Transmat World: camper van

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Movable Housing Will Increase With Climate Change

The year is 2035. Ralph and Susie go to bed after an impromptu party at their mobile home camping center. At 12:45 AM the weather alarm goes off. The klaxon warning has them up and out of bed. The screen on the pilot console has come on automatically showing a local weather map, their location, and the location of an F3 tornado heading in their direction.

Susie plops down in the captain’s chair, punches the “on” button, and grabs the joystick. Ralph straps into the copilot’s chair while the six props on the flying camper get up to speed. As soon as he clicks in, Susie pulls back on the joystick, and they lift into the air. Quick disconnects on electrical, cable, and plumbing do their job, leaving wires and tubing crisscrossed on the small concrete pad.

Satellite feeds replace cable as Susie watches their craft pull away from the tornado on the screen. She veers out of the vortex’s predicted path, goes three miles further, just to be safe, and sets down on a hillock in a pasture to wait out the storm.

Yes, climate change has given a completely new meaning to the term “mobile home” in the future. Because of the increase in violent weather and rising oceans, mobility may be a favorable asset for your living facilities. Snails will have nothing on humans, carrying all the comforts of home that technology will allow around with us.

As the native Americans turned to the tent and horse-drawn travois to follow their favorite food around so might future Americans turn to camper vans and trailers to avoid recalcitrant weather. As the story above alludes to, maybe even a flying electric camper van (I thought of it first, Elon!) to make it easier to outmaneuver rain storms, wind storms, dust storms, snow storms, floods, heat waves, visiting relatives, or the park ranger.

Seriously, as climate conditions worsen there will be adaptations by insects, wildlife, and humans. Wealthy humans will “hunker down” in expansive, well-supplied bunkers they feel are strong enough to survive any type of weather. Unfortunately for them, those places may not survive other humans looking for food when things get tough. The not-so-wealthy will probably adopt the same strategy as the wildlife and insects. They will simply move somewhere more pleasant and welcoming.

Even now, the gig economy has produced a demand for mobile housing. Migrant Amazon workers, layoffs in manufacturing and retail, contract work here and there—these represent a rising disconnect between stable residency and place of work. The only stabilizing factor is working from home via computer and that trend is reversing.

One of the most popular vehicles in demand right now is the “stealth” camper van and the stealthier the better. These are typically a Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit, or a Dodge Ram ProMaster van converted to a camper with beds, kitchen, bath, the works. The biggest tell-tales from the outside are the nacelle hiding the roll-up shade on one side and the AC on top. Typically there are no outside markings or fancy ad paint jobs proclaiming what they are. That’s the way people like it because they can park just about anywhere they want to catch six to eight hours of comfortable z’s without worrying about hassles from law enforcement. Currently, thousands of retirees cycle between Colorado in the summer and New Mexico in the winter in their vans, campers, and motorhomes to enjoy the best weather of each season.

I don’t see a Mad Max world for the future, mainly because most vehicles by then will be electric, not gasoline powered. But I do see a world where people will adapt to worsening climate conditions. The costliest year for weather in the U.S. was 2017. Last year, 2018, was considered a “raging, howling signal of climate change.” Week after week 2019 brings more tornadoes and so much rain the U.S. corn crop is pretty much destroyed by the historic flooding. These recent years of intensifying bad weather across the U.S. should give us pause to reflect on what might be in store for the future. How many times will people rebuild their homes from floods and tornadoes before they turn to another solution?

I see a trend of mobility as the economy becomes more friable and the weather becomes more unpredictably treacherous. Maybe the U.S. will not become a nation of RV camping sites. Maybe we will get serious about controlling climate change and addressing inequality of wealth. Maybe we will not have to migrate to Alaska every summer in the future to catch a cool breeze. As for me, I’m working on the patent for that flying electric camper van. Don't tell Elon.