Are there caravans from April to October?

[Mary Lou]

Hello,
I’m a single female, and I’ll be beginning my adventure as a nomad next April 2023. Since your caravans seem to run from October to the end in April, what do you all do from April to October?

Thanks!

Mary Lou from Oregon

 

[Camper]

Welcome to the forum... many head north to Oregon where it's usually cooler.

 

[bullfrog]

Many work seasonal jobs most of which are over the summer months. Doing lite easy work can be enjoyable once you realize you don’t have too for a lot of us. Many have home bases or family that they visit, improve or even grow gardens. They sort of participate in “normal” life for a few months or continue on to adventures that in cold months wouldn’t be possible for them like trips to Alaska or northern states.

 

[jacqueg]

Hello,
I’m a single female, and I’ll be beginning my adventure as a nomad next April 2023. Since your caravans seem to run from October to the end in April, what do you all do from April to October?

Thanks!

Mary Lou from Oregon

If you're asking what we do instead of actual caravans, we participate in this forum or in virtual caravans. Arrangements for many caravans are through HOWA.

The truth is though, that I think most of us don't participate in caravans at all! The southwest is a natural winter gathering spot, due to weather. From there, people scatter out to visit family, work, and camp all over the US, and some of us also travel to Canada and Mexico. And many of us meet up with each other at various times and places for various purposes.

 

[maki2]

If you want to camp with others in the summer months you could try joining the HOWA Facebook page or the associated page We Camp Together.

The The We Camp Together page was established specifically to help people make connections with others so that you do not have to travel alone. The way it works is you or someone else can post a geographic location and invite others to join them. The person posting says where they are and/or what there destination is and invites others to caravan with them. You can when posting be specific about things such as gender, age, mutual interest such as hobbies, hiking, or even diet preferences of the people you want to travel with. The exact coordinates of your location are generally discussed privately in Facebook messenger as well of course as the getting to know you before I meet you conversations, the exchanging of phone numbers, email, etc.

I participated in the very first HOWA caravan last
October. I also, last year, posted the area I wanted to camp in on the We Camp Together face book page and was invited to join a group of women who were camping in that location. This summer I have camped with persons from both groups as well as camping with people I have met in this forum. Then made new friends with persons they were camped with.

There are also many Van Life types of events and gatherings around the country you can participate in. Some have agendas such as doing cleanup parties on various BLM land that got trashed out. Some are for people who need help with van builds or want to give their skills to help those in need. A few are about sharing a love of music, or a giant vegan gathering, meditation groups, love to hike, have the same or similar type of RV, etc. At such gatherings you just need to be friendly and brave enough to smile and say hello if someone wants to talk to you. Of course dog owners out for a walk often get invited into conversations. Having a friendly dog means you will have always people saying hello to you and your dog.

 

[RvNaut]

Hello,

Since your caravans seem to run from October to the end in April, what do you all do from April to October?
Thanks!
Mary Lou from Oregon

Well hello Mary Lou ( I couldn't resist) ,


No, at this point HOWA does not offer organized Caravans during the summer season.

..but.. what tends to happen, and what seems to me to be the point of the HOWA program, is that people that meet at the organized Caravans tend to create their own for the off time. It just happens. You meet someone and fall into a comraderie. I started out in Jan of this year and spent time with two different Caravans groups, first through this forum and joing a group in Quartzsite, AZ and the joining the Red Caravan in Pahrump, NV.


I ended up being joined by people from both those camps in Colorado, where I spent most of the summer dodging the intense heat and most of the torrential rains. Others have gone to Oregon, Maine, Penn,, each with their own agendas and reasons.
Once you have a few months under your belt, it all becomes less daunting. There is a Caravan that ends around mid-April(?) in Pahrump (or there was this last year) ... aim for one of those Caravans to get a start.

I would say that the people I have met have helped me get a good start... there is "a lot to learn". reading this forum deeply and watching a ton of videos will help you gain from other experiences before you hit the road.

Welcome

 

[Jim D]

Hey Mary Lou! I'm looking for a group of people to van travel with in 3 or 4 years. I'm looking for year round instead of the winter months alone. I'm also worried about my medicaid and leaving the state. I'm in my 60's so my youth is long gone. I looked at HOWA and they do good things for people but they are comprised of "Snow Birds" which means during summer the caravans break up and individuals head north for the summer. I looked at Quartzite where HOWA caravans hang out during the winter months and there is very little out there. I need a Walmart and Hospital at least. If you get hurt without medical insurance the emergency room may be free but the helicopter or ambulance ride along with the hospital room you will be put in after the emergency room isn't and you will be charged.

I have 3 or 4 years to hammer these problems out. I did find a town in Arizona that's a possibility and much better than Quartzite but My Medicaid is in Nevada so I will look for BLM free camping in Nevada near a Walmart and a Hospital. The Casinos in Laughlin Nevada let you camp in their parking lots overnight for 14 days straight. I don't think HOWA would stay in the Casino parking lots because of the massive sizes of their caravans. I talked to a HOWA staff member and she said no way no how they would ever stay in the "Safe Parking Areas" that are popping up. So far as I know right now they camp on desert BLM land only. I'm still researching HOWA.

Many things to give thought to.

 

[maki2]

The town of Parker AZ is not an unreasonable driving distance away from the town of Quartzsite for a shopping resupply. It has a Walmart and a hospital. There is BLM land closer to Parker and the HOWA Caravans stayed there in November and December before moving to Quartzsite for the RTR gathering.

If you are in Quartzsite and an aid car is needed to take you to a hospital they take you to Parker AZ. There is a waterfront casino just outside of the town of Parker that has free camping and even has a movie theater too. So if you wanted to you could drive to Parker from Quartzsite, enjoy the river beach at the casino, have dinner and a movie, do a free one night sleep over. Get up in the morning, go to Walmart and head back to Quartzsite. You might as well have some fun instead of just a dash to a grocery store.

But you really do not have to figure everything out years in advance of going on the road. Discovering such things and being spontaneous as you travel is the joy in adventure trip.

I am in my 70s and you will never hear me say to anyone that my youth is long gone. I refuse to feel that way. I have had my medical issues to deal with too but being full time has taken 25 years off my age and attitude. So quit stressing out about this stuff and just make the transition. There are thousands of women your age traveling and camping solo in all kinds of vehicles.

 

[Jim D]

The town of Parker AZ is not an unreasonable driving distance away from the town of Quartzsite for a shopping resupply. It has a Walmart and a hospital. There is BLM land closer to Parker and the HOWA Caravans stayed there in November and December before moving to Quartzsite for the RTR gathering.

If you are in Quartzsite and an aid car is needed to take you to a hospital they take you to Parker AZ. There is a waterfront casino just outside of the town of Parker that has free camping and even has a movie theater too. So if you wanted to you could drive to Parker from Quartzsite, enjoy the river beach at the casino, have dinner and a movie, do a free one night sleep over. Get up in the morning, go to Walmart and head back to Quartzsite. You might as well have some fun instead of just a dash to a grocery store.

But you really do not have to figure everything out years in advance of going on the road. Discovering such things and being spontaneous as you travel is the joy in adventure trip.

I am in my 70s and you will never hear me say to anyone that my youth is long gone. I refuse to feel that way. I have had my medical issues to deal with too but being full time has taken 25 years off my age and attitude. So quit stressing out about this stuff and just make the transition. There are thousands of women your age traveling and camping solo in all kinds of vehicles.

Your youth is gone when you can't go without some kind of medical insurance, in my case medicaid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get me up and running again. I found Parker AZ. and I like it alot. Parker would be much better than Quartzite but unless you have 24/7 plug in for the AC to be running constantly during the summer it's bye bye. I found another place which is Laughlin NV where you can stay in casino parking lots for 14 days straight. During the summer you'd still have to have run the AC 24/7. Solar panels are great and I will get some but you would need alot of them to power the AC and at night there would be no solar panel charge and the battery would most likely die out by morning.

I'm still researching and learning trying to find the correct situation for myself and so far if I find places to stay in Nevada my Medicaid would cover any medical expenses and I've had big time medical expenses. The next thing I will do is see if my Nevada Medicaid will be good if I leave the state. I should have checked that out along time ago . I'm going to start looking up in the Lake Tahoe area where it won't get so hot during the summer and I wouldn't have to drive hundreds upon hundreds of miles each year to get out of the heat. I live in Las Vegas and it's 107 today. I don't even like going outside.

I like the idea of getting together with a group of nomads but so far it seems these groups are hell bent to stay in the desert. I do admit that camping spaces on BLM land up in northern Nevada will be hard to come by in the summer because of all the vacationers but once you get into a space you can stay 14 days before you have to fight to find another one.

 

[Jim D]

NOPE! If your on Medicaid you cannot use it in another state unless your in a life threatening situation where you could not be transported back to your home state fast enough to save your life.

This is what I thought but I never checked it out because I had no ambition to leave Nevada until now.

Here's the read: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/can-i-use-my-medicaid-coverage-in-any-state/