RV Living: Letter From a Traveling Nomad

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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Living in an RV or camper lets people get out of crowded cities.

Many of our earliest common ancestors were nomads who restlessly followed the seasons or trailed after migrating herds of caribou, buffalo, yaks, upland African game and other animals. Maybe that’s why most of us still get the itch to put new country under our feet every spring. A few really hard cases, it seems even dream of developing a year-round gypsy alternative to the nailed-down little boxes that the system tries to fit us into.

Can it be done? Sure can. It IS being done . . . as the following firsthand reports indicate. Is it ecologically sound . . . I mean, with all that driving and everything? Well, surprising as it may seem these full time gypsies generally claim they operate internal combustion engines less now than before they began living on the road. Read the following account for an explanation.

Letter From a Traveling Nomad

I am living in Big Tujunga Canyon. Bright sunlight and fresh air stream into my home. A hundred yards away rushes the creek. Beyond rise rugged hills, green with winter grass and budding shrubs. A few more days I will live here–writing, installing some equipment; then move to Los Angeles for a short, intense contract job. Next summer, when Tujunga Canyon is no longer very green and Los Angeles may be hot in more ways than one, I will be living somewhere in Canada. My home is a house car.

I chose this way to freedom because it offers me the best of two worlds. I can live most of the time away from regimented, congested, indefensible cities, yet still profit by “exporting” my labor into those cities. I have the freedom and security offered by mobility; yet I possess what is in most respects a permanent residence. I can fully enjoy life right now, yet live economically and accumulate capital for further ventures. Finally, I can “opt out” alone; while I look forward to trade with others who may choose similar or complementary ways of life, my liberty does not depend on their decisions.

  • Published on Mar 1, 1971
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