Celebrating-One-Year-As-Nomad-Bob Davis Podcast 1025

Celebrating One Year As A Nomad

Above all finding the right time and place to celebrate one year as a nomad is a challenge. Sooner or later you just have to record. Therefore listen to the celebration from Scottsdale, Arizona in Celebrating-One-Year-As-Nomad-Bob Davis Podcast 1025.

All A Blur

Firstly it’s all a blur to me.

Never Regretted It

Secondly I have never regretted selling, donating or throwing away everything I owned to hit the road.

Overall Mission

Even more lately I have been working on an overall mission statement for the second year of nomad travel.

Enlightenment

However a friend told me recently she thought I was searching for enlightenment.

Halloween 2020

Maybe seeking enlightenment will do for this first year of nomad travel, starting on Halloween Night 2020.

Felt Trapped Back Home

In Celebrating-One-Year-As-Nomad-Bob Davis Podcast 1025 I talk about feeling trapped back home.

Suburban Lifestyle

And feeling there was nothing keeping me in the suburban lifestyle.

Learned A Lot

Certainly I have learned a lot this first year of solid nomad travel.

For example frustrations and problems are unavoidable.

But you learn to deal with them as they come up.

On The Road

In addition in the beginning I was on the road a lot.

Hit all the lower 48.

Death In The Family

During the New Year’s I dealt with a death in the family.

Start All Over Again

After that it seemed like I had to start all over again.

How Nomads Are Changed By Travel

In short all the podcasts since Halloween 2020 have dealt with the internal processes and experiences of nomad travel.

No Politics

In the same vein I am proud that none of these podcasts have focused on political issues.

Nothing But Travel

Moreover nothing but travel.

No Advice On Your Rig

On the other hand I don’t tell you how to get to the Grand Canyon or how to empty your black water tanks.

No Wrenching Or Builds

To clarify I don’t do RV wrenching and won’t talk about my ‘build’.

But what almost no one talks about is how this kind of lifestyle effects people on a day to day basis.

And I think there’s a place for that kind of talk about the nomad lifestyle.

Small Towns

Finally I have to say the one big takeaway is how much I have fallen in love with the everyday small towns in this country.

The People

The people you meet on the back roads.

The Towns

For instance towns like Ely Nevada or Lubbock Texas.

Search For America

In short if you’re searching for America and you decide to do it as a nomad I think you’ll learn a few things.

Fact is the United States is a vibrant and complex economy and an incredible people.

On the other hand the America we see through our small screens and social media seems like our worst effort.

Can’t Get Enough

To sum up whether I’m in a truck stop or magnificent national forest I can’t get enough of the road.

Sponsored by 36 Lyn The Independent Refueling Station In South Minneapolis

Celebrating-One-Year-As-Nomad-Bob Davis Podcast 1025

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:54 — 77.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Bougie-Sedona-Arizona-Bob Davis Podcast 1023

Bougie Sedona Arizona

Firstly if you like spas, hair and nails, pretentious art and Tortellini then Bougie Sedona Arizona is for you. Learn more in Bougie-Sedona-Arizona-Bob Davis Podcast 1023.

A General Store And Shacks For Hippies No More

Secondly many remember when Sedona was a General Store and a few shacks where hippies lived.

Welcome To Myrtle Beach

However these days Sedona is more like Myrtle Beach than Arizona.

Bottom Of The Barrel

And Myrtle Beach is the bottom of the Barrel.

True West?

Even more locals and old timers remember when all these towns around here were true western mountain towns.

How Picking Up My Mail Became A Trip Through Newport California

Most importantly I came to Sedona to pick up my mail!

But even the mail effort did not work out here.

Some Great Campgrounds Though…In The National Forest

On the other hand I found some great National Forest Campgrounds Between Bougie Sedona and what some even call Bougie Flagstaff.

And I was able to stay up there for three days.

Day Areas Crowded

In addition there’s so much great hiking up there even the day areas are crowded.

In Season…Or Not

Therefore if you’re coming during before or after the season expect LA level traffic jams

Lots Of Pretty People There

Certainly the good news is lots of really good looking people sitting in their two hundred thousand dollar Mercedes Coupes and Porsche Cayenne’s.

Welcome To The Jersey Shore

Consequently one can only accept that these once western towns have become just like Orange County California, or even worse the Jersey Shore.

In the same vein you expect traffic jams and saltwater taffy on the shore.

Even the locals think it’s gone way too far. You’ll hear them in Bougie-Sedona-Arizona-Bob Davis Podcast 1023.

Kitsch

On the other hand you don’t expect that level of kitsch in the mountains of Arizona.

We All Want An Experience

Finally everyone wants a unique experience these days.

Camping. Hiking. Breathing the fresh air.

These ‘wants’ have become ‘needs’.

Just Not This Experience

In short this development question comes up again and again in my travels.

The Search For The Unspoiled West Continues

We all have to travel to the most remote sections to find what one might think of as unspoiled.

To sum up I get it.

I’m not against people making money.

Or the idea that certain things are necessary in small towns.

Pave Paradise…

But I think there’s a real question and concern about development destroying whatever remains of the myth and reality of what once was…

The Old West.

Bougie-Sedona-Arizona-Bob Davis Podcast 1023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:32 — 69.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Shortage-Lies-Damn-Lies-Bob Davis Podcast 1022

Shortage Lies and Damn Lies

Firstly I don’t know whether the shortage predictions will come true at some future date. But what I am hearing on the news doesn’t jibe with what I am seeing all across America. Learn why I say this in Shortage-Lies-Damn-Lies-Bob Davis Podcast 1022.

Might Be Shortages

Secondly I am not saying there aren’t shortages in some places.

Maybe Some Can’t Find What They Want

Even more not saying some people can’t find the things they want.

Above all that all might be true.

My Survey Of Stores In The Southwest

However recently I completed an organized informal survey of several Walmarts in the American Southwest.

A Method To The Madness

Specifically my conclusions are that there are patterns to the empty shelve syndrome we keep seeing on social media.

Inflation?

In addition there are probably two other causes of shortages where they are seen. Both causes seem to make the case for disinflation.

Doom Triggers

Most importantly I think some prognosticators and politicians get a benefit from predicting doom.

No Toys For Christmas!

For example we keep hearing there won’t be any toys for Christmas.

No Candy For Halloween!

Or that Halloween Candy will not be available.

Truth

Firstly the truth is I have been in several stores in Nevada and California in the last two days and there is plenty of Halloween stuff.

Santa’s Loaded Down

In addition the toy and Christmas aisles were jam packed with goods and these same stores.

Trucker Shortage?

But what about the trucker shortage Bob Davis?

Containers Sitting In The Ocean?

Above all what about all those containers sitting in the ocean at the LA Port?

Are We Sure Retailers Want The Containers?

To clarify I personally don’t think a lot of retailers want those containers to be processed and the goods to end up on the shelves. I’ll tell you why in Shortage-Lies-Damn-Lies-Bob Davis Podcast 1022.

Trucking Companies Driver Problem Goes Back Ten Years

And the trucking companies have been complaining about trucker shortages since the early two thousands.

What’s different now?

Mom’s Buying All The Sugar and Flour

Meanwhile what I am seeing fly off the shelves at are staples.

Flour. Sugar. Rice. Syrup.

But Not Honey Nut Cheerios

They’re not even buying Honey Nut Cheerios.

Or Whiskey.

Therefore something else is going on.

Finally these days I don’t like to do controversial subjects. It just ends up being an argument anyway.

But…

I don’t have some deep need to be relevant.

To sum up I’m doing this because all this talk of shortage is not matching what I am seeing in my travels across this country.

It’s All Good

In short from California to Maine and back again I have not been able to find something I need.

Plenty Of Grass Fed Beef

Even more while I have seen the bottom shelves where the sale stuff is empty, I’ve also seen stores packed with consumer goods of all kinds.

In conclusion with the truck stops packed and stores full I am starting to wonder if someone is lying.

Shockingly I always thought you could trust YouTube prep guys and politicians.

Shortage-Lies-Damn-Lies-Bob Davis Podcast 1022

(Editor’s Note: My definition of disinflation is not very good on this podcast. For a great definition click on the word ‘disinflation’ above.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:30 — 95.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS