Paper short abstract:

Time becomes more flexible on the move and is essential to all who live full-time in a van on the road. There's always a (good) time for mobility: to decide to quit and hit the road; to turn on the key; to move or to settle in a few places; to move from a daily routine to "a seize the day" behavior.

Paper long abstract:

Based on fieldworks in North America on full-time RVers (people who live full-time in recreational vehicles) and on analyses of Vanlifers' blogs, I would like to discuss shifts in the way of thinking about time and temporality for the ones choosing to live on the road. Most of them had a "wake-up call" about the way they were living their lives (e.g., a health issue for them/their relatives, the loss of a loved one, a stressful episode). They wanted a change in their daily routine and living full-time on the road was their way out. Having a mobile lifestyle is not only about moving from place to place, it is also about shifting the way of thinking about time. Time becomes more flexible on the move; less scheduled, more spontaneous. You can turn on the key and go anywhere, anytime. Time seems freer as well. Full-time RVers usually mention having back the control over their time, over their schedule. They enjoy having the freedom to seize the day and to decide on their own when and where to move, how long they want to stay, and how often they want to move. They choose their own pace of mobility, even if it relies on other elements to consider. In this presentation, I will attempt to demonstrate, through the cases of mobile lifestyles I have been studying for over a decade, that the shifts in thinking about time are essential to the understanding of the pace of their mobility.