The Dirtbag Diaries #1
Nov ‘23 - Jan ‘24
I’ve been wanting to find a way other than Instagram to share parts of my life with friends and family flung across the country and world. All social media is such a hollow excuse for getting to know and staying in touch with a person. So I thought I’d try something a little more in-depth, and in a form I’d love to see from others- a little recap about what my life has been recently, with an emphasis on what actually matters to me, not what just looks good in photos or videos. I don’t want to burden myself or others with too-frequent postings, so I’ll be writing a Dirtbag Diary entry every 3 months, which seems like a perfectly reasonable arbitrary amount of time.
This entry is about our winter desert season, spent almost entirely near Yuma, AZ. We lived on public land that makes up the Imperial Dam Long Term Visitor Area, which is open BLM space similar to other boondocking spots, but for seasonal travelers. For $180, you can stay there for 7 months (from Sept-Apr when it’s not as hot as hell) and have access to on-site amenities like dumpsters, water, and dump stations. There’s also a small and quirky Christian center on the grounds, where, besides an impressively ugly painting of the Rapture behind the front desk in their office, no religion is pushed, but lots of services are given. Volunteers run a mail room, thrift shop, propane refill, and once a month, a free pancake breakfast. All these amenities are pretty incredible for boondockers, for whom the cost of complete freedom is much time being spent plotting out how to get the basic necessities to run their nomad lives.
The vibe of the LTVA is ‘Canadian retirement home’ with an older demographic from north of the border. There are lots of activities, both among private groups and announced to the public through two Facebook groups (why are there two? No idea). David quickly became the golden child among the musicians of the LTVA for his skill at the weekly jam sessions (and for being an actual child, relatively). We were nearby in Mexico, getting cheap dental work, when a woman walked up to him and said, “Aren’t you the fiddler?” So, it’s fair to say he is an international superstar.
Other Canadians had raked out a patch of desert to create a court for yard games, and we played bocce ball and croquet with them. After every bocce round, they would drag an old, rusted mattress box spring across the court, resetting the dirt. A gaggle of women gathered around my friend Lynn and I as we introduced ourselves, asking if we were “YouTube.” Another woman we had already met clarified, “They’re nobody’s daughters.” She meant that we weren’t visiting any retirees at the LTVA, but we loved it and decided our camp band name was Nobody’s Daughters.
To live at the LTVA means to be scrappy. We heard rumors of a 90-year-old who came out here every year, living in an RV by himself. A small neighborhood of rigs called themselves ‘The Rat Pack’ and was made up of ham radio aficionados, spreading the good word for how useful they would be in the apocalypse. Hardy burros wander across the landscape and between rigs. People who stayed for the whole season had small trailers with big kegs, with one filled with grey/black water to dump and another with clean water for their rigs, so they could dump/refill without moving their entire RVs. Many people had named their dump trailers, with my favorites being ‘The Stool Bus’ and “The Turd Taxi.”
It’s a pretty weird place, which really does it for me. I think a lot of people (myself prior to RVing included) would look at the desert landscape that many boondockers flock to and see a rather desolate expanse of dirt. But I’ve grown attached to the desert and its secret treasures that you’ll likely miss if you just drive through, like slot canyons, herds of burros, tiny flocks of resilient quail, old mines, beautiful rocks, and a still quiet that fills everything. Above all (quite literally) are big skies that power us during the day, amaze us at sunrise and sunset, and fill the nights with starry wonder.
There are a couple other reasons why I loved Imperial Dam so much.
Can you find our camp with the blue tent?
The first is that we spent the summer in Bellingham, WA, as we have for the last couple years, and discovered this year that the magic of it was gone for us. I don’t know why this was….maybe it is a common nomad problem, visiting somewhere too much, coming back until you can see the wear and tarnish. I think we also realized that as we’ve lived on the road, we’ve become more and more disillusioned with what American towns and cities have to offer- so many essentials of life wrapped in the package of consumption, whether it’s socializing over $16 drinks or finding a spot to call home, however temporary, in a place of multi-million dollar homes and ever-rising rents.
Bellingham, like many West Coast cities, has its share of unhoused people and vehicle residents. I was walking down a street where many cars and RVs were parked long-term and passed one that had a piece of cardboard in the window facing out. On it was written, “I am free.” I think it can be hard for people in houses to understand how living in your car would be preferred, and arriving in at the LTVA, I finally felt seen again.
The other reason why the LTVA was so great was that we brought our own community with us. We had stayed in touch with a group of RVers that we met and lived with in the desert at the beginning of the year. Our friends Lynn and Josh decided to chill out with us for a couple of months at Imperial Dam, and we lived next to each other, with the spontaneous connectivity that tends to peter off in adulthood. Instead of scheduling hang-outs days and weeks ahead, you could look up from your work, see your friend outside, and just wander over.
Academics have recently reinforced the importance of casual social interactions. Idling with friends can seem like the first thing to cut out of a busy schedule, but in fact, it’s one of the main things that makes life worth living and is a radical act that should be treasured at all costs. In our micro-neighborhood, we spent less leisure time watching TV (or when we did, it was a group activity together). The things we did together- walk, chat, tinker on rigs, learn together, explore, play games, play music- cost no money, creating a perpetual cycle of hanging out being easy and stress-free.
Another important aspect of having a casual hang is The Third Place. “What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and pleasurably" said urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who coined the term 'third place.' Third places are simply informal public gathering spaces outside of home and work, but they are essential for happiness and well-being. From pubs to parks, they create community, vibrancy, and a connection to a local world.
Third places are where you can set aside concerns, take a break from increasingly insular private lives, and feel welcome, no matter your economic status. They are casual, encourage sharing, and do not lock away leisure behind the gates of consumption. You ideally should be able to walk to them, which is why they are more common in cities.
RVing on the surface doesn't seem like it would have any possibility of a third place, especially when you are always transient and disconnected from local populations. But among the nomadic community, clustered in warm areas for the winter, campfires become the quintessential third place, with a potluck atmosphere and friendly spirit. Wandering across a dark desert to a literal beacon of light and warmth is one of my favorite feelings.
Inspired by other nomads, we wanted to expand upon the fire and provide an even cozier third place, one that was also present during the day and kept the nights warmer by sheltering our fire. Our blue tent was a presence this season, with many long conversations, music jams, fires, and even a couple movie nights. ‘Blue Tent Sessions’ were often heralded by the blow of a conch shell we kept inside the tent to signal to others when we wanted to hang out.
Once we had been at Imperial Dam for a while, other RV friends (Jack & Margo and Brian & Elizabeth) made their way to our little neighborhood and seeing each one was a reminder of how much we love our nomadic community. What a gift to have their skills, creativity, and humor brought right to our doorstep. This desert season was a representation of what we’ve always enjoyed the most out of living on the road- not seeing as many National Parks or attractions as possible- but relaxing with a low cost of living, being present, having serendipity in our lives, and surrounded by people we think are rad.
We also had a great time running around some giant sand dunes.
Stuff I made:
I’ve been working on a long term needlefelted series that I’ll share when it’s all done, but otherwise I completed a needlefelted ribcage breastplate. It hangs around my neck from a black string that is attached to the top. This is the beginning of an interest in creating a lot more bone-related work with fiber because there are so many great shapes and fun directions to go with it.
I’ve also been improving my Spanish through Comprehensible Input with Dreaming Spanish, which has been one of the most helpful tools I’ve found to learn with. I took Spanish classes for years throughout high school and college, but that format has been proven to be pretty terrible for actually learning, so it’s a breath of fresh air to find something new. Plus, learning something as an adult that you are genuinely interested in is always such a different experience than forced learning as a kid.
Here are some of the cool things my nomad friends are doing:
Lynn has her own business as a life coach, which she was starting when we first met her and has been a wild success this past year. She’s one of the most authentic people I’ve met, genuinely eager to listen and help, and she does the world of life coaching a service by being a part of it. She can help you learn how to pursue an unconventional life!
Josh is an author in the process of writing a Weird-genre Western book. We got to read some samples of his short stories, and he is such a great writer! His website has an excerpt from his upcoming novella that you can sign up to know when it’s released.
David (Mr. Dirtbag Daoist) is almost done with his next Whiskey Boys EP, which has some very excellent songs that he wrote, recorded, and mixed all by himself. You can check out his music on Spotify and even better, sign up for his mailing list to know when the EP drops!
Brian Watts is a talented videographer who not only makes a mean playlist, but also created an incredible video of all our time together at the Xscapers’ Annual Bash, an RVing event where many of us originally met. You can check it out below or at his YouTube channel.
Xscapers Annual Bash
We met almost all our RVing friends at last year’s Bash and are so grateful to the event for bringing us all together. I was hired to photograph this year’s Bash and shot for a week straight. Event photography is one of the last types of paid photo gigs I’m willing to do (puppy portraits also accepted) because it’s relatively low key, though still a lot of work. You can check out some of my favorite shots below.
