Gallery: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots
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Stephen Pike and girlfriend Christina Plascencia are traveling north with no destination in mind. They started in Bisbee, AZ. They were kept awake by a street cleaner driving in circles through the parking lot the night before. Stephen says, "I think he's a subliminal irritant - keeping us up, instead of asking us to leave."
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"€œWe sold everything we have and decided to find, as we put it, our American dream," says Josiane Simpson. She, Jared Holfeltz, and their son Gabriel are currently living out of their car. Jared Hopes to start a contracting business helping rebuild after natural disasters, but he recently hurt his wrist working a construction gig. So their dreams are on hold for a few weeks until his wrist improves.
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From left: Megan Hoffman; Sophia Stauffer and her boyfriend, Alex Daby; Deanna Bunch and Kerouac (dog). They were traveling from Prescott, AZ, to Montana. Each of them plays at least one instrument, and they fund their travels by "€œjamming" on street corners. Sophia describes the nomadic life as an opportunity to "€œdo what I want to do and not have to worry about all the bills and worry about what's happening next."
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"These are the best years of my life," says retiree Leroy Morris. He lives off social security in his small R.V. with Maggie, his dog. He stays in the Flagstaff Walmarts in the summer and winters in southern Arizona.
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Sheldon and Jackie Britton from Phoenix, AZ enjoy their morning coffee by the gas fire in their "fifth wheel" camper trailer. They were on their way to Milwakee for the 110th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson. "€œI have everything in there that I require without having to pack a suitcase and take it into a hotel,"€ Jacquie says. "€œI have a full-size walk-in closet. I even have my china if we'€™re entertaining somebody."
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J.D. Gilkey sold the family home and has been driving around the country researching his family's genealogy. He says his travels have brought him to 500 Walmarts in the U.S. and Canada. "€œChristmas of 2011, there were about nine of us in the Walmart parking lot in Albuquerque,"€ he says. "Christmas Eve I put a note on everybody'€™s door to come over in the morning, and I fixed Christmas breakfast for everybody."€
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Caleb Goodaker-Craig from Austin, TX, a painter on an 11,000-mile solo bike trip. "€œI was riding through to check out Walmart, and I met an older guy who invited me for a glass of wine. He let me sleep between the truck and his R.V."
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Arther Ellis bought this school bus on Ebay for $2,500. He fetched it from Inglewood, CA and is on his way home to Fairfield, TX.
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William White was shipping store fixtures from a closed pet store in Flagstaff to Las Vegas. He gets good rest sleeping in Walmart lots. "When you have forty or fifty trucks in a truck stop, it's like trying to sleep in a beehive."
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Bob Floyd, right, with his dog Tank. "€œMy wife is in a wheelchair. She had a stroke in 2006, and we were planning to leave on a trip around the United States. It took us '€˜til 2013 for her to get strong enough and for us to figure out how to do it. It took us six weeks. We just came up from the Grand Canyon that afternoon, headed for Birmingham. The guard came by and checked on us every two hours to make sure we were alright."
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Dave Gooding, Liz Deno, and Shaggy (dog), from Georgia, are on their way to Montana. "You meet a lot of good people who like to help out, so when people do that,"€ Liz says, "€œit'€™s like a karma broker. You give people an opportunity to give good karma back."
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Jack Spano and and Dawn Lovingood are Army veterans from Colorado. They are in Flagstaff visiting the veteran's hospital.
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"€œMy wife threw me out, because I'm a drunk," says Sal. "€œI drink too much vodka." He currently works odd jobs and lives out of his pickup.
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Al Van Abbema sold his house to live out of his R.V. He travels around the mountain states in the warm months and spends the winter in southern Arizona.
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Linda and John Lefco are from southern Arizona. They are retired, and getting away for a few days for their anniversary.
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Captain John inspects the shocks on his recently acquired R.V. When his mother came into some inheritance she offered to buy him some property, but he declined, asking for this R.V. instead. Ever since he lost his job as a merchant marine master captain, he's been living out of different vehicles doing odd jobs.
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Heiko Bergman, from Germany, rented an R.V. with his family to tour the southwest. A nearby R.V. park was full the previous evening. The people who ran the R.V. park recommended that they try the Walmart parking lot.
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Joe Torpey has been alternating between stays in a Walmart lot and spots in the woods for the past seven years. Due to a back injury he received several years ago, he'€™s had a tough time finding work. "This car saved my life,"€ he says of his 1998 Ford Taurus station wagon. He fears that his car will break down, because he doesn'€™t think he'll last living on the street.
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Rick Keller (75) says he doesn't live in his R.V. for economic reasons, "I belong in the woods." He lives in the woods, but comes to Flagstaff weekends to restock. "I just pray that the Lord keeps me alive one more year, because these are such exciting times," he says, referring to the Arab Spring.
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Will Buffit does exterior detailing on semi trucks and trailers all over Arizona. Though he has a house in Holbrook, AZ, he lives out of one of his three mobile homes much of the year.
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