Over the Next Hill : An Ethnography of RVing Seniors in North America, Second Edition / David Reese Counts, Dorothy Ayers Counts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Counts, David Reese, author.

Counts, Dorothy Ayers, author.

Series:

Teaching Culture: UTP Ethnographies for the Classroom

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Recreational vehicle living--Social aspects--United States.

Recreational vehicle living.

Recreational vehicle living--Social aspects--Canada.

Older people--United States--Social life and customs.

Older people.

Older people--Canada--Social life and customs.

Older people--Travel--United States.

Older people--Travel--Canada.

United States.

Canada.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

347 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

Edition:

2nd ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2019]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Living either full or part time in a recreational vehicle has been an alternative lifestyle in North America since the 1920s. By the 1930s, Wally Byam's Airstream company could not keep up with the demand for his self-contained "house trailers." And today, "RVing" has become so widespread that, for perhaps two million retired North Americans, home is a recreational vehicle. In this book, anthropologists Dorothy and David Counts tell the story of their research living the life of RVing seniors in trailer parks, "boondocking" sites on government land, laundromats, and other meeting places across the continent. The authors convincingly convey the feel of various RV lifestyles (boondocking, full timing, flea marketing and so on). But they also raise broad questions. Are there parallels to be made between the RVers of North America and the gypsies of Europe? Is there an association between RVing and socio-economic status? Why would people sell their homes and live on the road as nomads? The answers come from RVers who argue persuasively that they experience a greater sense of community and fewer of the emotional problems common to old age than do many who have chosen other forms of retirement living. This edition expands the original 1996 text, including an extended section on working RVers and on the CARE center (Continued Assistance for Retired Escapees) in Livingston, TX. The CARE center is a unique and innovative experiment that provides inexpensive assisted living and adult daycare for RVers who must hang up their keys because of age or infirmity, but who want to continue their participation in the RVing community. A new appendix (Appendix 5) offers information, resources and suggestions for people who want to try serious RVing but need help getting started. The authors include a list of websites providing resources and information for both experienced and novice RVers. The list includes sources for RVing families, single RVers, those interested in a particular kind of RVing style ("boondockers," for example), people who want to rent an RV, organizations for RVers with special interests (former military, Canadians, etc.). There is updated information on Canadian provincial residence rules defining eligibility for provincial medical care programs.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Preface and Acknowledgements""; ""Introduction""; ""One: Lurking in the Laundromat: Doing Research With RVers""; ""Two: Aging, Retirement, and RVing""; ""Three: From Auto Campers to Escapees""; ""Four: Gypsies and Pioneers: Images of RVers""; ""Five: If They Aren't Us, Who Are They?""; ""Six: On the Road Again""; ""Seven: ""Home is Where I Park It""""; ""Eight: ""They're My Family Now""""; ""Nine: Hanging Up the Keys""; ""Appendix One: RV Living Survey""; ""Appendix Two: Research Method""

""Appendix Three: Canadian Federal and Provincial Rules Regarding Residence Requirements for Eligibility for Provincial Health Care""""Appendix Four: Glossary""; ""Appendix Five: What Now?""; ""References and Internet Resources""; ""Index""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""; ""G""; ""H""; ""I""; ""J""; ""K""; ""L""; ""M""; ""N""; ""O""; ""P""; ""Q""; ""R""; ""S""; ""T""; ""U""; ""V""; ""W""; ""Z""

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9781442602793

1442602791

OCLC:

1110710857