Bob and RTR in the nytimes

[Chuck1]

Organized by Bob Wells, a 62-year-old van-dwelling evangelist who has been living on the road for over two decades, the RTR drew just 45 people when it began in 2010. This year, Mr. Wells said, rangers estimated the crowd at over 3,000. Often called a Burning Man for retirees, the RTR is starting to skew younger, at least by anecdotal measures.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/style/rubber-tramp-rendezvous-rv-trucks-vanlife.html

 

[cyndi]

Although I was not able to attend this year, I thought this was the most accurate of any article related to the previous RTRs I've attended

 

[ZoNiE]

was also crossposted on the Solar RV boondockers FB page.

 

[lenny flank]

"This is a community that has no relation to the social media phenomenon known collectively as #vanlife, for the Instagrammable adventures of attractive young white couples in their atmospheric vintage VW vans, doing yoga, surfing and accruing sponsorship from the makers of hipster products."

 

[Chuck1]

Wait... your saying that's not real, like the free $40,000 car!!! says they love it in every video, it will be funny when the FTC contacts some of them.

Expect 20,000 at the 2019 RTR, All the burning man peeps will go to the burning van

 

[Travelmonkey]

Nice article and a great picture of Bob in his van.

 

[rm.w/aview]

"This is a community that has no relation to the social media phenomenon known collectively as #vanlife, for the Instagrammable adventures of attractive young white couples in their atmospheric vintage VW vans, doing yoga, surfing and accruing sponsorship from the makers of hipster products."

What a great line, and I most certainly appreciate its validation.

 

[TMG51]

Neat article. In the same vein, I've drafted a brief graph to illustrate RTR attendance over time.



I foresee Bob pulling his hair out before he loses it to old age.

 

[ClassyGlobal]

Thanks Chuck1, I was just coming over to post this article. Here's a shortened link for any1 else wanting to share http://nyti.ms/2nxzmQP A sweet article...

 

[lenny flank]

What a great line, and I most certainly appreciate its validation.

I do happen to know, however, that there is actually quite an overlap between this forum and the Reddit Vandwellers forum.

 

[SoulRaven]

I went through most of the comments on the article, and was glad to see that for every comment made out of ignorance of how things worked, someone was able to counter it with the facts. One or more commenting did attend the event. That was a nice picture of Bob and his van.

 

[John61CT]

Couldn't have gotten better coverage hiring a professional PR firm for many grand!

Congrats and thanks to all involved, great resource for replyi. G to mainstream folk questioning our sanity.

 

[crofter]

"This is a community that has no relation to the social media phenomenon known collectively as #vanlife, for the Instagrammable adventures of attractive young white couples in their atmospheric vintage VW vans, doing yoga, surfing and accruing sponsorship from the makers of hipster products."

Wow and we even have a theme song. Why didn't I know that?     ~crofter

[font=georgia,] Quoted from the article, "the RTR anthem, to the tune of the Willie Nelson hit “On the Road Again.”[/font]
[font=georgia,]Rubber tramps again[/font]
[font=georgia,]Like a band of Gypsies we go down to Quartzsite[/font]
[font=georgia,]We’ll see Bob again[/font]
[font=georgia,]We’ll share our tales at campfires in the nighttime[/font]
[font=georgia,]Warm fire time"[/font]

 

[LivGolden]

I have to ask - I've been sidelined and have watched a few Van Build YouTube videos. Are these folks compadres of Mr. Bob?

Thanks.

 

[John61CT]

If not directly, at least friends of friends

 

[QinReno]

 In the same vein, I've drafted a brief graph to illustrate RTR attendance over time.

From what I can tell, jamie's van build attendance is also following the same exponential rate of growth curve, as post #8.

For RTR, maybe I'll just fly my drone over from La Posa, and take a look from 400' up.

 

[QinReno]

[font=georgia,]Like a band of Gypsies we go down to Quartzsite[/font]

I guess they don't know about the other 100,000 RVs that converge on Quartzsite, or probably that many also down around Yuma in the winter.

 

[HalfShadows]

My first experience of van build. Most of everyone is awesome, friendly and helpful. But I can't wait to go to a smaller collective. Tonight is acoustic night. But I will leave early and make a nice korean dish and admire the dunes in the moonlight. Hope RTR is just as good.

 

[LivGolden]

Sounds like a plan. Glad you had fun.

 

[QinReno]

I noticed from one of the youtube videos that they are referring to SB as "Bad to the Bone". How about that.
-