NomadLand How many of us are out here?

[vgilbert]

Hello All,
Interesting campfire conversation last night about Nomadland sparked a question that in my mind is impossible to answer. 
How many full time vehicle dwellers are there in the USA?
With most of us having a physical address, on paper at least, the numbers would be very hard to determine. 
Anyone willing to pose a guess?

 

[abnorm]

Roll call.....................

 

[maki2]

123,456

 

[Sofisintown]

Good luck with your quest!

 

[NctryBen]

Then you have the 1/2, 3/4 or whatever timers. But I’d say just vans is quite a bit. Add in campers and such. My last couple runs delivering boats I was amazed at the number of vans that sure appeared to be nomadic. While “everyone “ is populating Quartsite, I was recently on the coast north of San Francisco. Some were obvious and others had you guessing. But wow, I had no idea how big this must be. And it’s just going to grow... one thing that worries me is most anyplace you can pull off or camp for free is the filth people leave behind. A few people can ruin it for many! Truckers have a bad rap for this and I could see van dwellers and such getting the same from the few who are disrespectful in this.

 

[JDub]

"one thing that worries me is most anyplace you can pull off or camp for free is the filth people leave behind. A few people can ruin it for many! Truckers have a bad rap for this and I could see van dwellers and such getting the same from the few who are disrespectful in this. "

You're absolutely correct. Just a small percentage of people disrespecting the Aina (land) has gone a long way towards shaping (often negative) public opinion in many areas towards Nomads. It astounds me how much trash and junk a segment of the nomadic demographic can generate in a very short period of time.

My town is located on a major river and there are some really beautiful and seldom visited spots along the river bluffs. One of them is the old botanical garden project which came to nought years ago, but there still remains an old gazebo overlooking the river. It's pretty secluded and in the midst of a large chunk of undeveloped city owned property. The city keeps it (infrequently) basically maintained and picked up. They don't have much manpower.

I often take my dog there to let him run around free and exercise since there's so seldom anyone else there. A few weeks ago I went out there and it was obvious some folks were surreptitiously camping there (no vehicle I could see). I came across a stash of sleeping bags and backpacks tucked behind the gazebo with signs of very recent activity. I just left it alone and didn't come back for about a week. When I did, I was horrified. Utterly and completely trashed. Looked like a landfill. Food wrappers, takeout containers and plastic cutlery, discarded clothing, used TP, booze cans and bottles, condoms, pop can meth pipes, syringes, you name it, it had been left behind.

I had only counted two backpacks and sleeping bags so unless more joined them (possible) only a couple of people did it within a week. They made no attempt to bag their trash or to use the TRASH CAN located in the gazebo. The Public Works Super lives just 2 houses up and I flagged him down and told him about it. The city ended up spending a couple grand to dispose of the stuff since it was hazmat...

 

[Cammalu]

About a jillion of us I think.

 

[jacqueg]

IIRC, an RV industry association estimated about 3 million full-time RVers, but that was some years ago. And of course that wouldn't include full-timers who don't own RVs. Nor does it include people who regularly take extended trips, but still have an s&b.

 

[rvwandering]

...You're absolutely correct. Just a small percentage of people disrespecting the Aina (land) has gone a long way towards shaping (often negative) public opinion in many areas towards Nomads. It astounds me how much trash and junk a segment of the nomadic demographic can generate in a very short period of time...

I often take my dog there to let him run around free and exercise since there's so seldom anyone else there. A few weeks ago I went out there and it was obvious some folks were surreptitiously camping there (no vehicle I could see). I came across a stash of sleeping bags and backpacks tucked behind the gazebo with signs of very recent activity. I just left it alone and didn't come back for about a week. When I did, I was horrified. Utterly and completely trashed. Looked like a landfill. Food wrappers, takeout containers and plastic cutlery, discarded clothing, used TP, booze cans and bottles, condoms, pop can meth pipes, syringes, you name it, it had been left behind.

This sounds like a homeless camp, not a nomadic camp. Very rarely do fulltime nomads make a mess.

 

[JDub]

This sounds like a homeless camp, not a nomadic camp. Very rarely do fulltime nomads make a mess.

I agree, but the whole demographic gets unfairly tarred due to these cretins... I think these people were "Bicycle" types. We get quite a few of them...

Cheers

 

[MythicTraveler]

Not RV/Van Nomads but Vagrant Druggies ... even so, I used to find a lot of trash just at regular camp sites decades ago.

 

[JDub]

It's amazing how few people it takes to make a mess... I go walking everyday and a a couple times a week I hit the trails down at our C of E dam park (see below). The trails are picked up by the camp hosts everyday but (especially on the weekends), there's litter everywhere. I do my part if I see some lying around but it's just sad to see.

 

[Tepui]

I'm constantly picking up "micro trash" when I'm in the bush.  wrappers, caps, etc. Please just put it in your pocket !  Thanks !

 

[user 423]

More trash on weekends tends to indicate locals as the problem and not people passing through.

But that's just a generalization.

 

[JDub]

It would be also generally true for most places and, in part, is also the case here. The difference is, I live in a remote area where most locals rarely want to go to the parks (been there, done that attitude) they're tired of being bored (we don't even have a bar or theater in town - they want to GO to a larger city for entertainment and shopping on the weekends. Due to several very nice C of E parks stacked on top of each other and proximity to the Talladega NF and the Gulf Coast beaches we get a very steady stream of out of towners. I know because I live 1 and 3 minutes respectively from 2 of the most popular and the main road past my block is the only access down there.

It's a parade of every type of rolling conveyance passing by - especially on Fridays (I'll post some pix) when everyone heads out of TTown, BHam, and Meridian to "Live the country life". My comments weren't aimed at the dedicated mobile living crowd, it was aimed at the few (but growing number) of transient cretins who do 75% of the trashing you see. However, sadly, in the minds of the general public, they're one and the same.

Cheers!

 

[vgilbert]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Nomads are the ones cleaning up trash. We must. We all know who is trashing the land but what matters most to nomads are the resrictions / closures due to disrespect. Part of living on the land is spending some time caring for it. It isnt our trash but pick it up anyway.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]A small group of us came out to No Mans Island to do just that! We spend a little time every day and plan to do so for about a week.[/font]

 

[vgilbert]

Trash, trash, and more trash to come...

 

[Zmann]

Lots...

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Though I'm on the fence about becoming a vandweller I predict that what ever the number is now it will double or even triple in the next 10 years,

as upper middleclass suburbanites are moving back to the cities overpaying for homes thus raising property values to the point where the original people there can no longer afford to live there. and the fact that covid has made an environment where employers are making many positions work from home only, and current technology making it easier to exist as a nomad I see the nomad population surging in the next couple of years. 

Especially when people learn 30-60% of our income goes solely to  keeping and maintaining a house or apartment.