SUV Life and Adjusting to the Pandemic

Converting a car to live in and living on the road full time is something I have dreamed of for years. When imagining this dream coming to live, I’ve always seen myself building out a van or a small bus. However, I currently own a 2011 Ford Escape, adoringly named Jack (after my second home Jacksonville, FL), who I love very much!

When buying my first car 3 years ago, I really didn’t know how the whole system worked and I unfortunately bought a car a little over my budget. Due to this, I am still making payments on it. As some of you may know, at the beginning of this year, I embarked on a 9-10-month journey to Europe. Since I would be gone for so long, it wouldn’t make sense to continue to pay for something I was no longer using. So, with a heavy heart I considered selling Jack.

Again, not knowing how to play the system right, I found that Jack had lost almost 90% of his value in my 2 and a half years of owning him!! What?! Since the amount that I would be getting from him was far less than what I still owed, I figured there was no point in selling him, and I could still have a car when I got home from Europe.

I didn’t really know what my plans were for my life, but I was hoping that Europe would help to give me clarity on that. When traveling all around and meeting travelers from all over the world, the one adventure that it seems that everyone has done is road tripping through South America. After hearing about that trip a hundred time and from so many different perspectives, it was starting to sink in that that was what I wanted to do as soon as I got home from Europe! I knew I would still have my car, so I would build it out and drive it down to South America to start my journey!

However, as we all know, a global pandemic has struck and pretty much all of our plans have had to be altered. As soon as I arrived back home from Europe, even though I knew traveling South America wouldn’t be much of an option anymore, I still wanted to build out my car for whatever adventures do lie ahead.

Being an optimist, I try to see situations from the best-case scenario, not the worst. When this whole virus struck, I don’t think anyone really knew how bad it would get or how long it would last. I mean, honestly, we still don’t know those things. But, in the midst of it all, I was hearing that leisure international travel wasn’t going to be possible for at least two years. Towards the beginning, I said there’s no possible way it’s going to last that long! However, as every day passes and we are still far out from finding a vaccine, I see that that could absolutely be a reality…

Since I just started my world traveling about a year ago, and had no intention of stopping any time soon, that reality is heart-wrenching to me, as it must be for so many other wanderlusters. However, this pandemic has affected every single person in this world in some way or the other, and we have all had to find ways to adjust and adapt to our new normals.

With more places starting to open back up in the US, I figured now is a better time than ever to truly explore my own beautiful country. I have been so blessed in my life to first off, have parents who took us on amazing vacations and showed us some beautiful places in this country, but also to have had so many opportunities on my own to see so much of the country that I had never seen. With my jobs and internships alone, I have had opportunities to live in Florida, California, and Colorado, and with those jobs, I have also been able to explore Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, and so much more!

I know I am truly blessed and fortunate that this past year, I have been able to travel to five different countries. After getting only a small glimpse of how vast this world is, I just need more! Seeing so many different cultures, ways of life, languages, dances, and foods, I know more than ever that my heart is in international travel. That is something that I want to do full time and find jobs along the way to make it work.

However, until a vaccine is found, I know that’s not possible right now. So, I will take advantage of what I do have available to me, which is domestic travel. Even with traveling as much as I have done, there is still so much of the US that I have not had the privilege of exploring.

I have spent the last few months at home building out my car into something I will call my home. As soon as more things start opening up and it is a little safer to travel, I will hit the road!

I have learned from years of traveling, the best trips are the ones with no plans. Every time I try to make a plan, it usually gets changed the second day. Because of that, I have a very tentative plan of the route that I want to take, which would be starting in Louisiana (where I’m living currently), driving east, driving up the east coast, exploring the northeast, driving west through Canada (if the borders are open), then exploring the pacific northwest and then going from there. Again, this is a tentative schedule, and I’ll leave it up to the wind to decide where it wants to take me!

I will continue to social distance, sleeping in my car or at campsites, wearing a mask when I go out to get groceries or supplies, and just being cautious in general.

I don’t have a specific date of when I plan on leaving, I am just waiting it out once it’s a little safer to travel, but right now I’m thinking either mid-July or early August.

Since I didn’t end up using all my Europe budget, I have a fair bit of money saved up, so I will definitely be good for a while. However, I might try to find odd jobs along the way, I will soon be opening an Etsy page selling bracelets that I make, and I will be working every single day on monetizing both my blog and my YouTube channel. If you want to help me out with that, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel (I need to get to 1000 subscribers!), or support me on Patreon.

I know that with the pandemic striking, we have all had plans that have been changed or cancelled and I know how heartbreaking that can be. However, with more places starting to open, and lots of easy ways to travel while also social distancing, now might be a better time than ever to embark on new adventures! Take this time to explore your own beautiful country, no matter where in the world that may be!

If you have never experienced life on the road, I would say to try it out! The simple life is truly something that cannot be put into words, it’s something you have to experience first-hand. I had the privilege of living in my car off and on for about 8 months last year and I loved it so much! I honestly cannot wait to get back on the road hopefully soon!!

To watch my full car conversion series, check out my YouTube playlist!

Thanks so much for your support and remember to make every day an adventure!