PSA for your own local nomads:
Too often, travellers and adventurers get lumped in with homeless or dangerous. There's a stigma and a fear of the unknown. I've met a few scary homeless folks on the road, but I've also met a few scary homeowners. I've never had a real problem, because people know exactly what I am and I tend to smile a lot. "Oh, hippy chick. She's okay."
But I did have one very interesting conversation with a woman who said she didn't want us parking in the public parking area in front of her house, even though we were renting the beach-front house nearby. The house just didn't have enough parking for 20 people in vans and buses.
She told me that it wasn't me, that I was fine, but that she saw some of my friends doing drugs, and that I needed to tell them to leave. She described one person who doesn't drink, who yells at me for smoking cigarettes and can't even stand the smell of incense. She described another who might drink a beer once a week and rolls his own cigarettes because he doesn't want the other chemicals in his body. She was clearly having an emotional reaction to the fear instilled in her by for-profit 24-hour news channels who make money by scaring you and horror stories on Netflix true crime documentaries. That's not real life. She talked about how she'd had to build walls around her property to feel safe. I told her that the walls were the problem and thanked her for having the courage to come talk to me. I told her something like this:
By far the majority of people I've met on the road have been wholesome and good. They share what they have, even if it's very little. They believe in kindness, karma, and kismet. They are respectful and beautiful people looking to make their way in a country where the majority of older folks are determined to put up walls to keep everyone out due to fear.
This country has made home ownership almost inaccessible for the young, not only due to prices but also permits, building codes, insurance prices, and credit scores. Our schools don't teach kids how to navigate a loan or mortgage.
