Some might call us crazy.

Some call might call us crazy.  Some might call us crazy as a fox.  Travelling during a world-wide pandemic begs the question and something we talk about as a family often.  Are we crazy for being out here and visiting tourist attractions, riding on subways, and seeing friends and family along the way?  Or, are we crazy smart for turning a bad situation into something positive and fun? It can be debated and I am sure everyone following our travels has an opinion.

As many know, we have been planning this trip for years, long before Covid was a term in our vocabulary.  We had worked hard for years to get our business to a place where we felt comfortable leaving and many other things had to fall into place to allow us to be away from home for so long.  And then as we were flying back from the Seychelles on March 12th, the world was shutting down.  At that time, our September launch date was still a long way off and our plan was to keep things flexible.  

As things "improved" over the summer, we had to make a decision to pull the trigger or not.  We knew there was still the possibility of a fall/winter resurgence of the virus, but the decision by Bend-LaPine schools to not resume in-person classes and no youth sports sealed the deal for us.  The alternative was sitting inside our home during the cold winter season trying to motivate the kids to get on Zoom each morning.

We knew we would have to be cautious and diligent about our exposure to the virus.  But in some ways, we felt safer hitting the road.  We would be self-contained with our own restroom, kitchen and beds with us, at all times.  We would not have the persistent draw to "escape" the house to interact with friends or family at home.  Our kids would be able to be outside and play more often as we followed the sun and warmth, south.  And of course, the learning along the journey for all four of us would be immeasurable.  My analytical financial mind says it is a cost benefit analysis with a bit of risk management thrown in.

  

Do the benefits outweigh of a trip like this outweigh the costs and risk?  It was a question we wouldn't know the answer to until we were out there travelling.  Well, here we are, two months in and on the other side of the country and there are still lots of questions.  Has it been worth it?  Are we still Covid free?  Have our kids learned anything?  Have we been safe and are we being respectful to those we meet along our travels?  If you had to make the decision again, would you do it?  Well, the answer to all these questions is a strong, YES!

As far as we know, we are still Covid free.  In fact, none of us have been sick since we left home, except for a 24-hour stomach bug that Kieren and I both had a few weeks ago (maybe food poisoning?).  Sometimes, we all feel like we like we have been let in on a little secret that no one else knows about.  A phrase we often here ourselves saying and now joke about is, "Man, this place must usually be packed!"  Most sites, attractions, museums, and transportation options have been extremely quiet.  Not only does that make us feel very safe, we are getting to have nearly private experiences at these iconic places that normally would require long waits in lines, reservations, and would have thousands of visitors in a day.  Some examples of these include: the Freedom Trail in Boston, the Empire State Building in NYC, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC.  In fact, I don't think we have waited in a line since we have started travelling.

Yes, many restaurants and some attractions are closed, but overall, we have had amazing experiences at many of the places we have visited along our travels.   The older I get, the more I dislike crowds, waiting in lines, and rude and inconsiderate people.  I typically crave experiences that put me in nature, away from the Instagrammers who drive up, snap a photo and move on to the next "post".  The ironic part is, we feel the "outside experiences" out west actually felt much more crowded and less safe than where we are now on the crowded east coast.  

Of course, there are explanations for this, as people feel safer being out in nature and simply want to get out of their homes.  Folks from urban west coast cities, "escape" to places like Bend, Oregon or National Parks out west.  More people out west, have RV's and can hop in their motorhomes and trailers and do what we are doing, so RV parks become crowded.  But it does make you wonder a bit when show up to a trailhead in Oregon and there are 100 cars in the parking lot and we can walk around a Smithsonian museum and have less people walking near us than on a trailhead out west.

Are there bad times on the road where we threaten our kids to go home?  Yes.  Do we still struggle to get our kids to focus on school each day?  Yes.  Do we miss our friends and family at home?  Yes.  Do we have to be ultra-flexible?  Yes.  But, bottom line, being out on the road travelling in a RV is like having your home on your back and still being able to see and experience amazing things.  We have already met many other families doing similar trips.  In fact, just a few sites down from us our three motorhomes with families from Colorado, Oregon and California travelling down the east coast in search of their next adventure.  I would say crazy as a fox.