with quick history lessons and local flair. We also believe we are saving gas money by constantly moving in small increments. A tank can last a few weeks easily and we get max exposure to our travels.
It all adds up to a great time in the slow lane.
Marshall, I love your travel plan! It isn’t what I do but I can see that it would be perfect for lots of people. Because I’m goal-oriented in my travel I move from goal to goal, but most people aren’t that way and yours is a good plan.
Thanks
Bob
Very good blog and timely for me. I haven’t had a place feel like home in years and the houses, they seem “homey” but are “staged”. If not for my adult son with DS(fear of losing him should someone not like my choices) and my pets, I could leave now with my trunk full of stuff and never look back. I guess I have “tasted” life on wheels and once you “taste” it, you know where your heart belongs. What is great about this blog is the emphasis that you can always do little things that count toward any goal and improve on your situation. I love being outside and it does revitalize my soul. Choice is good and there are so many and no one else can choose for you. I always thought I didn’t like my parents making my choices but that was the “easy” life as now it is all on me.
Cathy, yes, even if you can’t go “all-in” you can do smaller things to make your life better. We can all do that.
Bob
I am currently nesting in a 5th wheel in a coastal rain forest. Very connected to the old growth forest and its inhabitants, the animals seem to know I belong here.
They never cease to amaze me with their gentle and playful communication. A hawk once took me to its fledgling spot.
A crow threw acorns at my bike, then laughed when he got a hit, just like in the cartoons! The dogs and I have snacked on blackberries with black bears…
Winter is time to commune with whales and sea life.
I have a small travel trailer for excursions.
Hmm..do I want to explore, or go deeper into the forest?
green, it sounds like you have the very best of both worlds! You are a very lucky man!
Oh, and it turns out that ravens are remarkably smart birds, in fact one of the smarter creatures in the animal kingdom.
Bob
Bob, you mentioned briefly that homesteading with a van for a dwelling isn’t practical. I read about one guy who made it work very well for himself, and it’s kind of the reverse of what you do. He lives in his van full time, but bought a small country plot of land. He stays on the property late Spring through early Fall. Makes improvements upon it, raises chickens and rabbits that he purchases each year locally. He also plants a garden and harvests it. Then when he’s ready to hit the road he either butchers the left over chickens and rabbits for his van freezer, or he resells them locally. Locks his few tools and things in a shed, and hit the road traveling in warmer climates for the Winter. Come Spring he’s refreshed and ready to start working the land again.
Many years ago Harlan Hubbard and his wife spent many years doing esentially the same thing in Shanty Boat Journal – a great read. It’s basically the direction I’m trying to head my life – living simply and close to the land, while traveling during the colder months for both my physical and mental health.
You’re right Doug, I wasn’t very clear. What I meant was it’s impractical to raise the animals and crops on the road in a van, RV bus or truck, nor is it practical for a bunch of people to get together and own land together. On the other hand, owning land and homesteading part of the year is very practical.
Bob
Totally agree with you there Bob. Some people raise a few sprouts or such in their van, but that’s about it. And it’s amazing how most of the communes have failed, or are now trying to reinvent themselves as tiny house communities. Even those are struggling to get off the ground. You know what they say, “the quickest way to kill an idea is by committee”. I think while most people need connection to others, they also need to feel like they have control of their own life and destiny. Probably why alternative living arrangements including van dwelling are becoming so popular. The American Dream has become a set of shackles and we’ve lost control of our lives.
That’s very well said Doug!!
Bob
Half the time I feel like a caged animal. The other half of the time I feel like, you guessed it, a caged animal! Sometimes there are special circumstances that keep some of us grounded, like an elderly parent. A sad reality for a lot of us I’m guessing.
I’m sorry you and your mother are going through that thrifty. You are not alone though, I’m aware of several people who are grounded taking care of elderly parents. Family comes first so you do what you have to do. Your time will come though.
Bob
Hi thifty. Your post compelled a response. I am in precisely the position you described–caring for one remaining parent. Though I made the commitment with eyes wide open to care for my parents , I never fully understood the breadth and depth of that commitment. It can seem soul-crushing at times. Given it all, I don’t regret my decision.
I’ll take heart in knowing that others are managing in similar circumstances. In the meantime it’s tons of fun to brainstorm, fantasize, window shop all our options, read of others’ adventures, and (very importantly) learn from their experiences, which I’m grateful they share with us.
Keep your chin up. We’ll all make it one day.
Keejo
Love the Lakota phrase. My limitation on traveling for now is the cost. Otherwise, I’d probably be a lot like Al. And, like you, I am happy as can be hanging out here in the desert and nesting for the winter. It is an amazing life. But, Bob …. “generally we don’t need to burn propane for heat, and when we do it’s not often” …. As you know, we part company on that one (so to speak) – for now. I can’t imagine how cold I would be without the bed you and James built for me. Thank you again – great video by the way. Insulation coming up next for me – then maybe I can turn the heater off for awhile.
Debra, but you have to admit, you are pretty cold blooded!! Insulation will help a lot also.
Bob
I’ll see in boondocking areas where previous campers have arranged rocks, marking off their area, establishing walkways and such. I see other campers hanging wind chimes or lights or otherwise decorating the area around them. They’re nesting. They’re establishing a connection to that spot. I have no such urges. My van is my nest. I enjoy the places I camp—there are some I dearly love and would like to be there more—but I don’t need to attach myself to those places. I’m there to enjoy the spot for itself, as it is, then to move on. Always moving on.
In a comedic science fiction novel I read, there’s a planet whose inhabitants are giant wheels who spend their lives constantly rolling. If they stop, they fall over and can’t get up. They chant, “Keep On Rolling! Into the Yonder!” I’m sort of like that. In fact, I’m thinking of having “Into the Yonder” tattooed on my arm.
You definitely should Al!
I’m really sure I remember a Star Trek Captain when asked where to next at the end of the episode, he used to say “full ahead to the nearest star” i always thought that kind of described us too.
Bob
Wonderful conversation.
Gardening on the road is my current DIY project.
I saw a video of a brilliant, simple cold frame box
(growing greens) attached to the back bumper of a rig.
This year I may try growing vegies in pots in my kitchen
slide out. Sprouting is great for winter.
Healthy, cozy travels, everyone!
http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/herbal-remedies/forest-bathing-ze0z1301zgar.aspx
green, I’d be very interested in hearing how that goes! A surprising number of vandwellers and RVers have green thumbs and want to grow some of their food on the road. It’s pretty easy on a small scale like sprouting or even some herbs. Much more and it gets difficult.
Bob
here’s a link for Calvin, featuring a home made micro-mobile, bike-towable trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiejAhol4Ps
Ming, thank you for the effort of finding and posting that. I’ve seen it once before but had lost the link. I need to watch it again. There’s a little inspiration there and some very useful ideas.
Marshall’s post above (25 miles a day) adds to the inspiration factor. If I pay attention to the weather (and study the information the Internet offers), 25 miles a day or the 30 I’ve considered trying to average will keep me ahead of the seasons. When you realize that my bicycle average speed is 10 miles per hour, that’s not very hard work. My health problems will not let me do “heroic” distances, but that doesn’t bother me. As long as I find places to sleep, the rest will work out.
I still have things to work through and consider, but nowadays I’m choosing among things I’d like to do much more than when I was younger. I find it amazing how many things become possible if I find the right people and information.
good luck, living nomadically off a bike and moving with the seasons is very impressive in my mind.
I liked some of the ideas from the video, especially the storage cabinets and counters made from coroplast. I may give them a try in the truck canopy, if I could only figure out how to attach things to the fiberglass without drilling through it!
Ming, but if you took the bus or train for longer distance travel it becomes pretty realistic. In Arizona it’s easy to camp within 5-10 miles of a town in the desert or in the National Forest. You’d just have to take the train or bus between them. Two trips to town a week would be 20-40 miles total per week and most good cyclists can do that. Your camp could stay hidden in the woods so it would just be for supplies.
Bob
Calvin, I have a friend who has lived on his bike for 3 years now and he takes the train or bus to cover longer distances and just explores his local area on the bike. I think that makes it much more attainable for most people.
Bob
Ohhh I like that rig. Amazing what we (humans) can do when we set our minds to it. Talk about living frugal and with a small footprint. 🙂
Indeed it is Wayne!
Bob
That is very, very cool Ming!
Bob
ah yes, I have done that often in the past, taken buses and trains with my bike to cover the bulk of the distance to my trip destination.
Yes, it’s such a cool little trailer. It reminded me of the recumbent I built, it had a partial fairing built of coroplast.
The inventor in the video has built many other things. I think that his coroplast tipi may fit the bill for a structure that would both withstand the desert winds and be easy to put up. I think that may be the one that I finally build after considering many different types of structures for the past 2 years.
Bob,
Thanks for sharing this and all of your experiences. It turned out to be a fateful mouse-click that brought me to your blog and forums several months ago.
Over the weekend I stumbled upon a video of Lee Marvin singing “I Was Born Under a Wandrin’ Star,” from the movie Paint Your Wagons. I thought to myself,”by gawd, that’s my anthem.” Shortly afterwards I read this most recent blog posting and thought, “hell, that’s everyone’s anthem.” Hope this is new to some folks.
Thanks,
Keejo
The vid of Lee Marvin’s singing is here, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El9eCRisbDo )
Keejo, thanks for sharing that with us. Marvin wasn’t a great singer, but there is just something about that one that grab you!
Bob
Wheels are made for rollin’, mules are made to pack
I’ve never see a sight that didn’t look better lookin’ back