I volunteered to be the facilitator of a wandering tribe for 10 weeks. We began in the desert east of Borrego Springs, CA with 17 adventurers
including these two wonderful children confronting a giant scorpion and grasshopper.
Wending our way to the ever mysterious Slabs and eye catching art
Our "tribe borrowed this compound to throw a party and dance.
As our caravan continued we attracted new members--topping out at 60 by the time we reached our destination of Quartzsite, AZ,
where we joined up with 3000 more travelers like ourselves and I had the opportunity to address the entire crowd. Here is some of what I said to them:
WE ARE THE SPROUTING SEED OF A BRAND NEW BREED,
LIVING SIMPLE AND LIGHT AND LEAN;
LIVING HAPPY AND FREE LIKE WILD CHEROKEE
IN OUR COZY LITTLE LIVING MACHINES;
A LIFE THAT IS BOLD WITH OURSELVES IN CONTROL;
AND WITH CLUSTERS OF FRIENDS IN AFFECTION
REINVENTING THE TRIBE, HELPING REVIVE
OUR LONG-LOST NATURAL CONNECTION
CHOOSING SUNLIGHT'S GLOW OVER ICE AND SNOW;
ACCEPTANCE OVER SORROW;
ADVENTUROUS GAMES OVER RICHES AND FAME
AND TODAY OVER IFFY TOMORROW.
Sweet people, there are now a million of us living on the road and hard times are likely to send us a million more---who we will welcome and nurture into the comforts and glories of this lifestyle.
They were a wonderful audience and many joined our tribe--now renamed MUSIC AND MIND CAMP.
That's my colleague CB giving details of our new idea.
Then I took a break--traveling first to the Imperial Sand Dunes
And back to the Slabs.
Then into the deep desert with an old friend from 40 years ago.
Finally down this lonely road to a place of solitude for a few days
with this view out my door
and "letting the night overtake me everywhere at home."
RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES: WE will start a new thing--a MUSIC AND MIND camp where people who appreciate music and Ideas will drift about the country enjoying one another's company and encouraging each to find the things that fascinate them, respond to them creatively and sharing whatever they wish to share. You are welcome to join us at any stage of our travel. Yuma, AZ will be our next stop.
8 comments:
Nice pictures; glad to hear your still getting it done!
The Voice to Text conversion screwed up my last comment. So let's start over.
Getting more interaction between nomadic people is a great cause, because it was always the weak spot in that lifestyle. This is a great place for you to employ your optimism.
My guess is that it is the first rock that slides and causes an avalanche.
So happy that your vision of a mobile tribe is coming to fruition. Good for your! Happy trails!
If you'd like, like minded individuals to join in, perhaps coordinates might be useful...Yuma is a big place to try and search. 🤗
The comment below was posted on a YouTube video about the RTR. What are your thoughts regarding these sentiments?
“For decades, nomadic living/van dwelling developed organically as people of modest means camped and traveled, while consciously rejecting bourgeois “RVing”. Now hordes of people without an intrinsic interest in outdoor travel have jumped on the bandwagon, and the humble nature of this life is quickly being corrupted. Hyper materialistic/complex/convenience oriented “builds”, the rave party/festival atmosphere, and the lack of LNT ethics are symptomatic. I hope another shiny object emerges soon to draw these crowds away from nature.”
When I see your group I am struck that they are usually sitting in their camp chairs. I couldn't be satisfied with that lifestyle, I get really miserable mentally and physically when I am inactive, I have found that I really need to do something intensely physical to maintain health and vitality. We are full time nomads too but our circuit consists of a regular schedule of dumbbell, yoga, HIIT style workouts, intense mountain biking on the best trails across the southwest and kite boarding in CA and Baja. We are 64 and 62, since we started this lifestyle our bodies are better composition and our lives are more rewarding than ever before. We have all the time in the world, it's much easier to get fit than it was when we were working. Make fitness your number one hobby, it's better than money.
We're in La Ventana, Baja right now, it's a fantastic beachfront party scene of thousands of active people, Canadian and American windsurfers and kite surfers, at least half of them seniors like us. There was an open mike Beatles tribute the other night, at least 200 people there, average age at least 68, all fit, healthy and beautiful folks playing and singing their versions of Beatles songs. It's really cheap, our campsite with water, bathrooms, showers and trash service is 100 yards from the beach, $250 per month. Many good restaurants and bars, very cheap and you always bring your dogs in with you. Hundreds of kiteboarders and windsurfers up and down this coast almost every day. It's generally mid 70s every day, we'll stay into April when it will be warming up a bit.
Does Randy have an email accessible to someone who wants to reach him personally?
Post a Comment