American Nomads

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This film contains

some strong language.

'Wanderlust. Restlessness.

'The urge to get out on the road

and ride off into the sunset.

'It's something deep and elemental

in the American spirit.'

Someone once asked Gertrude Stein

to define America in a sentence.

And, er... conceive a space

filled with moving.

That's very much

how I think of America today.

'This is a journey in search of American nomads.

People who live a life of constant travel.

'Who are they and why do they choose

to live this way?

'Why are there so many of them,

especially in the American West?

'I first got to know them

as a fellow traveller.

'I lived on the road for years

'and wrote a book about the nomadic

tribes and cultures I met along the way.

'Now I have a rented house

in Tucson, Arizona,

'but I can't seem to spend

more than three weeks there,

'or anywhere else,

without wanting leave. '

Every time I come home...

to, you know, the electricity bill

and the gas bill

and the internet bill

and the phone bill

and the cellphone bill and

the water bill and the sewage bill

and the credit card bill

and the truck payment

and the truck insurance

and the renter's insurance,

I kind of remember about, er...

all those years

I spent without an address.

Without any bills,

without any financial obligations,

um... living in my truck,

um... staying with friends,

spending a lot of time

just sleeping on the ground.

That was my big ambition

when I was a young man,

to spend as many nights as possible

sleeping in the dirt.

'So let's get back out there.

'These south-western states

are the best place to find nomads

'during the winter months, but there are no

guarantees. You can't plan a journey like this.

'We're looking for nomads, and by

definition, they're all on the move.

'So we're going to drift around on the

highways and hope to cross paths with them.

'I have faith in the serendipity

of the road,

'but bad things

can definitely happen.

'Some of these nomads

live outside the law.

'Some of them will be armed,

some of them will be crazy.

'Some of them, I hope, will be

sweet, lovely and inspiring.

'But it's not an easy life

out there.

'You have a lot of freedom on the road, but there's

a much higher level of danger and hardship. '

You get a little snapshot

of roadside America here.

TTT Truck Stop.

And, um... a good place

to find hitch-hikers.

You get motorhomes

stopping through here.

Truckers stop to take a shower.

Take a rest.

And when the weather's a bit warmer,

you find...

..well, girls working these trucks,

um...

selling blowj*bs and what have you.

'I've spent a lot of time in truck stops like this.

And most of the time, it's perfectly calm and safe.

'But things can happen so suddenly

and unexpectedly.

'Moments ago, this hitch-hiker

just had a brush with death. '

Give me a minute. All right.

First he pulled out a knife,

started hitting me with it

when it was collapsed.

Then he pulled out a gun.

At one point, I'm screaming,

"Help! Help!" out the window.

I thought I was going to be dead.

I'll never make the same mistake.

You carry a gun when you travel.

What sort of gun would be ideal?

A big one. A big gun?

A big one so nobody fucks with you.

You don't have to hit nothing

with it. Just start running.

Or pull out a bazooka.

I don't... I'm a Buddhist.

I've taken a vow of non-violence.

And the guy was scary.

I'm bigger than him.

Why was he scary?

Agitation, you know.

I'm going to find my dad,

tell him I love him.

Tell him I'm stupid.

Go to church.

I'm going to go to church.

First time in 20 years, probably.

I have to thank God I'm alive.

'So he was hitch-hiking and he got

picked up by a crackhead woman

'and her jealous

crackhead boyfriend.

'Out came the knife and the gun.

'And our Buddhist friend

is lucky to be alive.

'Not really the American road

at its best,

'but certainly a raw slice of it.

'Man, oh, man, even the Buddhists

want guns out here.

'They want bazookas.

'Do I or don't I?

'Is he armed and dangerous?

'He looks old and tired,

so probably not.

'His name is Shelton Parker and he

apologises for the way he smells.

'He's 60 years old.

'A gentleman of the road

with some missing fingers

'and some skeletons in his closet.'

HE LAUGHS:

I don't put out my thumb,

I just walk.

Sometimes somebody will pull up

and I'll say,

"No, I'm just walking, thanks. I don't need

a ride". It depends what they look like.

I get stopped by police officers all the time

to check to make sure I'm not wanted nowhere.

I've been married five times

and got two daughters

and wasn't a good husband

and a worse father, so...

Tell me why you travel.

Um... I'm just looking for a place

I want to stay.

And, er... I haven't found it yet.

I guess I'm coming of age

to where I-I-I-I should,

I should really start looking for

something where I'm permanent, but... Yeah.

So, did your travelling have anything to

do with your five marriages not working?

Oh, I'm sure of that.

What did your wives think of it?

Well, all but one of them

asked me to get married.

Four out of the five.

I told every one of them, I said,

"If you like me now,

you'll like me later.

"But if you don't like me now,

you're not going to like me later."

Cos I'm not changing,

I'm just the way I am.

A couple of years down the line,

"Oh, no, you can't do that".

I said, "Whoa-whoa.

Let's go back to day one".

I guess stubbornness

probably has a lot to do with it.

I do a lot of travelling.

I've been all over the United States.

Over the years, you know.

In between marriages.

And, er... if I can't have a good day,

and I haven't had a bad day

out here on the road.

No matter whether it's raining on me,

I'm soaking wet or freezing

or hot and sweating, I've never

had a bad day out on the road.

HE LAUGHS:

'I rode with Shelton for 400 miles.

'He took a nap in the back

'and woke up when we arrived

in El Paso, Texas. '

Go down...

OK. See them towers...?

Is that church steeples on the left

over there?

No. No. No.

Yeah. That way,

we won't be in front.

Come on out.

'He's here to collect

a government cheque,

'and then he's going 300 miles

across Texas

'because there might be

temporary work there.

'He's a drifter, essentially.

'A loner with chronic wanderlust.

'I'll give you my definition

of a nomad

'which I stole from

a French philosopher.

'A nomad is someone who doesn't feel

stable when stationary.

'A nomad feels stable

when experiencing velocity.

'Some of them go alone,

like Shelton,

'others move around in tribes.

'And the biggest

tribe of nomads in America today,

'perhaps unexpectedly,

are elderly and affluent.

'They travel around

in huge motorhomes,

'also known as

recreational vehicles or RVs.

'Every winter,

tens of thousands of RV-ers

'converge on the small town

of Quartzsite, Arizona.

'There are RV parks in town

with plug-in electricity,

'water and cable television,

'and a huge expanse of surrounding

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