Nomadland

[sheldons65]

We are watching this and really enjoying. Some of you may as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland_(film)

 

[dogyard]

Watched it last night with my wife, found it very sad. We truly have become a nation divided economically and while full-time RV living may be a choice for those of us fortunate enough to have sufficient means to enjoy all it offers we've met many nomads who have no other choice. Can't imagine working the sugar beet harvest at my age and seems unlikely others would if it weren't needed for income. 

Bright spot - Frances McDermond is amazing as always! 

[RV_]

We liked it too. Saw it on Friday on Hulu. We're big Frances McDermond fans too. We thought it was uplifting because Fern did have a choice, since Dave settled down and invited her to live with him, implying a marriage or other long term relationship. She chose to continue on. solitary but not lonely. Here's a good article about it, and McDermond. That movie was about us, remember the "palatial" Motor Home she commented on at the RV show? We saw the back row RVrs back at the turn of the century when we were full time 18 years ago. The movie was full of old folks like us, and the perennial urge "stationaries" have to invite us inside their homes for a real night's sleep and a good hot shower. And we have all had to explain, to a well meaning friend or relative that we have all that in our RV whether a van, a Prevost conversion, or everything in between. Lots of folks my age and up in it and many of the generic characters we meet on the road were also well represented and portrayed pretty much how we saw them on the road too. 

Yes some on the road and off are financially stuck wherever they are. But many of us on the road and off, are right where we wanted to be.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/how-the-frances-mcdormand-drama-nomadland-defies-hollywood-ageism/ar-BB1dSdQq?ocid=uxbndlbing

[sandsys]

Having been a van dweller attending Bob Well's Rubber Tramp Rendezvous I have met some of the people in the movie and I can attest to the reality shown therein. True, my van was upscale but the people I met while out there were real.

 If you are interested in helping people like these, Please, check out Bob's new support organization at https://homesonwheelsalliance.org. Donations don't have to be huge but they make all the difference to those living on the edge.

Linda Sand

[hemsteadc]

Just saw it.  Liked it a lot, and Frances McDormand was great. 

Darn glad I don't have to work, and darn glad I don't have to live like that.

Edited April 27, 2021 by hemsteadc

[Jim & Alice]

Reminds me of our experience when we first started fulltiming... drove from Michigan to East Texas, and parked in a nice, small RV park there.   Visited our favorite Aunt, a Great Depression generation person that had done well by working hard.   Her first reaction was... "I didn't know you were poor!"   We finally persuaded her to come visit our new motorhome... and only then did she slowly come around to viewing Motorhoming as a retirement lifestyle. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Jim & Alice

[2gypsies]

Don't forget that the founders of the Escapees RV Club, Kay & Joe Peterson, were workers with family, also.  We had the pleasure to share some meals with them at the Escapades.... awesome folks!  Now many Xscapers and other Escapee members are doing the same.... some because they need to do so and some because they want out of the corporate rat race.

https://www.escapees.com/40-years-escapees-rv-club/

https://www.escapees.com/escapees-rv-club-history-roots-run-deep/?fbclid=IwAR2aPi27fUWuSEivZ3gGUvt7kAKhwRTyICIRThMML_LUd2vYUMRP1lGZh54

[fpmtngal]

I was glad to see that it won 3 Oscars - best picture, best director and best actress.  I thought they were well deserved awards.

I did the free month to Hulu and watched it.  It’s a movie that kind of sticks to my mind, and I had to watch it twice in order to take it all in (a lot of my personal emotions got in the way the first time, I don’t do grief well at all).  I liked it because I could relate to it and I thought Bob Wells’ comments were interesting.  Also it’s not sad in some ways - she was offered different possibilities and made her choices.

[Kirk W]

Has anyone read the book?    

[NamMedevac 70]

Parts of the movie were filmed in northern Nevada near Reno.  One scene was at an RV park at Wadsworth that is part of the large Paiute Nation Pyramid Lake reservation.  I pass thru there frequently on the way for fishing at Pyramid lake.  Cheers to many and jeers to a few.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1739912699644241&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1735404620095049&type=3

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Has anyone read the book?    

Not yet. I like to wait a bit for my memory to fail so i can be surprised all over again.

Linda

[vermilye]

15 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Has anyone read the book?    

I'm reading it now.

[Kirk W]

28 minutes ago, vermilye said:

I'm reading it now.

How about a review when you finish?

[vermilye]

An interesting book.  I haven't seen the movie, but the book was well worth reading.  I've met some of the individuals interviewed (I spent 4 winters in Quartzsite) and it is an accurate portrayal of the area & folks.   A sector of RVers that many haven't met and don't even know exists. I suspect that Amazon & some of the commercial camp workers are not pleased with the book.

[Jim & Alice]

30 minutes ago, vermilye said:

An interesting book.  I haven't seen the movie, but the book was well worth reading.

Thanks for the Summary.   I will put the book on my reading list.

[Kirk W]

50 minutes ago, vermilye said:

 I haven't seen the movie, but the book was well worth reading.

I am more likely to read the book than to go to the movie, at least until it gets on TV. In my experience, only rarely does a movie compare favorably to the book it was based upon.

[Lou Schneider]

14 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I am more likely to read the book than to go to the movie, at least until it gets on TV. In my experience, only rarely does a movie compare favorably to the book it was based upon.

I'm a big fan of the book and the movie, and Bob Wells' HOWA.  There's a whole cottage industry that's sprung up around the vanlife movement since the movie started sweeping the film awards last year.  The movie itself is streaming free on Hulu.  If you aren't a subscriber you can sign up for a free month.  It's not the same story as the book but it's worth viewing as except for Francis McDormand and David Straithern almost all of the cast are real people portraying versions of themselves.

Before you read the book, take a look at the 2014 Harper's Magazine article that inspired it.  The opening paragraph made it all the way to being a key scene in the movie.  By the same author, Jessica Bruder.

https://harpers.org/archive/2014/08/the-end-of-retirement/

There's a half hour "broadcast special" and several trailers on YouTube giving a taste of the movie, woven in with interviews with the director and other principles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zICxsKAUO0k

PBS had an excellent report on "The Real World of Nomadland".  It's a compilation of interviews they did exploring van life and it's causes with several people including Bob Wells and author Jessica Bruder.  You can watch it on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO-pKYzcY_8
 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Lou Schneider

[Vladimir]

On 4/27/2021 at 4:41 PM, Kirk W said:

Has anyone read the book?    

I read the book.

It was an interesting read for RV'ers.  Not sure how it would appeal to other people.  I can see where it would work better as a movie than a book.

It was available as an e-book in my library, but that was over a year ago.

 

[DanZemke]

Lou,  for me, the links you provided are interesting and inspirational. 

I saved copies of the Harper's article and the PBS video,  in case I want to revisit them or share them with others.

Thank You!

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, DanZemke said:

Lou,  for me, the links you provided are interesting and inspirational. 

I saved copies of the Harper's article and the PBS video,  in case I want to revisit them or share them with others.

Thank You!

I enjoyed the article as well. I haven't tried the videos yet--my computer often doesn't like utube.

Linda

[Solo18]

Thanks for the link to the donation web site.  I also am lucky to be able to afford my full-time RV lifestyle, but I know the problems people can have when they have no choice and their vehicles quit on them and systems like water and heat fail.  Briefly knew of a lady who was using a bucket as a toilet, so I will donate something to this group. 

The picture of the book was tiny, but i assume the title is the same as the movie, right?  I don't have enough bandwidth in internet to do any streaming and i usually like the book better anyways. 

[Solo18]

I downloaded the book last night to my Kindle and have been reading it.  I finished Part I and so far have found it accurate.  I have known about Amazon workers and difficult jobs older Americans are being forced to take.  It is a sad book to read, but the only inaccurate thing so far is that many camp hosting jobs are not as difficult as described.  The author adds a lot about blogs and mentions Tioga George and RV Sue, plus a few others.  I figure this would not be in the movie, right??

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Solo18 said:

The author adds a lot about blogs and mentions Tioga George and RV Sue, plus a few others.  I figure this would not be in the movie, right??

Right. Probably worth reading the book to get all those extras.

Linda

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Solo18 said:

I have known about Amazon workers and difficult jobs older Americans are being forced to take.

I suppose there could be some truth to this, but I have known several who did seasonal work at 3 different Amazon centers and none of them were forced to take the jobs.

[Solo18]

Depends on what you mean by "forced."