American Nomads Page #2

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I said, "Whoa-whoa.

Let's go back to day one".

I guess stubbornness

probably has a lot to do with it.

I do a lot of travelling.

I've been all over the United States.

Over the years, you know.

In between marriages.

And, er... if I can't have a good day,

and I haven't had a bad day

out here on the road.

No matter whether it's raining on me,

I'm soaking wet or freezing

or hot and sweating, I've never

had a bad day out on the road.

HE LAUGHS:

'I rode with Shelton for 400 miles.

'He took a nap in the back

'and woke up when we arrived

in El Paso, Texas. '

Go down...

OK. See them towers...?

Is that church steeples on the left

over there?

No. No. No.

Yeah. That way,

we won't be in front.

Come on out.

'He's here to collect

a government cheque,

'and then he's going 300 miles

across Texas

'because there might be

temporary work there.

'He's a drifter, essentially.

'A loner with chronic wanderlust.

'I'll give you my definition

of a nomad

'which I stole from

a French philosopher.

'A nomad is someone who doesn't feel

stable when stationary.

'A nomad feels stable

when experiencing velocity.

'Some of them go alone,

like Shelton,

'others move around in tribes.

'And the biggest

tribe of nomads in America today,

'perhaps unexpectedly,

are elderly and affluent.

'They travel around

in huge motorhomes,

'also known as

recreational vehicles or RVs.

'Every winter,

tens of thousands of RV-ers

'converge on the small town

of Quartzsite, Arizona.

'There are RV parks in town

with plug-in electricity,

'water and cable television,

'and a huge expanse of surrounding

desert where the more intrepid

'can camp for free. '

OK, we're looking for the desert

encampment of RV clubs.

They tend to all camp together

and live quite a regimented life

while they're out here

in the desert.

In particular, we're looking

for those club members

that do this full-time.

People who've sold their houses,

said goodbye to their children

and grandchildren and are now living

this nomadic retirement.

It is an odd thing,

if you think about it.

I'm getting a bit of a glint

on the roofs here.

I think they should be down here

to the left somewhere.

There's a lot of desert here and

they spread themselves far and wide.

Scapee's RV Club Boondockers. That

sounds like a good place to start.

Boondocking is the RV-ing term

for camping without being hooked up

to electricity,

water and sewage lines.

The guys who are full-timers

tend to do more boondocking

than the part-timers.

Hi there. Hi. Are you

all the boondockers?

Are you the boondockers?

Yeah, this is the fire circle.

We're just over here

visiting for the night.

OK, this is their fire circle. Yeah.

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