I am 42 years old and retirement is constantly at the forefront of my mind. I always tend to run these various scenarios through my mind at how we could retire without having the suggested millions in the bank. I have explored the Tiny House craze and when I read the premise for Nomadland I was interested.
Nomadland is one journalist's look into an ever-growing subculture in our country. There is a whole generation of retirees who are taking to the roads in their campers, RVs, and vans. These nomadic citizens are of a certain age and some lost everything in the 2008 housing bust, others lost their retirement when the market crashed. And others yet, just have that sense of wanderlust that just cannot be cured. And then there are those that chose this way of life as a way to thumb their noses at societal norms.
I learned something new reading this book, this subculture of nomads is very popular with employers looking to hire seasonal help. Most of them are of a generation that has a reliable, solid work ethic and that makes them highly desirable. Amazon even actively recruits these people, known as workampers, for seasonal help. Amazon calls it their Camperforce. When done with seasonal work for Amazon these nomads head off to other seasonal work at campgrounds and theme parks across the country, just to name a few. I found this particularly interesting for two reasons - first of all, the author highlights the theme park of my youth in Altoona, Iowa. And secondly, my daughter works at a theme park here in Utah. I know they hire retirees, but I am not sure if any of them are workampers.
In Nomadland author Jessica Bruder purchases a van and sets off to immerse herself in this community. Under the tutelage of Linda, an expert workamper, the author was welcomed with open arms. She learned the ins and outs of living out of a van, how to earn a meager living as a houseless person, and how to be a productive member of a unique community.
Bottom line - Nomadland has to be one of the most fascinating books that I have read in a long time. Ultimately, what I took away from this book is that there are options for those on the verge of retirement. They may be a bit unconventional, but at least there are options. If we do go the route of workamping I would do it in a vehicle with plumbing, but I could do it and probably enjoy it very much.
Details:
- Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
- On Facebook
- Pages: 320
- Publisher: Norton, W.W., and Company
- Publication Date: 9/19/2017
- Buy it Here!
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