Last week we took a little pandemic RV road trip to Northern California. Two months after landing in Los Angeles, we confirmed that our wheels are indeed still round.

Travel Observations on a Pandemic RV Road Trip

There’s so much negativity surrounding the growth and popularity of RVing during the pandemic. From newbie RVers taking over the highways, to RV park overcrowding and public lands trashing, not a week goes by without another grumpy old man news story about how the full-time RVing lifestyle is ruined.

I disagree with that attitude. As I mentioned in the Escapees Discussion Forum topic “This is Not Good News for RVers“:

We’ve seen a lot in our 14 years as full-timers without a S&B. Yes, it’s busy out there. But like the pandemic, my gut instinct is that this is a temporary situation. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to this lifestyle, is that most people, tenters, RVers, whatever, will predictably flock together to the same spots close to home, pandemic or not.

Since the majority of new RVers are dependent on Internet access, the key to getting away from the hordes is to get into the outback away from good cellular connectivity. This is one thing that hasn’t changed, and from what I can see, there’s still plenty of outback in North America for all of us.

Also, it really is a good thing for more people to get outside and go RVing! We want more people to know about the magic that waits for them in nature. There’s never been a better opportunity to educate newcomers about how to take care of the great outdoors, ecosystems of our fragile planet, climate change, etc.

As I mentioned in our blog recently, I could be wrong, but then again, maybe not. I prefer to think positively about the industry growth.

Rolling Away and Back Again

Our short pandemic RV road trip was a little teaser, a reminder about why we love this lifestyle. While we could have done without the cold, gray Northern California weather, the journey was sweet. We resisted the temptation to ditch crowded SoCal and roll on to quieter places and greener scenery. But we’ve got some family responsibilities that called us back to L.A. until we re-establish our old life at Fountain of Youth on December 1st.

The journey north and back confirmed that while we are seeing more RVs out on the road, it honestly didn’t feel any more crowded than a typical summer.

If that’s the way traveling will be year-round until this pandemic is over, so be it. It’s a first world problem, people! Suck it up and start conversations with those newbies, you might just make a friend. And aren’t RVers the best kind of people out there? We think so!