The Conversation

What's the appeal of a nomadic existence with no settled place to live? The award-winning film, Nomadland shone a light on the sense of community, support and friendship that exists among people in the United States living in their vehicles and moving from place-to-place. How much do these modern-day nomads have in common with traditional communities around the world? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from Somalia and US about life on the move. Shugri Said Salh was sent to live with her grandmother at the age of six and enjoyed an idyllic childhood living as a nomad in Somalia: herding camels, raising goats, and enjoying nightly stories and songs of her ancestors. She fled her country’s brutal civil war living in refugee camps in Kenya before settling in California where she's now a nurse. She's written a book, The Last Nomad, about an almost-forgotten way of life full of beauty, innovation, and tradition as well as danger. Carol Meeks lives part of the year on the road in a converted van. After seeing the unhealthy food some fellow travellers were eating, she started a YouTube channel posting videos about how to cook tasty meals, cheaply on a small camping stove. She called it Glorious Life on Wheels and now interviews solo women living in their vehicles and travelling the US as they try to get by on meagre incomes. Produced by Jane Thurlow