How To Become a Nomad

Activate your Imagination

Once, bison blanketed the Great Plains of the American West. Migratory by nature, they came to symbolize the American migration westward, as in the tune: Home on the Range. “Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam.“ Like our nomadic ancestors, the bison have all but disappeared. Who actually roams these days?

Yet, we are all descendants of immigrants; even Native Americans came from somewhere. Ten thousand years ago, all human beings lived as nomads. About 20% of us have the nomadic gene. Chances are, this wanderlust includes you to some extent.

Now, however, most of us live in a home, where we spend most of our time. Why, you ask, should I roam around when I have a home that is comfortable, safe, and warm?

It’s a fair point. Often, however, instead of owning our homes, our homes “own” us. Instead of traveling, we stay put and tend to our comfy homes. We ask, who will take care of the pets and the houseplants, cut the grass, and pick up the newspaper?

For 40 years as an adult, I was a sedentary person. I owned three different homes, at different times, in different places. I lost track of how many houses I lived in during my career. At 60, at the start of the pandemic, I aged out of the job market and had to retire early. Soon, my world fell apart, my mental health suffered, and I felt very lost.

Almost everything I had was taken away: career, marriage, home, and my savings. I went from feeling like a somebody to being a nobody. And like many people, I sensed that no one cared. Most of us are too busy with our own lives to worry about others.

My retirement savings dwindled. Without income, I could not pass a credit check or rent a place. I had to apply for Social Security. Would I join the ranks of elderly people living in poverty? I envisaged myself staring at the TV and eating cat food out of a can.

There seemed to be no other way out of the trap, so I sat down and wrote my life story. As a new author, I expected that fame and fortune would soon find me. Three years later, I am still waiting for them. Then, one day, while staring out my front window, feeling down, I heard a mysterious voice speak to me. It said, “Do a book tour!”

It was my imagination coming back to life.

What an amazing idea: Do my own national book tour. I would escape the sedentary trap. So I got a minivan (nickname “Van Go”) and converted it into a camper. I had to get the smallest vehicle in order to get into parking garages and small parking spaces.

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The idea of doing a national book tour set my mind on fire; it was all I thought about. Despite the odds, I decided to do it. You may laugh; a lot of my friends and colleagues did. Imagine, a man my age, undertaking such a preposterous mission. It may have been ridiculous to them, but not to me.

In my mind, it was either accept defeat or fight to survive. My imagination set me free. I had to set someone else free. I found a shelter dog in Denver, Colorado. They called him Chado, but he didn’t like the name, so we settled on Mr. Bones instead.

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My point is, if you feel stuck or trapped, try to free your imagination. It can be a powerful and transformative force. Mine gave me the energy and the courage to conceive of, research, and conduct a national book tour.

I got a campervan and a dog, then joined van life. Imagine, at my age, becoming a van lifer. As the oldest van lifer, I asked the younger folks to call me “van-pa!”

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But the blog is not about me; it’s about you. Where are you in your lives? In your careers? Are you happy and feeling fulfilled, or grinding it out daily and just existing? Is your imagination alive and well, do you have dreams, or are you stuck in a rut?

Luckily, my idea turned my life around, and transformed me. I’d like to share my story, hoping it might light a spark and give you new hope.

Some people protest, saying, “I don’t have very much imagination.” We all have imaginations, but for many of us, it goes quiet when we reach adulthood. Like a bear, it may be hibernating inside you, and can be re-awakened. Know this: If you’ve ever fallen in love, you have imagination!

The purpose of this blog is to explore how to re-awaken your imagination, reinvent yourself, at any stage of life, following where your imagination leads you. In future blog posts, we will explore tips to get your imagination going again.

Note that I am not selling anything except the idea that you, too, can change.

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If you want to know how a man can reinvent himself with almost no money and no chance of being hired again, then read on. You’ll soon see.

It began in June 2022, when I set out in mini-campervan, nicknamed “Van Go” (sorry!). Along for the ride was Mr. Bones, the dog that I rescued from a shelter in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Bones is the most affectionate dog I’ver ever met. My grand-dog.

Starting in Denver, we visited hundreds of bookstores across the lower 48 states. I had just enough money for to pay for gas, bad coffee, and parking garages to finish the long tour.

With no money for extravagances like hotels and fancy restaurants, my dog, Mr. Bones, and I had to “boondock” our way across America, often sleeping in rather iffy locations, like big box store parking lots, highway truck stops, and in the woods and campgrounds.

No one saw those sad, lonely, sometimes dangerous places, however. They only saw the amazing pictures of America that I posted on my Facebook page. I never complained about the hardships, and no one ever asked about them.

After looking through my FB pictures, many people asked if I was on an endless vacation, and how I could afford to travel full time. Ah, the hilarious irony. I had to travel; I couldn’t afford to stay still.

In reality, my life was less than luxurious. In the back of the minivan, my bed was only two and a half feet wide, and I had just two feet of headroom. My dog made the bed even more cramped by crowding in to sleep next to me, instead of staying in his bed.

The van lacked certain conveniences, like indoor plumbing and climate control.

Rather than risk opening the van door at night to pee, not sure who or what might be out there, I used a wide-mouth gallon jug. With no AC or heat, we burned up on hot summer nights and nearly froze when winter came around.

But we had a job to do, and we did it, completing the 30,000-mile book tour in six months. Was it worth it? Consider the facts. We made no money from it, but we got to visit all 48 states, national parks along the way, and reconnect with family and friends.

More than that, I was a free man for the first time in 40 years. I had no boss, no meetings to attend, no reports to write. Instead, I woke to the sound of birds singing, felt the breeze blowing, and enjoyed the secret smells Mother Nature hides in the far-away places.

Slowly, I was transforming from the anxious and often depressed city dweller I had been into a person more in tune with nature and the elements. I began to sniff the air every morning, to take in the spicy scent of the tall wild grasses, the dry, dusty smell of the desert, or the cool, bracing, piney scent of the high mountain air.

My dog, a champion sniffer, noticed my growing sniffing ability. “You’re getting the hang of it! Get down on all fours with your nose on the ground.”

Spending almost every day outdoors, under the blue sky and the bright sun, nature was slowly curing me of common ailments that afflict people who live a sedentary life. My anxiety dissipated; I seldom had symptoms of depression. Try putting that in a pill.

We met lots of people along the way. Instead of taking the speedier interstates, I opted for the small, secondary roads and explored small American towns that time has forgotten. Forget your wary ways, smile, and say hello. Small-town people will talk to you.

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Let’s stop for a check-in. Do you want to learn more?

How many of you are thinking of the life you live now, and saying to yourselves, “I wish I could try van life!” That’s what most people say to me. Then, they get a longing, wistful look in their eyes. Their voices trailing off, they often say, “But I can’t…”

They don’t say why. I don’t ask. It is none of my business. But I know what they mean.

For most of my life, I worked a nine-to-five job. Obligations and duties held me back until fate pushed me out the door, and my vivid imagination helped me to hit the road.

In van life, a profound saying occurred to me. “You cannot think outside the box if you live in the box.” Sedentary people struggle to understand what I have discovered about nomadism.

By that, I mean a home is essentially a box, and that living in one your whole life hampers the sedentary imagination. You cannot garner the benefits of living outdoors on the road by dashing outside twice a day.

I don’t mean to criticize sedentary living, but I think my saying holds true, in the same way that people who have never flown in space cannot imagine how the Earth looks from up there.

Be like a buffalo and roam. My belief is that most of us can change our lives if we free our imaginations, explore our dreams, and take a chance, despite the difficulties.

It’s easier said than done, of course.

Many people have complicated situations that don’t allow them to go where they want or to do what they want. I understand that.

Some of you may wonder about my motives. Let me repeat, I’m not selling anything, or promoting van life. It works for me, but we’re all different. I am just sharing.

I encourage everyone to rekindle their imaginations, which have often atrophied. Who knows where your imagination might lead you?

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This is not the place or the time to go into the details about how the first six months on the road got me hooked on van life, and transformed me into a nomad over the ensuing two and a half years,

Instead, I want to ask you a few questions about your life, and encourage you to think about them for a while in your quiet moments.

These are tough questions. Set aside some time to ponder them.

Who are you now? Who do you want to be? Are you the person you hoped to become? Are you satisfied with life? Or are you bored and unfulfilled? These are the tough questions we tend to avoid while we are binge-watching Netflix until we fall asleep.

In this blog, I will ask you WHY. Why do we accept lives that are often unfulfilling, abandon our dreams, and lock our imaginations away in little wooden boxes?

What allows some of us to break out of the box? What would it take for you to explore a new option, or to make a small change?

Another saying came to me. “If you change everything, everything changes.” I can’t think of a change more profound than giving up my home and becoming a nomad. I may look like the same person on the outside, but I’m a very different person inside.

Note:

This blog isn’t just about escaping or downsizing—it’s about seeking a reawakening.

In future posts, I’ll share what I’ve learned about living with less, roaming with purpose, and rediscovering joy on the road.