Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Have you ever heard of a nomad within the American culture?

Have you ever stopped to think about what this means?

This may be a cultural thing or it may be more widespread, and so we are looking at the idea of being a nomad and what that means.

There are different reasons that somebody may end up as a nomad, and we are looking at them today.

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Understanding The Nomad Lifestyle

If you have ever met or head of a nomad, then you may understand the idea behind this lifestyle.

A nomad is a person who travels from place to place without a home.

They may be rich or poor in the US, as there are two very different categorizations of a nomad.

You are going to find out who nomads are within American culture, and the movie you have to watch about this.

Let’s start with the movie because it sets the tone for this part of society.

There’s a movie called “Nomad Land”, and it’s a story about a woman named Fern who traveled the country trying to find a home.

Her zip code or her area where she lived was basically being eliminated, which seems impossible but it can happen in dire circumstances.

This came out of the recession of 2008 where some small towns were pretty much wiped away, and people were left to figure out what to do next.

In the movie, there was a whole group of people traveling around in vans roaming the country trying to find a home.

There are quite a few actors in the movie who aren’t actually actors, but rather people who lived this story in real life.

This is something that actually really happened to people, and it’s existed throughout history.

There are so many contrasts in life to see the ups and downs of this life.

There are rich connections made in this sort of situation, but there’s a lot of sadness too not knowing how to exist or where to fit in within society.

It speaks to the fact that the country as a whole doesn’t take care of its people, particularly as the population ages and older people can’t sustain themselves.

People talk about the possibility that Social Security may not be around when we get older, and so this is a story that could come to life for far too many people.

How Does One Come To Be A Nomad?

The idea of a nomad isn’t new, and this has been in existence for many years.

There are a couple of different reasons that one may find themselves as a nomad—one by choice and one by chance and unfortunate circumstances.

The idea of a nomad, and the van and wandering the land is something that seems to go hand in hand.

In current times, there tend to be two groups of nomads that you wan to be aware of.

1) Older generation who takes to the road because they have to. This is completely out of necessity as they may find themselves with no home, no real money, and therefore no way out. They may be too old to really work, and they have nowhere else to go. This may be due to unfortunate circumstances or tough times, and so this is often not a lifestyle that one would want to find themselves in.

2) Then there is the idea of “ #vanlife” and the people who do this as a trend. They may have a trust fund or a lot of money, or don’t have to work. They can then spend a ton of money on a big trailer and they travel the country this way. Money isn’t a problem for this group, and they are traveling because they have plenty of it. This is the complete opposite of the first group, as they select this lifestyle and live it out of choice.

They may have a job but they can do it from the road.

Parents may homeschool their kids on the road and therefore travel the country while they do this remotely.

It may be older people who have invested really well, and therefore have plenty of money to spend on traveling the country in this way.

These busses or vans that the second type of nomad travels in are sometimes nicer than some houses!

So Many Thoughts Around This Life

The word “nomad” may be something that you think of as a free spirit who travels from place to place, and may almost have a hippie vibe.

The movie brings to light the idea that a nomad may be something completely different and it’s not a good place in life.

The movie focused on the fact that there was a lot of beauty in this, even though it’s a very sad situation in life.

There is beauty in nature and in the journey that she travels in this movie, even though she can’t find a home and is in a dire situation.

This movie doesn’t pigeon hole or put a completely negative stance on things, but rather tells a story.

It may a culture and a story that you are interested in, and it’s a really interesting aspect of society to focus on.

These are parts of the population that society doesn’t know about or acknowledge as a person.

It may be migrant workers that are nomads too, such as people from Mexico who travel from farm to farm.

There is no guarantee or risk, and everything they do is for their family.

This is an entirely different segment of the population that isn’t acknowledged or even forgotten about.

The idea of wandering the country tends to be very romanticized because it’s hitting the road and that is believe to be a great adventure.

It often depicts somebody going to the West coast, which is interesting.

The idea of the culture of being on the road because it depicts people who are sick of modern society and who feel that they are not taken seriously in the current picture.

They made the conscious choice to ride the roads and to go wherever the train takes them.

In books it sounds like an amazing adventure, and it can inspire an entire generation to do this for fun.

There are so many different types of people or motivations for people who wander and who are nomads.

They all have different things to teach us—like in the movie no matter what the circumstances, what can we learn from the world around us?

Go check out the movie and see what you think about this.

Is there a tradition of “nomading” in your culture?

Is it people traveling by train?

By hitch hiking?

The two groups that we look at as nomads in the US today are very different from each other.

How is this represented where you live?

What is the motivation or reason for somebody to be a nomad?

This is a perfect example of how everyone has a very different journey in life!

Takeaway

The idea of a nomad is a very interesting one, particularly within the US.

There are different reasons that people can wander the land, and we’ve looked at these today.

This is a situation and people that are often overlooked within society, and it’s important to focus on them.

Though you may have never thought of nomads, it’s important to recognize that this is a life that many people find themselves in.

The reason that people may end up here may vary, but you still want to pay attention to this aspect of the culture.

If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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