By Sal & Rebecca, The Tin Can Travelers – We use affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link, we may receive a small compensation at no cost to you.
In February, we set out on our slow roll to the West Coast. Unfortunately, we only made it as far as Tampa, FL before the COVID-19 travel restrictions took hold and grounded us in place. Our plans for stops in Louisiana, Texas and Arizona were put on hold and, at this point, have been canceled altogether. RVing during the COVID-19 pandemic not only inflicted major change to our plans, but has forced us, like many, to adapt to a new kind of normal. Unfortunately, this new normal doesn’t have a clear end in sight or lay out the particulars for how it will affect full-time RVers and/or work-campers.
OUR PLAN
Our journey was mapped out with several stops over a four-month trek to California. We planned to use a combination of City and Military campgrounds while dry camping with our generator to save money. The “ALLSTAYS” app provided recommendations for campsites as we traveled through the South during “Snowbird Season,” so we felt pretty good about finding places to stay. Those plans were destined to change, though, and in a big way.
EXTENDED STAY
In early March we pulled into the MacDill Air Force Base campground with the intention of staying only a couple of weeks. We set up our campsite near the marina, which is a dry camping site with an ocean view. The days were perfect with highs in the 70’s and breezy nights in the 60’s. We ran the AC during the day and our vent fans at night because of quiet hours. Dry-camping and the Florida weather were being kind to us, and we were loving it! The weather held during our reservation, but the nations COVID-19 shelter in place order would unexpectedly extend our stay.
CHANGE OF PLANS
It didn’t take long for state, city and national parks/forests to close because of the pandemic. And for us, that’s not a good thing! We, like many full-time RVers, frequently incorporate these parks into our travels. We understood very quickly that RVing during the COVID-19 pandemic was going to be a challenge, if not impossible. As a result, our stay on MacDill AFB would stretch from two weeks to over two months at this point. We’ve since moved into a full-hookup site because the temperatures were starting to get extreme. Needless to say, we’ve been paying double the price for a full-hookup site for well over a month now.
In addition to the travel restrictions, park closures and extra site costs for an overly extended period of time, we are now concerned about whether or not our camp-hosting jobs in one of California’s National Forests will be rescinded. That particular forest is still closed, and from what we’re hearing, things are “up in the air!”
SEARCHING FOR THE ESSENTIALS
Our tiny home has limited storage, so sheltering in place was impossible without constant shopping for the basics. In the first few weeks of RVing during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make frequent visits to local stores just to find toilet paper. It was ridiculous! We finally found some TP at a Lazy Days RV Dealership, but we paid around $9.00 for a 4-pack. About four weeks into the pandemic, our trips became less and less once the hoarding stopped and the supply chain caught up to store orders.
GROUNDHOG DAY
RVing during the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to adjust our daily lives in a big way. We’ve sheltered in place to reduce contact with others, we tend to stay up and sleep in a little later than usual, and although Richey goes on longer and more frequent walks than normal, the scenery is often the same. We’ve even memorized the days, times and channels of our favorite television programs. Ugh! In short, things have gotten way too routine, a little boring, and we feel like we’re playing the cast of Groundhog Day. The worst part is, we don’t feel like full-time RVers right now. We’re just people who live full-time in a RV. We can’t wait to get back on the road!
TAKE-AWAYS FOR FURTURE AND NEW RV’ERS
It’s important for future and new full-time RVers to remember that things will happen to derail your travels. You will find yourself in situations that will cost you much more money than originally anticipated. We’ve said it before, but RVing during the COVID-19 pandemic sets up another wonderful opportunity for us to say it again: YOU. MUST. HAVE. MONEY. IN. SAVINGS. Just look at us! We’re paying for a full-hookup site for months instead of a couple weeks and we’re waiting to hear if our work-camping jobs in California are going to be cancelled or our hours reduced. So, while we have our health and that’s the most important thing, it’s equally as important to have money in savings and a way to contribute to that savings regardless of what’s going on. And yes, that means even when the entire US economy has shut down. We strongly recommend “Full-Time RVing: Don’t Believe The Hype!” to anyone thinking about full-time RVing. It’s a wonderful lifestyle… if you’re well informed and prepared! Ya’ll continue to stay safe.
We’d love to know what you think about our post and how you’re spending time during the pandemic, so leave a comment below or email us. Find out what we love about Full-time RVing by reading our post “Our Most Favoritest Things About Full-Time RVing.”
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We are encouraged by your blog post! Although we are still waiting for our house to sell, we can’t wait to hit the road. We have our RV in the driveway and went camping last week. We found an open campground and went. It was a blessing to be away from all the Covid-19 news etc. we parked next to our best friend’s site. Social distancing was easier 6 ft apart in front of a firepit. Enjoyed reading your update. Looking forward to your next one when you are headed out of FL. PS. I (GA) grew up in Rockledge (Cocoa) and met John when he was in the USAF stationed at Patrick AFB. We know how hot it gets! We are empathetic! ????????????
Thanks for the read and happy y’all got to go camping. We hope y’all sell the house soon and enjoy living tiny. Take care, stay safe and we’ll keep in touch via post or social media. ❤️????????
While not stuck quite like you are, we were stuck in an RV with undiagnosible problems. Stuck in Las Vegas late summer (heading for AZ), was NOT fun. We also had to have full hookups, as the limit of tank size became impossible to overcome. Having gotten fed up with the dealer there (who just wanted to sell us a new RV), we pulled up anchor and limped to AZ forgetting about our timeshare in Pahrump. We made it–barely–with a badly overheating engine that could have stranded us in the desert. NOT fun and totally wiped out any savings we had and racked up the credit cards.
This lifestyle can be a rollercoaster, but with some preplanning you can weather most of the setbacks. Las Vegas in the summer must have been hot. Glad y’all made it through that tough time. Unplanned expenses can quickly wipe out savings or available credit. Thanks for the read. ????????❤️????????
I’m glad you found a place to stay. I hope you’ll be able to pick up you journey soon. Thank you for posting, I’ve been very interested in how full time RVer have being coping. Our retirement RV dream is on hold, as we shelter at home. We had hoped to have our RV in late March or early April, but with all the travel restrictions, we’ve given up looking for the RV until later.
Hi Julia… We got back on the road Thursday and are headed to California, which is where our camp-hosting jobs are. The parks are still under a delayed opening date, but we figured we could sit and wait in FL or do the same in CA. And since we have another gig lined up on the west coast after camp-hosting, we figured we might as well head that way.
We’re interested in how this will affect full-timers as well! We know it’s definitely affecting their ability to travel with limited places “park it” and now, obviously, their jobs. Unfortunately, too many full-time RVers are not adequately prepared to weather such a storm like the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the type of thing that will kill a dream before it even gets started. But if jobs and money aren’t a concern, the travel restriction alone may prevent you from visiting some of the places you want to go.
We don’t blame you for postponing your RV search… or at least the RV purchase. If we were just starting out, we’d do the same thing. Remember, they’re talking about a possible second wave in the Fall. Hopefully that doesn’t happen, but if it does I would imagine we’ll see the same closures and restrictions we saw this time.
Thanks for reading and reaching out!