Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

by Jessica Bruder

Increasingly Bob Wells found himself the de facto social coordinator for this growing band of isolates. And after the rendezvous dispersed each year, some of them started migrating with Bob to his next campsite. (Many free public camping areas, including where the RTR takes place, enforce a fourteen-day limit; when that expires, you’ve got to move to a new site at least twenty-five miles away.) Bob welcomed them, and they parked at a respectful distance to give him space. When a blog reader noted that folks had taken to following Bob around and referred to them, tongue-in-cheek, as his “disciples,” he joked back, “Despite my best efforts at mind-control, brain-washing, and manipulation, I still don’t have any disciples!” Bob’s tone wasn’t always so upbeat, though. In a more serious conversation with a reader, he wrote, “I think you are right, many, many more people are going to be forced into a much simpler life. My goal is to help them make the transition as easily as they can and hopefully eventually find joy in it, just like so many of us have.”