Vardo News, Russian Style

вардо, that’s Russian for Vardo; and it certainly looks more interesting in Cyrillic. Searching some Russian pages for vardo information yielded a wealth of photos and some interesting information about Traveler culture in Eastern Europe. There’s as much fascination with the Traveler lifestyle in the largest country on Earth as there is on this side of the globe as we are more alike than we are different, despite what politicians might say.

The enchantment that some of us have for life on the road spans the world. Our ancestors were all nomads but some seek the comforts of permanent roots.

It’s only in our recent past to settle for a permanent dwelling when the Earth is our canvas on which we write our lives largely and bold. Most of us in the “New World” certainly wouldn’t be here at all had our ancestors been stay-at-homes or successful and steadfast. I think we have it in our genes to look for greener pastures.

That’s why so many of us (1 in 300 according to U.S. statistical data) at some point in our lives choose an itinerant life against the image portrayed as “typical” and settled.

This feeling is certainly not exceptional, from Reading Wagon to Winnebago, it’s relatively easy to make one’s home on the road.

Maybe not as spacious as a spec home in Los Angeles but when the outdoors is your home then the real luxury can be limited in square footage.

And, of course, there is the romance of the Road. Think of Steinbeck, Kerouac, McCarthy, or Tolkien; the great adventure stories of the Road that never ends. We need nothing but our rolling universe and the few things we bring along.

For western Europeans, there is a special romance with the horse, wagon, and music that makes this lifestyle especially enticing to some, leading to the immense sales of caravans that will rarely see actual use but represent a freedom most of us may never get to know.