This thirst for the open road is hardly new. Nobody can deny the intoxicating celluloid freedom of Jack Nicholson cruising a Harley in Easy Rider, or Clint Eastwood disappearing into the sunset in Pale Rider, but couple it with the current inaccessibility of the property market and you have a powerful combination. “Property ownership is being largely rejected by a younger generation,” says Mark Charter, of Carter Jonas estate agents. “In the long term, the prospect of renting rather than buying property could bring about a change in the national psyche, represented by a move towards a more nomadic lifestyle.”

The novelist Rupert Thomson explores this brave new world in his latest work, Divided Kingdom, already hailed as a latter-day 1984. His fictional nomads live beyond society, portrayed as figures on which the settled population project both their dreams and fears. He writes from experience. “Wim Wenders says that when you travel, your eyes are more feverish and curious, and that curiosity is what keeps you moving. The notion of possibility rather than certainty is what is so exciting about nomadism.”

But if the concept of nomadism conjures up traveller scenes of the 1990s, think again — nobody is expecting you to swap your Egyptian cotton duvet for a converted horsebox, or forgo your fortnightly date with John Frieda for a head of dreadlocks. Dogs on string called Rizla and tie-dyed trousers have no place among the modern nomad’s possessions.

So is it really as romantic and bohemian as it sounds? Or is it more about flexibility and convenience for a commitment-phobic generation? “Living a nomadic life has freed me from anxiety,” says Thomson. “Owning property always represented responsibility and anxiety rather than security. It’s just another thing to worry about, isn’t it?”

THE COWBOY

Oliver Garrard, 32, has lived as a nomad for the past 13 years, working with horses in England and Australia. He spends summers travelling on a wagon with his partner, Syrian, and their two children, Tabitha, 8, and Fenn, three months

“I got the feeling for living nomadically in my early twenties when I went to live in Australia on a 9m acre ranch. For three years, I moved around the ranch, breaking in horses. When I came home, I started breaking in horses throughout England and Wales. I’m on the road most of the time — in the winter, with my saddle slung in the back of my pick-up, and in the summer, on my wagon. From spring until autumn, we all travel in the wagon as a family. During winter, we take a short let on a cottage in Shropshire — for the kids and Syrian mostly. We all always look forward to spring, when we can get back on the road again.

My work takes me all over the country; it dictates that I live nomadically. Last week, I was in Cornwall sorting out a racehorse that had lost its nerve; next week, I’ll be in Wales training a polo pony. It’s the sort of work that old-fashioned cowboys did, and it has some of the romance of that, too. I don’t quite ride off into the sunset every evening, but sometimes it feels a bit like that. I wanted my daughter to grow up with this sense of nomadism in her life, too, so when she was three, we set off on a three-year trip around Australia, Hong Kong and Europe. It’s something she’s grown up with, and I’m pleased with that — it’s like an escape.”

THE LONGBOAT ARTIST

Jackie Harrison, 32, has been travelling around England on a longboat for three years. She makes her living as an artist and organising workshops for children

“Three years ago, I was teaching in London, but I felt restless. My parents are travel writers, so I had travelled a lot as a child. I wanted to be alone and travel, but essentially, I’m an urban person, so I chose a boat, as you can be part of urban life but separate from it.

“I have covered half the 2,000 miles of canals in England. I like the landscape around them, and it can be a very sociable existence. My mobile and computer mean that I’m never out of touch, and friends come and stay a lot. Sometimes it is like a long holiday. The great thing is that you can cruise into a big city, like Manchester, have a really wild night out, then move on in the morning. It’s slightly mysterious. And being in London for the Notting Hill carnival was brilliant. I found an amazing short-term moor and had a non-stop party.

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