Friday, January 20, 2017

RUBBER TRAMP RENDEZVOUS 2017

500 "RUBBER TRAMPS" AND WANNABEES GATHERED IN THE DESERT NEAR QUARTZSITE ARIZONA TO CELEBRATE OUR LIFESTYLE AND SHARE INFORMATION.
Can you see through my front window how rigs are scattered across the rocky scrublands.
I estimate the space we occupy is a half mile long and a half mile wide.

Every day at ten oclock we  gather for a seminar on some subject relevant to our lifestyle/
Here's the schedule and if you can't read it, the subjects are:
1. orientation to Quartzsite 2. safety seminar 3. Favorite gadgets show and tell 4. Solar power seminar.
5. Tin can seminar (anonymous questions are drawn from a tin can and addressed by the group. 6. State residence issues, mail, drivers license, health insurance. 7. Cooking methods show and tell. 8. Travel to Algodones and Baja. 9. Workcamping seminar. 10. Boondocking Seminar.

Quartzsite has great sunsets.

more and more came---like they did at woodstock--from across the nation.

This rig likely came from Oklahoma?

People let you peer into their homes" . This one engineered into the back of a cargo truck.

This one into the back of a car.  Yes he has an adequate bed up front.
Two of my special friends: Laurie and Lisa with their tent.
Travis--a most remarkable guy.  In his thirties--has won his freedom--is super intelligent and road smart.

Lots of glass in this rig.


On day 6 I led the tin can seminar, proving to one and all that the group is wiser than ony one individual.

The questions are drawn one at a time from that can.  Most unusual question was written on a hundred dollar bill.  It asked: "Why is it so hard to find a girlfriend.' (lots of clever answers given.  The money was given to someone who needed it.)
Documentary makers asked me for an interview--came to my rig and "miked"me

for an hour long question and answer session to be shown on the AARP youtube channel.
My message in a nutshell:  "Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams"(Thoreau)
You can do this---you can afford this--a million of you could hit the road like I did--or respond to your particular fascinations.

Here is the brains and the host of this splendid gathering---Bob Wells.--a man who once lived in his van on the streets of Anchorage, Alaska because he could not afford rent.  He saved his money ,won his freedom--wrote a book--began to share his ideas in a blog: (check it out here ) 
Now he has an audience of perhaps a million--and has the credibility to issue a nationwide invitation to "rubber trampers" to assemble in Quartzsite, Arizona.  A movie has been made starring him: (check it out here ) He is truly a philosopher who wants to make a better world by inspiring people to follow their personal dreams.





8 comments:

  1. "He is truly a philosopher who wants to make a better world by inspiring people to follow their personal dreams." Beautifully said about a good-hearted guy, and may I say, "You too man, you too."

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  2. Great to see you again Randy, And don't you look dashing for your interview!
    We pulled an Irish Goodbye and are already ensconced in a lovely spot by the lake. Hope we'll see you again soon.
    Yolanda

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  3. Hi Randy! Thank you for the kind and generous description. I'll be trying to apply some of the things I learned from you (about ~"getting the gold out of people") over the next couple months I spend in and out of Phoenix.

    - Travis

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  4. I'm so happy and thankful to have shared another year of RTR with you, Randy! What a great synopsis of the event! Hugs!

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  5. Anonymous9:21 AM

    I strongly admire people who fight and win their freedom from (mostly) economic drudgery. Once done, everybody can view the world from a more objective, independant, and friendly place. One practices "sufficiency" and finds happiness in new ways.
    Bushman

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  6. is it still going on? what are the dates?

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  7. RTR 2017 operated from Jan 10 to Jan 24.

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  8. Hi Randy,

    I watched the video of you, your friends, and Bob Wells. Absolutely fantastic. I really liked your spontaneous poetry. Enjoy learning about what you are doing, God's speed to you. I'd like to see interviews with married couples--how they 'cope' being together 24/7.

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