As the Corona Virus continues to develop throughout the United States, many travelers have noticed the implications on international and national air travel. Traveling full-time on the road provides an alternate method for people to get to a safe location while maintaining safe distances from the public.
Traveling full-time during a pandemic almost sounds unreal to us and others that are finding themselves affected on the road. It’s almost like everything was fine one day, and now we’re seeking shelter like its a zombie apocalypse. Additionally, many of us have had travel plans that have had to be completely scrapped for the next few months.
As states across the country are implementing Stay at Home policies and the closure of non-essential businesses, we quickly found ourselves figuring out where we should go and how long we should remain hunkered down.
While many folks are returning home to their permanent residences, not all of us have that option. COVID-19 has affected a lot of us roadlifers in different ways.
Alyssa & Dan: Living full-time in their short bus, Lucky – @regretlyss & @minigoesbig
When the pandemic hit, Alyssa and Dan felt strangely prepared. Their first reaction was to fill up on resources and head to a remote spot in the desert with a couple of fellow roadlifers to quarantine. Their bus LUCKY is completely off-grid capable, with a solar system, over 60 gallons of fresh water, and a full fridge and freezer.
Finding a good spot in the desert away from society is normal for them, as Alyssa and Dan typically live on public land enjoying all that wild America has to offer. Bus life went on as usual for about the first week, as the virus didn’t really affect their lifestyle. However, once public lands and campgrounds began closing, they began feeling uneasy. They felt the anxiety of becoming misplaced and the threat of losing resources like access to clean water or a safe place to park. When you’re told to stay home and quarantine, but then you’re booted from your home, where do you go?
Alyssa and Dan knew they had to do something to be proactive. They took not traveling very seriously, especially as nomads, since many people look to them for travel advice online. The nomad community has a great sense of responsibility to do our part. They began chatting with other fellow nomads online and heard about a document that was created by Megan Kantor, a fellow roadlifer that they didn’t know personally. The document was a list of people offering up their land and driveways to nomads needing a place to anchor. Alyssa and Dan reached out to a couple in Bend, Oregon (Aileen & Max) and immediately hit it off. They drove up to Bend and are now parked on private property with access to necessary resources.
Alyssa and Dan are still living tiny and minimally, however, their lifestyle has shifted. The open road is no longer home, rather a quiet spot in the trees on private property. They cannot stress how grateful they are to have a place to safely settle down and quarantine. It’s absolutely a privilege.
They miss the adventure but are taking advantage of the newfound time to check in on loved ones, center in gratitude, process what’s going on, and dive into passion projects that have been on the back burner. But, LUCKY will be back on the road soon enough.
Instagram (Alyssa): https://www.instagram.com/regretlyss/
Instagram (Dan): https://www.instagram.com/minigoesbig/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/regretlyss
Dustin & Tonya: Traveling on the road while converting and living the skoolie life – roadtrip_n_venture
As a husband and wife living with a new puppy in a self-sustained short bus, COVID-19 hasn’t affected Dustin and Tonya too dramatically.
Other than the usual inaccessibility to toilet paper and the tension of encountering people during their errands, not much has changed for them since the virus. Luckily, they’ve come across places to park easily and have gotten plenty of resources over the last couple of weeks. However, they have noticed how different all the states they’ve been traveling through have been handling the Corona Virus. California was mostly locked down, Vegas was empty, Arizona was normal, and Utah was busy in public areas.
Dustin and Tonya are currently pitched up in Utah. While most non-essential businesses are closed down, people are still outside hiking, fishing, and hangliding near Salt Lake City. They’re used to social distancing and staying in remote areas of the country, so quarantine hasn’t been much different.
As with many of us roadlifers, Dustin and Tonya would agree that if they didn’t look at their phones or social media, they probably wouldn’t have known about the extent of what was going on. A lot of us don’t have access to cable, so we’re often oblivious to some of the mainstream news. As the virus continues to develop and affect the country, Dustin and Tonya are keeping their heads down, spirits up, and praying for the chance to continue their travel plans this year of tiny home festivals, bus fairs, and seeing all the beautiful sites along the way.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roadtrip_n_venture/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/roadtrip-n-venture
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roadtripnventure/
Shelby & David: Staying quarantined & socially distanced in beautiful Bend, OR
Like Alyssa and Dan, we felt strangely prepared for this pandemic and social isolation. I mean, we live in a bus…limiting interactions with the public is kind of what we’re used to. Our skoolie Charlotte is completely self-contained with 1400Watts of solar and 135 gallons of water. We’re used to staying in the most remote places for weeks on end. However, we were concerned about finding resources including clean water, toilet paper, and other essentials. Furthermore, we began noticing that more and more campgrounds and BLM lands were closing.
Before the country began shutting down and closing non-essential businesses, our plan was to hang out in Lake Tahoe, CA for the rest of the snowboard season. We drove 12 hours from Jackson Hole, WY to ski California’s best snow of the year in March. With a 5-foot storm on the horizon, we were in for a great spring season. Shortly after our arrival, ski resorts around the country began shutting down their mountains for the rest of the season. Even backcountry access became less and less of an option as states were starting to ban it.
For a while, we pitched up in rural Nevada with a few fellow roadlifers. We stayed there for a couple of weeks until finding a Google Doc that was being shared between full-time roadlifers. On this list, we found an amazing couple from Bend, Oregon (Leanne & Scott) that graciously opened up their property for us to stay on indefinitely. With the spread of the Corona Virus, it was important for us to find a safe and stable location. David and I both have access to all of the necessities that we could possibly need here. Work on my end has also slow due to the pandemic. It’s been a great opportunity for us to sit still, save, and figure out additional income sources.
While our lives have not been too greatly affected, we are itching to get back on the road soon. We had plans to head into Canada this summer, but they may be getting put on hold. For now, it’s most important for us to keep others healthy by properly practicing social distancing techniques!
