Now there's a coincidence. Many years ago my wife (now former wife) and I were itinerant travelers. We were young and had no possessions or businesses to sell. For about a year we rented a cheap apartment and worked minimum wage type jobs, while setting aside as much as we could to prepare for our nomadship. We travelled for about two years altogether, while living out of a yellow Chevy van.
We cooked our meals on a Coleman stove. My wife at the time was vegetarian. She did most of the cooking which effectively made me defacto vegetarian.
We depended on public bathroom facilities, which sometimes meant the nearest tree.
Times were different then. Hitch-hikers were common and we often stopped to pick them up. In dry climates when the van was crowded with hitch-hikers, we and our riders would sleep under the stars. We carried a tent with us that we could use when needed.
In one small town in Manitoba, whose name I can't remember, we were invited by local authorities to camp out in the town park. Some members of our party went to watch a movie at the local theater.
While standing in the theater line people kept asking them, "Are you the folks who are camping in the park tonight?" Everyone in town, it seemed, had heard about us. Word gets around in a small town.
After all of these years I still have vivid memories, thank you for reviving them. If you are not careful, I'll bore you with stories - our adventures in Banff National Park in Alberta, Hybridge Park in Spokane during the World Fair (I don't think they have those anymore), the Rainbow Tribe, discovering the town of Forget, Saskatchewan, listening to the wolves howling from mountain top to mountain top in Yosemite. I could go on. It was quite an adventure. Don't get me started.
My current wife and I are semi-nomads. We own a home but we sometimes spend weeks on the road, this time living out of a GMC van, which is the exact same color as the old Chevy van.
We've been homebound for a year, but now we are making plans. Vaccinations are increasing exponentially. We were lucky; most of my friends and family are just now getting theirs. Be patient, be brave. The fear may loom large today but once you've gone through it you'll remember it as a small thing.
