Mobile living isn’t for everyone but for those who try it and love it, the experience is life changing. Whether your mode of transportation is a van or a custom bus, once you’re bitten by wanderlust it’s always there in the background of your life, lurking, waiting for you to get fed up with punching a clock and running the rat race. For those of you who are seconds away from chucking it all to travel full-time in your rig, a new movie by Michael Tubbs and Aaron Harlan explores the concept of living the mobile lifestyle in this interesting 50-minute YouTube documentary “Without Bound – Perspectives on Mobile Living .”
Without Bound highlights the stories of several individuals who have chosen to ditch conventional living in favor of frugal full-time RVing in everything from cargo trailers to vans to a modest motorhome. From Cheap RV Living guru Bob Wells, author of “How to Live in a Car, Van, or RV. And Get Out of Debt, Travel and Find True Freedom,” to the sporty vandwelling tech geeks Josh and Meisha Manwaring of vagabloggers.com, the movie explores why some people opt out of conventional society.
In under one hour you’ll learn why they made conscious choices to live frugally in favor of following their creative passions, getting closer to nature and going beyond Facebook to find real-time communities in the outback.
“A homeless person doesn’t want to live in his vehicle . . . he wants to get out of it as soon as he can, that’s a homeless person. I love living in a van camper vehicle. I love it, I don’t want to live any other way. I don’t think of my self as homeless. A person who hates it is homeless.” – Bob Wells
As a director, Tubbs says he was an unlikely contender to portray this lifestyle. In his blog, he reveals his unfamiliarity and confusion surrounding the nomadic living lifestyle:
“Call me naïve but I had never heard the terms van dweller, stealth camper or boondocker. My first thought was, “Why would anyone choose to live, full-time, in a vehicle?” I held the view, probably shared by most Americans, that home ownership was both a noble and worthy aspiration, providing stability, safety, comfort and even a sense of identity. I wondered how anyone could feel secure, comfortable or fulfilled living out of a van or a camper.”
In a series of introspective interviews with these frugal travelers, Tubbs demonstrates see several examples of how walking away from material pursuits can ultimately bring you closer to happiness. By falling out of the rat race and saying no to materialism, these nomads are finding more time to explore what makes them happy.
“The fruits of the Industrial revolution ought to be liberty. And in that liberty people have a chance to discover who they really are.” – Randy Vining, mobilecodgers.blogspot.com
From cliche guitar sing-alongs to writing poetry to designing websites, these travelers are living life on their terms and making no apologies for opting out of convention. Traveling throughout the country and spending as little as $500 a month on expenses thanks to free forest service and BLM camping, this very small segment of society is enjoying a greater sense of community and personal fulfillment than most people with six figure incomes.
Watch “Without Bound” here:
Often called “The O.G. of full-time RVing,” Rene Agredano and her husband Jim Nelson hit the road in a fifth wheel trailer in 2007, after their dog Jerry lost a leg to terminal cancer. Sixteen years later they are still traveling and sharing their nomadic adventures at LiveWorkDream. As a self-employed wordsmith, Rene shares her expertise for many RV industry videos, publications such as the Escapees RV Club Magazine, and has authored numerous books, including the Essential RVing Guide to National Parks, and Income Anywhere, a guide to earning money on the road. She has been featured in global media outlets including the PBS documentary “NATURE: Why We Love Cats and Dogs,” The Guardian Sunday Edition, and the Dan Pink book Free Agent Nation.
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