Go home, we’ve been told, and stay there! Definitely good advice during a pandemic. However, some full-time RVers, like myself, have no home to go home to other than our house on wheels.
Go home you northern snowbirds who have spent the winter in warmer climes. But then campgrounds started to close, public and private. I’m thinking parking lots like Walmart were on overflow. As states shuttered down and travel bans were more than encouraged some part-time residents of northern states were told not to go home, stay where you are.
I felt safe and comfortable in the Sonoran Desert, mostly boondocking on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In fact, it’s the one time I was happy that BLM doesn’t spend a lot of time patrolling and enforcing the 14-day camp limit. Maybe under the current circumstances someone decided to leave us boondockers alone unless we caused problems. Most don’t. But there is the issue of eventually having to dump holding tanks, take on water, and fill propane tanks. I always paid for that by treating myself to an overnight at a RV park, that thankfully was still open. I don’t want to see people forced to dump their tanks on the land somewhere.
Summer is coming and the southern desert will soon reach 90°F+. Much like not leaving kids and pets in your car when the summer temperatures rise, you don’t want to be living in a RV without air-conditioning. I personally don’t like AC as it tends to make me sick. That’s why I spend summers at high elevation. Some folks go north. Some people can afford to live in a RV park, if it’s open, to plug in for that cool air. But some people can’t afford that. In fact, the reason some people live full-time in a RV is they can’t afford anything else. So it’s not just old retired people. With housing prices so high many young people are living on the road and some in cars. I am thankful to have basic comforts.
While people were hoarding toilet paper I tried to figure out where I’d store more than 12 rolls at a time. RVs are a tiny house with limited storage for dry goods and refrigerates. I live alone and don’t eat much so I’m OK food-wise. But I still have to shop and don’t like to do that on the best of days let alone now when I don’t want to be around people.
And that brings us to social physical distancing. If you live with others in a RV it’s not always possible to be six feet apart. I guess couples and families may have to deal with that in a house also. When in stores some people are better about giving space than others. I do a little, I-don’t-need-to-go-down-that-aisle-right-now dance. Yes, I wear gloves and then wipe everything down before it goes in my tiny house. I haven’t worn a mask yet and don’t sew. However, a friend shared this idea and if I can find a clean T-shirt I may sacrifice it.
We, not all, haven’t been living in reality, and this enforced time might be a HUGE wakeup call. Parent’s trying to be teachers and nurses will better understand their important role in life. No human being can live and survive the way things “have always been” which really means, things need to change. Change is hard. We all have questions, maybe some answers and a few possible solutions. I’m not going any further with that right now.
Like you, I’m doing my best to hold back fear of an unknown future. Unless Bryce Canyon National Park closes before April 12th, I still have a, temporary, home to go home to. I truly believe all our national, state, county, and city parks should be closed for the safety of staff even more than visitors. I will be quarantined for 14 days while working in my RV and my duties will be a little different than the usual Park Ranger out roving and answering visitor questions. If the park closes, I just don’t know yet.
These are weird times, like nothing most of us have ever lived through. We don’t know how long this will last. Please, keep checking in with family and friends even from a physical distance. Stay home as much as possible. Be safe, be well. And hopefully, you have a home to go home to.
Maybe it was time for the world to reboot. I will hold on to the thought, this is not forever.
How are you doing? If you’re a full-time RVer with no home to go home to please let me know what you’re doing.
Please remember, this is mostly my own personal opinion.
