Ferry Trips Ferry Pilots Articles Editorial Finance Links Videos Email Home August 31, 2022 Ignoring Clint Eastwood's advice in "Dirty Harry" that opinions, like certain body parts, are best kept to yourself. The Particular Phenomenon of Nomadland From the article: The particular phenomenon Nomadland explores seems to have sprung up after the Great Recession of 2008, much like the Okies in The Grapes of Wrath hit the road during the Great Depression of the ’30s. Lacking a safety net, these people do what they gotta do to live another day. The 2020 film "Nomadland" won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Frances McDormand), and inspired a lot of people to "hit the road". You can rent it for $4 bucks or buy it on Amazon Prime. I'm a full-time RVer, not a Nomad, and there is a difference. I covered that topic a few years ago on my website. Full-timers generally have a decent factory-built motorhome, a 5th wheeler, or a travel trailer, equipped with all the conveniences, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, air conditioning, and at least a television antenna on the roof or maybe a satellite dish. Pretty nice. Nomads tend to travel in older panel vans, often without any modern conveniences, but they learn to get by. Most full-timers are older, retired with pensions, Social Security, or have some other source of income (I've run into a few trust fund babies out there, full-timing in their 30's), and some have online gigs (as I do) or find employment at national or state parks, or privately owned RV parks or resorts. Nomads are usually younger, but not always, often drifting around the country working part-time jobs along the way to cover the gas and groceries. Finding that perfect summer job isn't just for college students, it can be perfect for senior citizens as well, especially if they have an RV and nothing but time. McDormand's character flipped burgers at Wall Drug in South Dakota to make enough money to head to warmer climates as Winter approached, and a serious mechanical problem with her old van almost ends her travels until she is saved financially by her sister. In the movie, a young girl says to her "Mommy says you're homeless", to which McDormand replies, "I'm houseless, but I'm not homeless". My wife and I traveled all over the lower 48 States for several years, even putting our motorhome on a ship a couple of times to travel to visit relatives in Newfoundland. I kept a pretty good blog up with all those adventures, but now that I am alone, it just isn't that much fun anymore, and my seven months last winter on the Gulf of Mexico went pretty-much unrecorded. When I leave the Minnesota lake cabin and hit the road again in a few weeks, I'll try again to keep that blog up-to-date, provided, of course, that I have something interesting to write about. Those events don't happen as often when you travel alone. When my grandchildren climb on board my motorhome, and I ask them what DVD they'd like to watch, almost always they yell "RV!!!" Admittedly, Robin Williams was a lot funnier than Frances McDormand, but I recommend you gamble $4 on Amazon Prime and see "Nomadland" anyway. Please visit my travel blog to learn more about my life on the road. Global Air Aviation Referral Service I welcome responses, and will be glad to post them here. Email your remarks to ron@global-air.com Most Recent Editorial Recent Global Air Links: Ferry Trips | Ferry Pilots |Articles | Editorials | Aviation Links | Financing | Videos | Home For more information, call us at 763-389-9399. Specifications are based upon owner's representations and subject to buyer's verification. Aircraft are subject to prior sale or removal from market. Occasionally, registration numbers on photos may be altered or removed to protect the privacy of the owner, and to ensure that buyers will work with us to complete the purchase.