When we got back on the road in March 2020, we expressed our intention to spend more time stationary, for example at campgrounds, or even hotels or Airbnbs. This time, more basecamps and less driving.

We felt we needed more stability for successful workdays and less stress.

LOOKING BACK ON 2020

We spent most of spring in Sedona, Arizona. We travelled a bit mostly in Montana, and then in early summer we arrived in Boulder, Colorado.

Whereas the first phase of van life was an extended scouting mission to see as many places as possible, in 2020 we revisited a few favorites and soaked them in – mission accomplished.

His t-shirt had read:

GUNS
GOD
&
TRUMP

Ashleigh observed as we started our walk.

I had noticed an incendiary message set in a heavyweight font, but I hadn’t scrutinized it. Based solely on subtle conversational signals, our new neighbors at the next campsite had seemed like relatable people while exchanging pleasantries with us a few minutes ago. The bold triple heading emblazoned on the guy’s shirt did call for further investigation, but he would have seen me reading it, and I didn’t want to provoke a longer conversation; I just wanted to go for a walk.

Since we got back on the road, we’ve been just ahead of shutdowns and outbreaks. (From another perspective, it looks like we’ve been leaving a trail of Covid in our wake. But that’s correlation – not causation. To the best of our knowledge we have not spread any Coronavirus.)

The Very Beginning – March 2020

We departed New York only a week or two before the novel coronavirus would fully emerge. We had been residing in Fairfield County, Connecticut – next door to the county which a mere week after leaving would be the origin point of one of the first known big outbreaks. And being close to NYC, our home base encountered COVID-19 head-on, early on in the pandemic.

We knew to take it seriously, but not before we departed the northeast and headed west.