The Wonder of Creating Your World

What’s delightful about traveling is seeing different ways to live, to meet new and interesting people, and to increase our understanding of others and their ways of living their lives, as best they can.  Sometime we are hit with pleasure as what we’re seeing as creative life choices.

Two of the new people we’ve hooked up with are Mark and Liesbet.  They own a Sprinter/Westie, just like ours.  These vehicles definitely act as a magnet for meeting other Sprinter/Westie owners.  Knowing there are only 250 in the U.S. is a real door opener too.

Mark and Liesbet are definitely interesting and are living a “freeish” life as full time RVers, previously full time sailors.  Many years of on the road or on the water, while at all times trying to maintain a livable wage from on board.  It is challenging but makes for exciting tales and interesting folks.  We are meeting many full-timers these days.  Cost of living is driving them onto new adventures, more affordable, and turning many others into permanent nomads.  Retirees, which Mark and Liesbet clearly are not, are especially well numbered in the itinerant category.  For many, life in the desert is compellling if money is limited because one can purchase annual camping permits for a small free, keeping one’s living expenses at a minimum.  Some locations have a few amenities like outhouses, trash cans and dump facilities.  Sometimes there are hosts.  At other times camping spots are just big fields in the desert.  Campgrounds become a treat — a place to shower, charge one’s batteries as well as one’s vehicle batteries and dump sewage.  But at 20, 30, 40, 50 dollars a night, they are used by full-times with great discretion.

Then there is Slab City.  A cluster of abandoned military concrete slabs used by RVers for years and years (way back when I was a  small kid folks were camping at Slab City) as a place for free parking, often long term.   It is fascinating how these permanent Slab residents are subsiding their small Social Security payments, or surviving with no incomes whatsoever.  Their methods are God and art.  There are two locations where their art is on full display — East Jesus and Salvation Mountain.   No fees required to view, but donations greatly desired.

Salvation Mountain...

The second Slab City creation is East Jesus.  East Jesus is like an outside sculpture garden, high in funk, creativity, religion and love.  There is a greeter at the gate who is a greeter supreme.  He, on the day we were there, was helpful and full of good words for God, Love, Life and Slab City.  They appreciate a donation and even provide PayPal for those without cash.

East Jesus...

And the children will play!

And my third example of creating your life is a visit to Quartzsite.  This “mostly portable” town is huge, with hundreds and hundreds of RVers camped out on DNR land, mostly free, but with a 14 day limit.  Others are parked in RV parks if they need hookups or more amenities.  The town is basically a tent city.  This is how many of the residents survive financially.  It’s one huge carnival.  Pottery, tools, clothing, RV supplies, food, jewelry, camp chairs.  You name it.  In the winter months this place is hopping, but closes down come summer (as does Slab City). Too hot for even the intrepid.  Some return to their home towns, some find a new, but cooler, spot, and others simply go exploring further up north until they can return to a cooler winter  desert.

Seeing these three examples of living a creative life are exciting to me.  These are new ways to engage in a largely unfair and often unrewarding economic system.  These economic examples have given all these people a way out of the “trap”.  A trap of low wages, long hours, and no housing or food or heath security.  Something, anything, other than flipping burgers for some big, indifferent corporation.   I love these models of creativity.

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Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.

Irving Wallace