Interesting People

[IanC]

I have a friend who I met when I had my leather shop - did some work for his vintage Indian motorcycle.  I knew he was a real nice guy - he always stopped by the shop unexpectedly with a bag of fresh ground coffee.  Never knew much about his story though.  Then when I was heading back East, he invited me to stay at his place for a while - which I did.

Sitting around the fire, out came the photo albums.  It turns out he was a van dweller back in the 70's.  Later he built a stealth tiny house on an island in the middle of a lake and then lived in a  trailer on a bit of wooded property he had bought. He was also a national champion boomarang thrower. He retired from a full career working at the VA and now lives a pretty regular life.  Point is that when you see someone on the street, you have no idea what interesting lives they might have lead.

Here's a guy who used to go to Rainbow Gatherings when they first began (here's a flyer from the 1975 gathering that he saved) and is just another old dude living in a regular neighborhood. Also, he's one of the nicest, kindest guys you'll ever meet. It's interesting folks who have experienced alternative lives that make the world a place worth living in isn't it? At least that's what I think.

A picture of Garry with his van before he built it out (he's on the right)

 

[Ballenxj]

How COOL is that?

 

[lenny flank]

 It's interesting folks who have experienced alternative lives that make the world a place worth living in isn't it? At least that's what I think.

Yeah, verily. 



I have met a surprising number of van-campers in Walmart lots across the country. Most of them seem to be retired folks who are traveling the country (either fulltime or part-time). The rest are young families on vacation. It's always interesting to talk with them.

 

[lenny flank]

How COOL is that?

"Far out and groovy, man..."

(IIRC, that expression was still in use in 1975, wasn't it ........?)

 

[Ballenxj]

"Far out and groovy, man..."

(IIRC, that expression was still in use in 1975, wasn't it ........?)

More like mid to late sixties, but yeah, there were still some hanger on-er's.

 

[slynne]

I have found that pretty much everyone has a story and most are quite interesting.

 

[Cammalu]

Slynne I love to hear people's stories and am forever bugging people to tell them.


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[IanC]

Slynne I love to hear people's stories and am forever bugging people to tell them.

I'll say that, that was the absolute best thing about being on the road - the people I met. I think about them all the time and keep in touch with a few. Alex from Alaska , who I parked near in Havasu,  who had a lathe set up on his tailgate to turn bits of wood he found - we became real good friends. Jim and Carley from Australia, traveling for a year in a mini van set-up - I still keep up with their travels via Facebook, Yvonne from Quebec, living in her van when she wasn't living in a remote log cabin in the Canadian woods, the three hippy kids in Savannah who were living on their income from juggling on street corners, a retired Iowa farmer I hung out with in New Mexico with a million stories, the Arkansas redneck dude whose little houseboat ran out of gas and washed ashore by my camp in the middle of nowhere. All the kind local folks.  it's amazing how close you can feel to people in such a short time and then you both pack up, go your own ways and will probably not meet again.

 

[lenny flank]

I have found that pretty much everyone has a story and most are quite interesting.

There was an old radio program I remember hearing about where the reporter would just grab a random person from the street, bring them into the studio, and have them tell their story.

Their motto was "everyone has a story".