American Nomads Have a Problem: Public Land on the Line in 2025

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about the political situation here in the United States, and it has made me rethink how I approach writing about travel and the great outdoors. For this reason, what I post going forward might look very different from the rest of my work here.

One of the first acts of the new presidential administration here was to strip multiple federal agencies of employees, especially provisional employees (meaning new or recently promoted employees who have fewer workplace protections). This has hit public lands like national forests and national parks especially hard, leaving some of the most expansive parks in America with just a handful of full-time employees to manage maintenance and services for guests. In my home-base state of Iowa, Ranger Brian Gibbs’ Facebook post about being fired from Effigy Mounds National Monument went viral. 

 

Observing the nomad and camping communities

As someone with a degree in politics (separate from the field where I work in), I make a hobby of observing the patterns of how groups of people interact with the world around them and how these patterns in turn form political belief and action. Political scientists might call this “political socialization,” and it was one of my primary interests in studying international relations in college. Thus, when interacting with community, online or in real life, I’m often taking metal notes, or even asking questions, about how people reach their beliefs, and how those beliefs shape them. Three weeks into this new reality, I have noticed something fascinating about how the online vanlife and car camping communities I participate in have interacted with these changes: hardly anyone is talking about them as political events.

Plenty of people are offering condolences to forestry workers and rangers who were terminated. Plenty of people are talking about changes that might have to be made to trip reservations. But very, very few people on online forums like Facebook and Reddit (and even fewer nomadic public figures) are looking at the issue holistically, as one of several policies pushed by the new administration. People might vaguely commiserate over a lack of Starlink competitors and about high prices, but there is a very short list of people openly talking about how money from nomadic customers is being funneled to one of the people directly responsible for recent changes.

I even ventured onto one of my favorite online nomad camping groups to ask where people were getting information on what was going on, and also if there were any politics-friendly camping groups I could turn to since politics were disallowed in that particular group. Most people pointed to Alt National Parks as a good source of information, but could not readily point me to a community ready to talk about and tackle these issues.

Why ignore the politics?

There are a lot of reasons that people might not want to talk about how political realities are already effecting nomads. It’s a stressful situation; having a non-political community to turn to when you need a break is healthy. Some people might be afraid to upset members with opposing beliefs, especially if that increases the workload of community moderators. Many people might be experiencing cognitive dissonance, as the regressive administration that they supported becomes increasingly hostile to their lifestyle.

Others still might operate on the fallacy that lifestyles like nomading and other outdoor hobbies can exist in an apolitical environment. This mindset exists in direct opposition to the issue of park staffing, and to the entire history of outdoor enthusiasts in America (who have been fundamental in environmental initiatives), and the entire modern phenomenon of car camping. The main appeal of car camping, for many people in America, is that it is their only affordable option for travel and lodging in an age of an increasingly unsatisfying economic grind. That’s why a large body of my blog posts are about free activities and low-budget solutions. 

Compare this to the European standards of work-life balance and the greater availability of affordable hostels and long haul public transportation. These differences in leisure culture are a direct result of economic policy – the result of politics. And then, there is the prevalence of the unhoused in car camping communities, who are often referred to as “full time car camping, not by choice.” These people will be directly hit by incoming policy effecting food assistance and disability programs as well. 

 

Why is this such a big problem?

When we look at modern and historical examples of how people survive times of turmoil – whether that is war, natural disaster, or oppression – community is key. Imagine the victory gardens and knitting programs of World War II. In times where government efforts in healthcare, food assistance, education, and civil rights protections have been lacking, community programs and mutual aid emerges to blunt the damage. For example, as Des Moines, Iowa has approved increasingly hostile anti-homeless policies in the last few years, community fridges/gardens and warming stations have become increasing important in reducing the harm to this population. It’s important to note that these initiatives can’t solve the root problems of homelessness, like housing supply and cost, because the individual programs don’t have the resources. However, they do increase the probability that an unhoused individual makes it through that chapter of their life without new health issues, arrest, or worse.

Now consider the fact that many nomads and campers especially struggle with making friends and building community. The act of travel itself requires you to physically move yourself to a new location. This creates the sense of freedom and self-reliance that feeds us, but the dark side of that lifestyle – the loneliness in particular – is well documented.

The obvious solution for most people is building online communities with occasional meetups. While this scratches the human social itch, it’s not the same as the community that “normal” people rely on, and I’m not talking about grabbing coffee with your friend whenever you feel like it. If you are on good terms with your neighbor, they can watch your dog if you have a personal emergency. If you get sick, your friend down the road might bring you soup. But when you are solo traveling and you get sick, or your rig breaks down, it becomes you against the world.

People in this community are built a little different, and in normal circumstances this is a risk that we collectively choose to weather as the price of independence. But as parks and forests close down facilities like bathrooms, potable water, campgrounds, road access to boondocking sites, showers, and trails due to a lack of manpower, the world of the American nomad is going to shrink exponentially and get more expensive. Additionally, if federal talk about privatizing park space in favor of resource extraction evolves into reality, we might not ever have the same quality of forests and parks again. In a nut shell, the American domestic nomad community is simply not prepared for the chaos that we might be in for.

What do we do about it?

If we want our lifestyles and hobbies to survive this administration, we need to get serious about organizing with the full knowledge that this it is an emergent political issue. It requires political solutions.

First, we need to start meeting the physical needs and not just the social needs of our communities. We can start by being more willing to share our resources, and build our networks more like a mutual aid network. Those of us in “sticks-and-bricks” can offer parking space, Wi-Fi, a place to charge electronics, and showers. Those of us with garden space or foraging skills can share produce. At first this will feel odd, maybe even risky. I would recommend anyone who has reservations on hosting nomads to look into the HospX community, which has been active in hosting travelers for free since at least the 90s, for safety tips and inspiration.

Second, we can start being honest about our purchasing habits, and sharing more resources about how to make better choices. Get together with your community members for a shared Costco outing or research local farmers markets, rather than buying from grocery or gas chains that fund lobbies to sell public land. Apps like GoodsUniteUs might help you if you don't know how to research this. Similarly, make an effort to find DIY alternatives to camping equipment you would normally buy online or in a big box store. If you have a sewing machine or tools, offer to borrow them out to people who don’t. Vote with your dollar wherever you can. If you must buy, buy used from Facebook Marketplace or eBay. This method isn’t perfect -- sometimes you have limited options. But that doesn’t mean we can’t choose better options when we have the opportunity.

And last of all, the element I think will be the most difficult in this community: we need to get comfortable with getting loud about what we love if we want any effective damage control. We do not have the luxury of sitting still any longer. Let the powers that be know that we don’t consent to what is happening, and we will hold them accountable. Call and write your representatives. Sign up for newsletters on issues you care about, and share them with your friends. If you have the time and will be in the right place, join protests and demonstrations for causes that mater to you, and invite your friends to come along. If you can’t do this, see if you can contact public figures in the outdoor industry and convince them to talk about what is happening. Use every bit of agency you have to protect what you love.