It’s Getting Harder to Be a Nomad

A number of developments have been taking place recently that have made it much more difficult to live this life. Some of them are on public display, while others have been happening somewhat behind the scenes. While situations like popular public camping areas being closed and more and more Walmarts now prohibiting overnight parking have been going on for a while, some new developments have been taking place this year. The rate of this has been accelerating at precisely the same time more and more people find themselves forced into living in vehicles because they can’t afford the skyrocketing cost of living these days.

New South Dakota Residency Requirements

For a long time, South Dakota has been the most popular state for nomads to establish legal residency because it’s been so easy. All that was required was a receipt for one night’s stay at a hotel or campground within the past year, a mail forwarding service based in the state, and a signed statement that you are currently traveling but intend to return and establish a home base there at some point in the future. Even before hitting the road myself, I kept my receipt from where I stayed for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2019 in case I decided to hit the road and become a South Dakota resident myself.

That changed earlier this year with the passing of Senate Bill 54 in February. While the media focused on its provisions for tightening the requirements to get a hunting or fishing license, it also contained provisions that make it much more difficult for nomads to establish residency. A mail forwarding service is no longer allowed to be used as an address. You must now reside in South Dakota for 90 days before applying and must not be out of state for more than 180 days per year. Not only do these requirements make it difficult to establish residency here, it also has nomads with current South Dakota residency scrambling to find other solutions in case they suddenly find themselves losing it.

Proposed LTVA Fee Increases

For many years, several Bureau of Land Management Long-Term Visitor Areas have allowed travelers to stay for up to seven months for a $180 permit, which includes trash, water, and dump station facilities. This is an amazing deal, and how I have spent all three winters I’ve been on the road.

A proposal recently came out that would send these costs skyrocketing. BLM has proposed to raise the season permit cost to $600, a 333% increase that will put it far out of reach from those who need it the most, vehicle dwellers on a limited income. Many of the people I’ve met there are either retired or disabled and on a fixed income. Many others come to Quartzsite to find jobs over the winter to cover their expenses for the entire year. A few hundred extra bucks are hard to come by for them, and they may price them out of the LTVAs as well. Since the free camping areas allow only a 14-day stay, they won’t be able to remain in the area long-term and won’t be able to work. All this could have a cascade effect and seriously harm the town of Quartzsite and its economy as well since it relies on large numbers of winter visitors to survive. Some theorize that perhaps this is BLM’s intention, to price out the “riff-raff” like us while enticing RVers with bigger budgets to replace us.

The entire LTVA business plan is available here. The fact that the LTVAs, which are supposed to be self-supporting, are only earning 60-63% of what they need is a valid concern. Fees have not increased in many years, so a reasonable increase makes sense to make up for the significant shortfall. But an increase to double what they need to make up this difference is, in my opinion, completely unreasonable. A comment period is open until October 21, 2024, and you can voice your opinion by email or snail mail to:

BLM Yuma Field Office
7341 E 30th St Ste A
Yuma, AZ 85365

Harvest Hosts Buys Escapees RV Club

On the surface, this seems like a good thing. Harvest Hosts is a large, successful organization, as is Escapees. I’ve been a member of both. Yet when the purchase was announced earlier this year, there were mad outcries of “This is the end of Escapees.” It sounded paranoid, but I’m beginning to think they were right after all.

Last month, everyone using Escapees’ mail forwarding service—as I did during my first year on the road—was suddenly required to change their mailing address to 101 Rainbow Drive, Livingston, Texas, instead of whatever street address on Rainbow Drive they had previously been assigned (I had been 187). Many people have reported trouble with this address change, such as banks and insurance companies not accepting it as a valid address. Others have expressed concern about it hurting their ability to vote. An address change in progress this close to the election may raise red flags at the polls. Some have even accused this of being an active attempt at voter suppression, with some refusing to change their address until after the election. It is claimed that this requirement came directly from the US Postal Service and has no connection with the Harvest Hosts purchase.

One thing that certainly does, however, is that seven of Escapees’ RV parks are up for sale, including Sumter Oaks in Bushnell, Florida. I spent two weeks here soon after hitting the road, specifically to set up my Florida residency. Since Escapees now has this park up for sale, it seems to me that once sold, they will no longer offer it. Even worse, anyone who currently has Florida residency through Escapees may not be able to maintain it. In fact, between the park in Florida being up for sale, the problems with address changes at their home base in Texas, and the general problems in South Dakota, I wonder if Escapees is quietly getting out of offering domicile addresses altogether under Harvest Hosts’ ownership.

What’s a Nomad to Do?

I write this from the comfort of my and Melissa’s camp on her property, where there is absolutely no question that I have permission to stay as long as she allows it, and she rather likes having me around. Our relationship, and our lives in general, have put our travel plans on pause for the time being. We’re not done traveling. In fact, we have a short trip to Texas planned for November. We still hope to take some longer trips in the future once our employment situations improve a bit.

But in light of all that’s going on, I have to wonder if maybe this is a good time to not be a full-time nomad anymore. It’s getting harder to do this, between residency requirements and simply having a place to legally park overnight. Every day, I see people posting on the nomad Facebook groups who are just hitting the road for the first time, often out of necessity rather than choice, and asking the most basic questions. More people are living on the road than ever, and there is a decreasing number of places where we’re allowed to do it. I don’t want to get political, but I also wonder how the upcoming election will affect things as well, regardless of who goes to the White House.

One thing I’ve learned in this journey is that although I frequently end up in different places and situations than I originally intended, I usually end up where I need to be.