How To Be A Successful 21st Century Nomad

By Robert Witham

Do you have what it takes to be a nomad? Are you ready to ditch the “sticks and bricks” residence in exchange for a life of adventure on the road? You will find yourself in good company if so.

The number of people who are interested in the nomadic lifestyle grows considerably each year. Fortunately, there are more resources available than ever to help people navigate the transition, but there is still a shortage of “one-stop” resources. This book aims to fill that void.

How To Be A Successful 21st Century Nomad covers topics from deciding to embrace the nomadic life to setting up electrical in your vehicle. This book attempts to distill the lessons, knowledge, and skills that I have learned over the years as a nomad into one logical, accessible volume. In short, this book allows you to benefit from what I have learned the hard way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Witham
• Release date: Feb 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463711255

Robert Witham

I am a wandering minimalist, author, journalist, and photographer.When I am not at my laptop writing or building a website I can usually be found hiking or traveling to some new place.

Book preview

What Is Nomadic Living

"That’s how it is. New ones show up every day. Full of anxiousness and hope and grit and to some degree or other getting distance from some bad thing. Like how it was moving west is what it seems to me. It wasn’t the happy ones who loaded up the wagons and lit out into desolation and violence to find something new at the end of the world. If you could stand it at all you stayed put." - Scott Odom ¹

Nomadic living. Becoming a nomad. Traveling full-time. Long-term travel. These terms, and others like them, are increasingly making their way into the common vernacular.

This may be the result of growth in this lifestyle movement, or it may be attributable to the prevalence of people sharing their lifestyle on social media in this era. It has never been easier to be exposed to different ideas from around the world. No matter the cause, more people are becoming familiar with nomadic terminology. Still, there remains an abundance of confusion about exactly what it means when someone says they are a nomad.

What is a nomad?

A nomad, by definition, is someone who does not stay in one place at a fixed abode, but instead migrates or wanders perpetually. In the past, this term was most commonly applied to people groups that were migratory. In current usage, it often refers to individuals who have traded a fixed abode, often referred to as sticks and bricks in nomad lingo, for a life of wandering and movement.

How many people are nomads?

There is some debate as to whether nomads are indeed part of a growing trend or whether the nomadic lifestyle just receives more exposure lately due to social media and a number of high-profile news articles, books, and documentary films.

Reliable data about the number of nomads is difficult to find. Nomads tend to either be overlooked completely or to be counted as a resident of the state where they are domiciled and pay taxes, register their vehicles, and maintain a driver’s license. In any case, nobody is performing official counts of nomads other than in select locations.

Some numbers are available within niches, such as snowbirds. These numbers are somewhat easier to collect by communities that are inundated by temporary residents in search of sunshine and warmer weather. In the case of snowbirds, who may or may not maintain a fixed address to return to during warmer months, there are literally millions in the U.S. These nomads descend on snowbird meccas like Florida and Arizona each fall and then leave again in the spring before the weather becomes unbearably hot.

Other nomad niches, like digital nomads, do not have reliable data available to indicate whether the numbers are growing or not. Partly this is due to classifications. Whether a digital nomad works for an employer or is self-employed, digital nomad is not an official job classification.

Anecdotal evidence that is widely reported by both employers who hire nomads and long-time nomads themselves indicate that the number of working, long-term travelers is indeed increasing in recent years. This trend accelerated a decade ago during the Great Recession and has not yet abated. Whether the trend will continue, and for how long, is another unanswered question.

What is the nomadic lifestyle all about?

Trying to define what the nomadic lifestyle is about is an impossible attempt at stereotyping. The nomadic lifestyle means different things to different nomads, and individual nomads have their own reasons for embracing the lifestyle. There are several common themes that are frequently expressed by nomads though. These include freedom, travel, and finances.

Freedom, at least in an American context, is often understood as being left alone to live your own life. In this context, freedom may involve not having a boss tell you what to do (at least for very long), being able to spend your time in a location of your choice, not being saddled by ever-increasing housing costs that lock people into jobs that they may hate, and generally being left to live life on one’s own terms as much as is possible.

Travel is another important reason that many people become nomads. It is a big and wonderful world with so many things to see and experience. A growing number of people are becoming disillusioned with the American model of working 50+ hours per week through their 40-50 best years and hoping to be healthy and wealthy enough to travel upon retirement. Those who begin to question the assumptions behind this prevailing system may also decide that the time to travel and explore is now while they are still able to enjoy the experience. Too many people have known friends or loved ones who discovered that retirement did not provide the opportunities that had been anticipated.

Finances also play a significant role in many people’s decision to become nomads. This has become particularly true in the years since the Great Recession. Too many Americans watched as their life’s savings and real estate values were depleted at the same time that income opportunities were also crippled. Many were never able to recover from those losses and now face a financially uncertain future. In many situations, these people are searching for alternative, less expensive ways to live and in the process discovering the nomadic lifestyle.

There are many ways to be a nomad

There is a saying amongst Appalachian Trail (AT) through-hikers: Hike your own hike. The idea is that there are many ways to hike the AT. Each hiker needs to embrace his or her own hiking style.

The same principle applies to being a nomad. Do not let anyone tell you how to be a nomad. You alone make the rules on the lifestyle that works for you.

There are people who will proclaim that you need to be in a van or that you need to be in an RV to be a nomad. Some will say that you should only stay on public land and never pay for camping, while others will accuse you of being some form of undesirable freeloader if you do not pay rent in a campground or RV park. In other words, everyone has an opinion - and their opinions do not matter. The only opinion that matters when it comes to how you are living a nomadic lifestyle is your own.

While vehicle-dwelling nomads have received a lot of press in recent years and are the subject of this book, there are in fact many ways to be a nomad. Consider a few examples.

JetSet- Jet set nomads may travel the country or the entire world, but they are not primarily traveling by ground and living in a vehicle. Jet set nomads typically fly to new destinations (as implied by the name) and then secure temporary accommodations wherever they are staying. Accommodations may take the form of camping, house sitting, or staying in a hostel, hotel room, or Airbnb.

Bicycle- There are a surprising number of nomads who choose to travel by bicycle, though this is admittedly a niche mode of travel. It appears that most bicycle-traveling nomads are long-term or short-term travelers rather than permanently traveling on a bicycle, but there are exceptions. Tom Allen is one example of someone who has traveled extensively by bicycle for considerable lengths of time².

Motorcycle- Some nomads also choose to travel by motorcycle. Traveling by motorcycle allows a nomad to cover more territory than on a bicycle, and to do so faster. It also makes it practical to carry a bit more gear.

Pedestrian- A limited number of nomads choose to forego mechanical transportation altogether and just walk wherever they want to go. This is the simplest way to travel, but also arguably the hardest. Walking around the country (or world) requires plenty of stamina and a willingness to embrace extreme simplicity and minimalism.

Vehicle- The style of nomadic living that most people are familiar with involves living in or out of a car, truck, SUV, RV, or other vehicle. The vehicle may or may not have originally been designed for human habitation; it may instead be modified to meet the needs of the nomad occupant.

Temporary Housing- Yet another style of nomadic living is migrating between temporary housing arrangements. This approach may be done with or without a vehicle as public or mass transportation options are available between most cities. Temporary housing arrangements may involve house sitting, caretaking, or even paid, short-term rental arrangements.

As we have seen, there are many ways to be a nomad. There is not a right or wrong approach to the nomadic life - only a solution that works for you and best meets your own unique needs and preferences.

Notes

Scott Odom, The Dishwasher’s Tears Blog - https://thedishwasherstears.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/sunrise-ehrenberg/

https://tomsbiketrip.com

Deciding to Become a Nomad

I've no idea if it's the right thing to do or not. I just feel like I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. - Tom Allen ³

Are you sure that you want to be a nomad? The nomadic life can be marked by adventure, incredible experiences, and wonderful people, but it is still not for everyone.

Many people try the nomadic lifestyle each year, inspired by beachside Instagram posts and YouTube videos that portray the life as glamorous, care free, low stress, and comfortable. Nothing could be further from the truth than these idyllic portrayals of nomadic life, and too many people are profoundly disappointed when they discover what the lifestyle is really like day in and day out.

The good news is that you can always try being a nomad and then go back home in most cases. In fact, it is often a good idea to hedge your bets when embracing the nomadic lifestyle.

Don’t burn your bridges at home if at all possible. In fact, I would strongly encourage everyone to have an exit strategy for their nomadic life. This escape and reentry plan does not need to be elaborate or detailed, but it should be realistic. At least with a reasonable exit strategy you will be free to try being a nomad with the confidence that you are also able to change directions if the lifestyle does not suit you.

Despite the proclamations you will sometimes hear about a person never getting off the road and going back to sticks and bricks, there are many reasons why a person may need or want to stop traveling, whether temporarily or permanently. Family situations, health care, and economic concerns like needing to find a job for a while are all reasons why nomads have exited the road.

Psychological hurdles

The psychological hurdles far outweigh the physical obstacles for most people who are new to the nomadic life. This is not to say that the physical obstacles may not be significant, but that the psychological hurdles tend to be more difficult to overcome.

Mentally adjusting to the nomadic life takes time. Everything is so different, whether sleep cycles, daily activities like cooking or hygiene, or learning to find good campsites on an ongoing basis. There is so much to learn and adjust to all at once that it takes a period of time to settle in to the lifestyle.

My recommendation is to commit to at least one year as a nomad before you decide if the lifestyle is for you or not. There are so many adjustments to make that it takes time to settle in and find your own rhythm. Additionally, whether you are a snowbird or remain in the same geographical area throughout the year, committing to a full year will allow you to experience (and survive) all four seasons.

After a full year as a nomad you should have a pretty good idea of what the lifestyle is all about. At this point you will be in a good position to decide if it is for you or if