One of the Loneliest Parts of America

CISCO, UTAH – We’re in the desert today, far from any towns. This is Cisco…

Cisco was once a busy little town, serving the railroad. Then, two things happened.

One, the railroad switched from steam to diesel and the trains stopped refueling here. Two, Interstate 85 was built less than a mile away, bypassing Cisco and taking the traffic with it.

Today, Cisco is ruined and abandoned.

Backroad America

Greetings from a western ghost town!

My family and I are roaming around backroad America. We’ve been on the road for three months now, couch surfing, sleeping in parks, and exploring the remotest countryside.

We started in Florida. We’re currently in Utah.

Last I wrote to you, we were camping next to the Colorado River, in a deep, red canyon outside the town of Moab, Utah.

Today we left the Colorado River behind and drove up onto a high altitude desert somewhere in northeastern Utah.

This is where we found Cisco. The land is so hot and dry here, it’s a wonder anyone wanted to live here in the first place.

Now we must find somewhere to camp for the night. We’ll get back in the car, drive north until it starts getting dark, and then we’ll pull off the road and set up camp.

It’s easy finding campgrounds in these parts. And the campgrounds are rarely full.

– Tom Dyson

P.S. We listen to cowboy stories to pass the time in the car. We’re currently listening to Shane by Jack Schaefer. We’ve also listened to Mustang Man by Louis L’Amour and The Buckskin Line by Elmer Kelton. Postcards readers recommended these books to us through the mailbag. They’re all fantastic road trip stories.

P.P.S. We had hoped to spend the winter in Canada this year, but the Canadian border is still closed. It doesn’t seem as if it’s going to open any time soon. Besides, we hear Canadians are becoming hostile to Americans in Canada.

There have been stories of cars being vandalized because they had American license plates, for example. “We can’t have Americans just wandering around,” they say. According to one story, two people even harassed a man at the gas station, demanding to see his passport, because he had a Florida license plate.

We’ll be arriving at the Canadian border in about three weeks. What are we going to do? I’m not sure…

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Readers have more questions about the Dow-to-Gold ratio today… and one is thrilled with the recommendations in Tom’s Portfolio…

Reader question: Do you see the future to be higher gold prices with a higher Dow to reach your magic number of 5 or do you anticipate another crash like 2007-2008, with huge drops in financial assets as well as home values nationwide?

Tom’s response: I think the most likely outcome is for the ratio of 5 to get hit with the Dow above 25,000 and gold above $5,000 an ounce.

Reader comment: Hi Tom, great work. When looking at the Dow-to-Gold ratio hitting 5, would it be better to only compare the stocks you are planning on buying against gold? This would make it more relative to gold in today’s numbers.

Tom’s response: An interesting suggestion. I will look into making a chart of dividend aristocrats versus gold ratio.

Reader comment: Hi Tom, I purchased your package of financial education after watching your video interview about investing in gold. After reading Tom’s Portfolio, I followed your recommendations, sold my stocks and purchased gold and silver in the forms and ratios you suggested. I got my monthly statement for July a few days ago and had to check it over twice… My account was up almost $10,000 in one month! I am ecstatic! Thank you!

Reader comment: Hello Tom and family. We are completely enamored with your travels and stories. Bought our first gold and silver coins yesterday. Love the weight of the metals in our hand and the peace of mind knowing we are protected from the crazy currency devaluations coming!

A safety suggestion for the Dyson family…

Reader comment: Tom – I really enjoy your Postcards and appreciate that you include photos so readers can also see. I know you are an intelligent, adult person and responsible father, but after seeing the pics of your journey to the Earthship, I sure hope that you always have sufficient gas in the tank and good tires on your vehicles. Wow! What desolation!

Tom’s response: We carry a lot of extra water and keep our vehicle in good working order.

Another reader is dismayed that Tom briefly mentioned investing in uranium…

Reader comment: Tom, please think long and hard before supporting with your investments or your recommendations an industry that has brought grief to so many. Native nations in the southwest of the USA that have been shoved off land with uranium deposits have suffered greatly. I feel this way also about 5G.

I am lucky to live in a county where there is no uranium with its toxins, and 5G has been rebuffed until science can prove it safe. If investors pour money into these industries, they will have the lawyer-power – or candidate-support power – to overwhelm local communities that have the most to lose from them.

And finally, a reader with Earthship experience… off-the-grid homes… and Tom’s reasoning for the Dysons’ nomadic lifestyle…

Reader comment: I read your story about the Earthship. I am a true solar expert who started out as an electrical engineer, ended up retiring at 50 from electrical equipment sales, full time RV’d for many years and now live outside of Roundup, Montana.

I spent a lot of time helping people build solar power that works and fixing ones that did not. The architect who designed the Earthship got very bad advice. There is one of those in Montana that turned into a lot of problems. His houses have many problems that I avoided when we built our off-the-grid house.

We have views to the north. I am not a millionaire and have built a beautiful, very comfortable home on a shoestring budget. We have solar power and heating that actually work, and we drink rain without having to haul water. We may have to talk. I do not do this for money, only to fix the problems in the solar power world. It is full of crooks.

Tom’s response: We’d love to talk and learn about how you built your house!

Reader comment: I especially appreciated your Postcards from the Fringe photo of the wine bottle. We drank one with our evening meal. Best to your family. You are indeed fortunate.

Stick with your rig until the family can’t take it any longer. More fun surviving as a team! Bigger and better just leads to different challenges. But, by then, the upgrade will be appreciated – for a while. Never enough. Then too much!

Reader question: My wife and I are house rich (almost paid-off house in the Vancouver area) and in good shape work-wise, amidst the pandemic. Curious to know if your long-term research has shown how housing values/prices perform during crashes?

I know you have stated that you feel houses are a burden (maintenance, etc.) and we sure get that. I want to know if you think it generally safer to sell and rent (or go nomadic like yourselves) while putting all of our assets into gold like you have done, or if house prices simply readjust for inflation/ currency devaluation?

Tom’s response: Our decision to be nomadic was more a lifestyle choice than a financial choice. We found the nomadic lifestyle to be very cost effective, even though cost wasn’t our prime motive when we started. I don’t think real estate – generally speaking – will be a good investment… especially compared to gold… but it probably won’t be a terrible investment either, as the currency debases.

The correct way to think about real estate, in my opinion, is that houses are basically just big, expensive possessions. The bigger and nicer they are, the more they cost you. For Kate and me, the benefits of keeping a household (whether rented or owned) isn’t worth the cost of all the bills. We prefer our simple life on the road, where we have no bills (except Netflix). But your cost/benefit balance may be different.

And, as always, thanks to everyone who wrote in! Please keep sending your questions and comments to [email protected]. We read every note you send us.