What Traveling During 2020 Taught Us

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. No doubt you’ve had some changes, disappointments and learning experience for the past year. It’s been one for the books for all of us. We no doubt all learned some lessons that we can carry forward in our life. Andrew and I are no exception. In our travels last year, we learned some things traveling during Covid that we will definitely carry forward. 

Please note: These are our experiences. In no way do we travel perfect. It’s up to you to travel responsibly and safely. 

Plans change… accept the change. We went on two Western USA trips in the van last year. One was planned well in advance, one was not. One of those weeks was supposed to be spent in Disney World with our friends and family. But plans change. Was I disappointed? Um…very. Was there anything to be done about it? Nope, not at all. I had to learn really quickly that the best laid plans don’t always happen. Being open to change and going with the flow will only help you make the adjustments you need to make in order to stay sane.

Going with the flow led us to the tippy top of a mountain

Be EXTRA respectful. I consider myself a respectful person. My mama raised me right! Now is the time to put that respect into action. If the rules are “Wear a mask”, you put the mask on. If the rule is “You can’t visit such and such place”, then get your tail out of there. There doesn’t have to be a grand Instagram post showing how respectful you are. Try and do the right things all the time. Health and safety rules are in place for a reason. Why try and find reasons not to be healthy and safe? To me, this is a no brainer.

Monument Valley from the Road

Be self-sufficient. This one is more for a vanlife experience. We made sure our time spent on the road would be alone and away from others. We made an effort to make sure our stops would be few and far between. We set the van up so we had a shower if we needed it. We have a toilet so there would be less rest stops. We prepared food and made sure we had enough of it. We purchased solar panels to make sure we never had to plug in anywhere. We did everything we could to stay off the grid. This was super enjoyable for us, and, going forward, these changes will make it easier to go where we want to go without feeling we’re missing out on something.

We got everything we need in a tiny little package

Read up on where you are going. This is something I didn’t start in 2020. I’ve always read up on where I’m going to get a feel for what I’m getting into. I’m not a person that enjoys surprises. Therefore, I’ve always made that effort to read about where I’m going. Over the past couple years, I’ve realized that it’s a good habit to not only read about the lay of the land, but to also read about the people that reside on that land. Our travels to the American West most often lead us to native reservations. I’m not a native. I may not understand all the customs of the natives on the land where I may stay. If I invited someone to my house and they went into all the rooms that I had closed off for my private use, and, yet, I had readily made information available for the guest to know that it was off limits, I would be pretty upset. Don’t be a disrespectful guest. Know what the land is about, understand what the people are about. Be respectful to their sacred spaces by understanding why these spaces are sacred.

Some books I enjoyed while traveling out West:

Know where you’re going… and what it’s about

Don’t put a strain on resources in small communities. USA people… remember at the start of Covid and you couldn’t find toilet paper at your local grocery store? Remember how annoying that was? When you are going into a small community and have to go into a small grocery or general store, make sure you aren’t buying the last of something. Be aware of the needs of the community (see the previous paragraph). I bet you can wait on buying something if it looks like a store is running low on a certain item. That being said….

Look for ways to help the economy in communities that may have been hit hard by Covid. As mentioned before, we did some driving through the Navajo Nation in Arizona. It was not a good idea to stop in this community because they were hit hard by Covid. Businesses were closed, monuments were closed, curfews were in place. Normally, these are areas that we would visit some stores and do some shopping. Completely impossible (and irresponsible) for us to stop the vehicle in this area. But we can still help these communities by looking for reputable charities to donate to. Or a quick search on IG/FB/Twitter will help you find some super-talented indigenous artists that have their art for sale. Anything that you can give back to these communities are always helpful and appreciated.

Couple of happy campers

These are a few suggestions that have helped us and will continue to help us. I don’t have the answers to all the travel and vanlife questions in the world. But if you continue to think out of your box and think of others in a compassionate light, you can certainly find some of those answers. 

-Bink