Radical simplicity is his credo. From his YouTube channel, Cheaprvliving, which has over 120,000 subscribers, and his website of the same name, he dispenses practical advice such as how to live on $500 a month (Mr. Wells has a pension from his years at Safeway), or tips for camping with pets, along with musings on the psychological and environmental benefits of road life.

Some tutorials are winning combinations of the pragmatic and the esoteric. “Pooping in a Car, Van or RV” is one of his most popular videos, with more than 230,000 views. As for the method, suffice it to say that Mr. Wells is extremely fastidious and has perfected a bucket system that is a concert of Howard Hughes-like moves involving two garbage bags, antibacterial wipes, gel alcohol and water. “We’re out here to be comfortable and happy,” he says in the video, “not to prove how tough we are.”

An Introvert Convention

The road from Quartzsite to the site of this year’s RTR was pocked with muffler-scraping craters. (“End Arizona Dept. of Transportation Maintenance,” read a helpful sign.) Most nomads left the rutted tarmac for the dusty shoulder, bucketing along until they hit a dirt track. It wasn’t easy to discern the shape and scope of the rally, or figure out where it actually began.

Converted delivery trucks, Roadtreks, vintage RVs, skoolies and even a few cars (Mr. Wells likes to say that those who are living in Priuses are the saints of the community) were camped along the washes at decorous intervals from each other, in distinct contrast to the more conventional RV campgrounds that also surround Quartzsite, where gleaming Winnebagos park nose to tail and side by side.