Bob Wells (born 1955) is an American YouTuber and author. Known for his advocacy of nomadic vandwelling as a form of affordable minimalist living, he founded the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, an annual gathering of van dwellers in Quartzsite, Arizona, and the Homes on Wheels Alliance, a charity that converts vehicles for needy individuals to live and travel in.
Early life Wells's father, who worked as a union clerk at a Safeway grocery store in Anchorage, Alaska, died two years after reaching retirement. Finding himself employed in the same store—and wanting to avoid his father's inability to enjoy retirement—Wells moved into a box van in 1995Trujillo, Stevie (February 4, 2021) "Off-road, Off-grid: The Modern Nomads Wandering America's Back country, The Guardian. Retrieved August 13, 2024 purchased with his last $1,500 after working for 20 years at the store.Horowitz-Ghazi, Alexi and Vanek Smith, Stacey (February 23, 2021) "Seeking Refuge On The Open Road", NPR. Retrieved March 7, 2021 The experience, which occurred during the aftermath of a difficult divorce with two children, left Wells crying himself to sleep.Paiella, Gabriella (February 19, 2021) "Talking to One of the Real Life Nomads of Nomadland", GQ. Retrieved August 13, 2024. "But if he was a reluctant newcomer, even crying himself to sleep the first night in his van, he eventually became the movement's greatest evangelist."Sammon, Alexander (January 10, 2019) "YouTube Boomers Show #VanLife Isn’t Just for Millennials", Wired. Retrieved January 3, 2021. "Soon after, [Wells] decamped from Alaska and moved with his wife to North Carolina, having ditched the van for a truck more suited to conventional domestic living. It didn't go well. "I despised living in that house. Owning a house is preposterous," he says. For Wells, it was fast becoming clear that the arrangement wasn't working. He tried to save the marriage by taking long trips, a month at a time, to the Florida Keys and to Maine for wildflower viewing. But being a mere hobbyist wasn't enough. In 2008, he left for a trip that both he and his wife acknowledged he wouldn't return from. Wells' return to full-fledged vehicle living came just as the economy nosedived ... " After six years, he remarried, moved into a house, and relocated with his wife to North Carolina, but eventually went back to living in a vehicle full-time. After he and his second wife divorced, Wells began living in a truck camper, followed by a work van and a four-wheel-drive ambulance.
Advocacy In 2005, after seeing a mother and her three children sleeping in a car, Wells created the website cheaprvliving.com to provide tips, resources, and strategies for living in a vehicle. He plays himself in the 2020 film adaptation of the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.James, Caryn (September 14, 2020) "Nomadland Review: 'Overflowing With Humanity and Tenderness'", BBC. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
Rubber Tramp Rendezvous ,DaSilva, Ricardo (May 21, 2024) "NCA Spreads Memorial Benefits Awareness at Homes on Wheels Alliance's 2024 Rubber Tramp Rendezvous", VA News. United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved August 13, 2024. Wells organized a get-together of vehicle dwellers in Quartzsite, Arizona each January known as the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR). Attendees and other followers of the event are known as "The Tribe". The gathering itself has been described as Burning Man for retirees. During its first year in 2010, the RTR had 45 attendees. By 2018, it had attracted over 3,000 participants and by 2019 it had attracted 10,000—making it the largest gathering of its kind in the world. Activities include seminars on vehicle dwelling, ranging from city and stealth-parking,N.B. (September 17, 2020) "Trading Four Walls for Four Wheels in 'Nomadland'", The Economist. Retrieved January 3, 2020. repair and improvement seminars (e.g., installing solar panels), identifying resources such as inexpensive vision and dental care (e.g., in Los Algodones, or Baja California, Mexico) to locating free secondhand items.
YouTube In 2015, Wells started a YouTube channel called CheapRVliving to offer how-to videos, interviews with other vandwellers, and philosophical videos inspired by noted authors and thinkers. By September 2026, the channel published over 1500 videos and was approaching a quarter billion views.(May 26, 2019) "Van Life: Making One's Home on the Open Road", CBS News. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
Homes on Wheels Alliance In October 2018, Wells announced the creation of Homes on Wheels Alliance, a 501(c)(3) charity of which he is the president. Based in Pahrump, Nevada, the organization helps those with housing insecurity by acquiring vehicles and having volunteers convert them into a habitable space.
Works How to Live In a Car, Van or RV: And Get Out of Debt, Travel, and Find True Freedom, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014
Notes
References