Most people have seen the hashtag #vanlife on social media and the image it conjures up is of young millennials in shiny, decked-out campers waking up to a sunrise in Big Sur.
But in Chloé Zhao’s new film, Nomadland, an older woman named Fern goes on the road after her husband dies and the company-owned mining town she used to live in is left abandoned as a casualty of 2008’s Great Recession.
Based on a book by the same name, the movie gives audiences a glimpse into the nomad community of America. To make it more realistic, the director chose to cast a lot of real-life nomads to play versions of themselves in the film.
One such person is nomad Bob Wells, the vlogger and author who’s arguably the most famous of these real-life nomads featured in the film.
But for those who aren’t initiated into the nomadic lifestyle, who exactly is the real Bob Wells?
Who is the nomad Bob Wells who’s featured in ‘Nomadland’?
Bob Wells has been a full-time nomad for the past 12 years. He’s the founder of CheapRVLiving, a website where he shares tips for how to live on the road, and he also runs a non-profit called the Home on Wheels Alliance, which funds programs in service of the nomadic community.
Before he became committed to a nomadic lifestyle, Bob lived in Anchorage, Alaska, where he worked as a union clerk. He enjoyed all the usual perks of modern life until his divorce at the age of 40.
Suddenly, Bob was paying child support and alimony, which left him in dire financial straits.
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One day, as he was worried about his finances, Bob came across a van for sale. He bought it, gave his landlord notice, and started to live out of the van.
At first, Bob was devastated that his life had come to living out of a vehicle. But after a while, he had a change of heart and “fell in love with the freedom, simplicity, frugality, independence, and earth-friendliness of the nomadic way of life.”
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After the first month of not having to pay rent, his finances started to improve, and soon, Bob was able to customize his van. He also didn’t have to work as many hours in the week to keep up with his expenses and was consequently able to start spending more time with his sons.
Realizing the better quality of life the van had afforded him, Bob started Cheap RV Living in 2005 so he could share his valuable knowledge. He started to grow a loyal following and after the Great Recession, Bob realized the community was bigger than ever.
He went on to create a live meetup group called Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, a version of which is featured in Nomadland.
The event started out with 45 vans in 2011, but by 2018, it had grown to an estimated 10,000.
And Bob sees the nomad community continuing to grow in the years to come. “If the Great Recession was a crack in the system, Covid and climate change will be the chasm,” he told The Guardian. But with his YouTube channel and the Home on Wheels Alliance, Bob hopes to be able to guide many more people in their pursuit of a nomadic lifestyle.
Stream Nomadland on Hulu.