When I first started out and heard a friend was jealous over my new nomadic lifestyle, I had to laugh! Here I was fumbling around and exhausted just trying to get my bearings, but I knew in her imagination she was picturing me having a fun 24/7 camping trip, a common myth vs reality conception of nomad life!
Here are some myth vs reality ideas of nomad life I’ve noticed in my travels.
MYTH: Nomad Life Will Bring Perfect Happiness.
REALITY: I LOVE my nomad life, but it’s still life with all its ups and downs. Whatever issues, problems, or limiting beliefs you had before you hit the road will be your companions out on the road. Unless you’re actively working on them, they will soon become apparent, or even get worse, in your new nomad life.
No one is 100% happy all the time, and if they claim to be, it makes me suspicious. Humans are complex creatures, with an infinite range of feelings and emotions, and the emotional detox of becoming a nomad can be intense. Along with the challenges of living on the road, we’ve chosen a way of life that brings us face to face with our SELVES.
There’s always a sense of deep fulfillment living a nomadic life, but becoming a nomad far from solved all my problems.
Myth: Nomads Are Losers That Can’t Hack It In The “Real World.”
REALITY: Nomads come from all walks of life, socio-economic backgrounds and education. A high percentage of us made the choice to embrace this alternative lifestyle, and it’s not because we couldn’t hack it in the real world. There’s many reasons to become a nomad, but one of the most common is to free ourselves from the societal expectations of normalcy. We aren’t as much escaping the “real world,” as we are finding the courage to embrace a more meaningful way of life.
Myth: Nomads Have So Much Free Time!
REALITY: My experience as a disabled nomad who’s unable to work busts this myth. The same daily chores that happen in a house need to be accomplished on the road. Instead of flicking a switch for electricity we spend time maintaining solar systems or generators.
Depending on our set up, the lack of modern conveniences like running water, flush toilets and washing machines forces us to plan ahead for the things we previously took for granted.
Nomads are often viewed as carefree, yet we spend more time, energy and effort than the average house dweller just to maintain our free nomad life! (Excerpt from the book Wild Women On The Road; A Women’s Guide To Nomadic Freedom In The Modern Age )
Then of course we need time to enjoy our nomad freedom! Personally I need dedicated time to mediate, contemplate life, commune with nature, read, play my guitar, write these blogs, enjoy some entertainment and social media on my phone, and stay in touch with my family. And when the nomad community is rockin’ and rolling in the desert for the winter season, there’s all the interesting events to attend!
Myth: Nomads are Dirty.
REALITY: I even wrote a song about this, a kind of tongue in cheek take on dirty nomads…
“ We’re a little bit dirty, and that’s OK,
a little bit dirty and we like it that way … ”
And I wrote about it here in my article: Dirty Nomads.
In reality most nomads have the same hygiene you’d find in any group of people that have access to soap and water. We’ve just found creative ways to stay clean, from simple field baths in our rigs to paying for a luxurious shower at an RV park or Truck stop.
Myth: Nomad Life Isn’t Safe.
REALITY. The change in social and economic conditions in the U.S. has definitely impacted the nomad population, but the basic rules for living safely on the road remain the same.
Has my radar for trouble sharpened with the influx of disadvantaged humans being forced into nomad life? Certainly so. But I consciously stay out of fear and depend on what I’ve learned over the years to keep myself safe on the road. Living in a house doesn’t guarantee our safety, and a mobile lifestyle tends to keeps us out of big cities where there’s more crime.
Myth: We Need a Fancy Buildout and All the Gadgets.
REALITY. The truth is, nomad life can be accomplished successfully in the smallest of vehicles, with no fancy gadgets. We need a bed, a place to clean up, go to the bathroom, and a way to prepare and store food. A basic no build set up can accomplish that, which I wrote about in this article: How To Live In a Vehicle.
Myth. When we’re outside of our rigs in the morning, trying to get our morning coffee going and barely awake, we are super excited to talk to you! **note sarcasm font**
REALITY. A high percentage of nomads consider themselves introverts and it’s a tricky thing to have boundaries AND be sociable. In a traditional house you can lock your door and shut out your neighbor, but in nomad life that boundary is much more vague.
It’s generally agreed upon in the sticks and bricks world that we not just enter our neighbors home and walk into the living room uninvited, or stand outside their house yelling their name. Nomad etiquette is really no different. It can be an adjustment for excited newbie nomads to understand we’re not being rude when we don’t enthusiastically welcome company, and sadly, I’m pretty sure I lost a potential new friend over this very situation. Learning and respecting your neighbor’s specific boundaries is an important skill in nomad life.
And as for me, don’t even think of trying to start a conversation before I’ve had my first sips of coffee!
