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Views of COVID-19 – Life As A Nomad Guest Contribution on “Travel Tales of Life”

May 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

For the last five weeks, Sue and Dave of the popular travel website and blog Travel Tales of Life invited worldwide travelers and citizens to contribute their views and experiences in regards to the Coronavirus. Their fascinating series provides insights into life during this pandemic, all across the globe.

This week, we are featured in their “Life as a Nomad” chapter, together with two other wanderers you might know: my real-life friends and long-term bloggers Lisa from One Ocean At A Time and Ingrid from Live, Laugh, RV. Check out our and other people’s contributions here.

Views of COVID-19 – Life As A Nomad

The COVID-19 Effect on Two Nomads in a Camper Van

Every country, every Canadian province, and every US state had somewhat of a different approach when the Coronavirus spread within its borders. Having friends and family all over the world and reading the latest testaments of global citizens and travelers on Sue and Dave’s blog, we realize how measures and rules vary from social distancing to self-isolation to total lockdown. I feel for my friends in Puerto Rico, Grenada, and South Africa, for example, who can’t even walk outside of their (rented) accommodation. Internationally stranded nomads (people without a home of their own) take the grunt of the current travel restrictions. Not only have their plans and lifestyle changed, but they are digging deep into their pockets to either fly, sail, or drive back to their home country or book a hotel room or Airbnb abroad.

Our own situation is tricky as well, despite our familiarity with uncertainty and challenges. My husband, Mark, our 60-pound rescue dog, Maya, and myself have been living, working, and traveling in our 19ft camper van Zesty for roughly three years.

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Coronavirus vs. Camping Nomads

March 19, 2020 / / 76 Comments

As travel plans from friends and family are canceled due to the Coronavirus, international borders are closing, and almost everyone on this planet is affected – logistically, financially, and some medically, I figured it’s time to provide an update about how this situation influences the nomadic lives of Mark, Maya, and me in our camper van Zesty.

The positivist in me likes to declare that it doesn’t affect us at all. As you know, we are frugal travelers and that means we never go on vacations or excursions and rarely stay at pay campgrounds or dine out; all sectors that have recently become obsolete in Florida. We live in a self-contained vehicle and are flexible and resourceful. We’re experts at boondocking (free camping), feel relatively young (despite the decades swooshing by), and love being alone in nature (no social distancing needed). What do we have to worry about?

Nobody on the trail…
Social distancing in nature is easy…
… especially when it comes to alligators!

The negativist in me thinks about our older parents, the disappointed people with canceled vacations, our own bypassing of sights and cities in Florida, and – most importantly – the employees without a job and small business owners suffering. The financial impact (and travel attitude) will take years to recover. I hope people will LEARN through and from this pandemic. Selfishness seems to thrive in situations like these.

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Making Money on the Road – Amazon CamperForce in Kentucky

December 19, 2019 / / 70 Comments

How to Make Money as a Nomad? (Spoiler Alert: We Are Not Retired)

This is a topic that deserves much more than four paragraphs, but for now, I’ll keep it short and personal. When I left Belgium in 2003, I had no idea it would be “forever”. I took a leave of absence from my teaching job, which allowed a previously unemployed educator to take my job, for which the government rewarded me with a stipend of $300 a month. That gig lasted a few years and I could pretty much live off it, as I toured North and Central America in a truck camper. When Mark first stopped working as an IT manager, interest rates of his savings account were high enough for him to get by on.

When we still found ourselves roaming about – on a 35-foot sailboat this time – in 2007 and were asked how long we’d be keeping that lifestyle up, we said: “Until we get sick of it, or until the money runs out.” Well, boats are expensive to maintain, so I quickly found myself picking up jobs whenever I could, physically and digitally. Over the next eight years, I cleaned boats, homeschooled children, created book lesson plans, wrote articles, walking tours (available on Amazon), and press releases, tended a bar, and started translating.

By the time we sold our boat in 2015, I was officially a “digital nomad”. More importantly, from 2009 until 2018, Mark and I ran a successful Marine WiFi business that put food on the table the initial years and eventually covered our yearly expenses. We’re always extremely busy.

Observations:

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Blogging from A to Z Challenge

March 21, 2016 / / 31 Comments

A to Z Blogging Challenge

“Are you going to join the A to Z Challenge this year?” my best friend Rosie asked me on the phone a few weeks ago, “I’d love to take it on, but I don’t’ think I will have time in April with all the sailing we plan to do.” The what challenge? And, why would this take so much time? I had never heard about the A to Z Blogging Challenge, so I looked it up online. The idea peaked my interest and a few days later, I signed up. Continue reading

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