Nomadland tells a revelatory tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy – one which foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, it celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of people who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive, but have not given up hope. From the beetroot fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labour pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads.
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving? Well, that is precisely what The Raven Brothers decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. With a squeaky foot pump and an SAS survival guide, the travel writing duo from the UK fired up their rusty Ford Sierra and headed east. After clocking up over 12,000 kilometres, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. What the brothers had in fact done was drive Russia’s new Trans-Siberian Highway, a staggering eight years before the road was completed. With only very limited skills of wilderness survival and, virtually zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, Simon and Chris crossed ten time zones in the beat up petrol engine saloon they used for work. Driving through endless rivers and canyons in a bid to cross the notorious Zilov Gap in darkest Siberia, the hapless heroes capture the true spirit of overland travel during a life-altering journey across one of the world’s last frontiers. Along the way they rub shoulders with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet an eccentric cast of characters at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and enter into a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving the journey by the skin of their teeth, the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in a toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure. Priding themselves on going it alone, The Raven Brothers have been noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”.