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COVID-19 Coronavirus Makes For Challenging Times For Nomads

The COVID-19 coronavirus is certainly making it difficult to be a nomad right now. In fact, we find ourselves back at Mom's with our trailer in her driveway. We are happy for the family time, but eager for this to be over. With most cities on lockdown, and transport essentially at a standstill, we await better times so we can get back on the road and/or in the air. We are trying to make due with social distancing, slow internet, and camping closures. If only that were the worst of it... People are sick & dying all over the world. Our hearts & prayers go out to all those and their families who are affected by this coronavirus pandemic. We have not personally known anyone who has become ill, but we are in a rural area right now that has not been hit hard, at least not yet.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Has Us Approaching A Martial Law Like Police State In Some Places I've read that in some states people are being pulled over just for having out of state plates. Some people are being turned away from going to their vacation homes as they enter the city if they are not locals. I understand we need to keep the most vulnerable of our population as safe as we can, but we also have to understand this is a very mobile and transient world. We should resolve to find a happy medium where we are also respectful of people's individual freedoms. This is an unprecedented global shutdown, and we have never before seen restrictions like this on freedom of travel within our own borders. Some people, especially nomads who are obeying stay at home orders, may currently be displaced. Our nomadic residency is setup in South Dakota, but we are currently in Wisconsin. We are obeying stay at home orders. Until things open back up, we have stopped traveling and remain stationary in Wisconsin. We Left Colombia Earlier Than Planned After spending a few months in Colombia, we ended up leaving South America a little earlier than planned. We over packed, Shawna had her purse snatched by a man on a motorcycle in Cartagena, and flight to neighboring countries were on the expensive side. Therefore, we decided to regroup back in the USA. Thankfully and luckily, we were back in the United States before the major outbreaks started. However, now our plans are definitely up in the air due to the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdowns. Don't get me wrong... We loved Colombia despite a few hiccups during those few months. The people were awesome and the food exceptionally fresh and delicious. We will soon have a full blog post about our crazy and cool experiences in Colombia. In the mean time, you can see one of our Colombia videos on youtube. Canada Trip Is Up In The Air Our plan was to regroup in Wisconsin after leaving Colombia, and then head to Canada for the summer. We were excited to pull our trailer across Canada to the west coast, and then take the Pacific Coast Highway from Washington to Southern California. Canada, like many nations, has closed their borders to leisure travel. Hopefully this all resolves and we can still do it, but otherwise we will just figure it out as we go. That is one of the freedoms the nomad & RV lifestyle affords us. Possibly The Worst Economic Disaster Of Our Lifetime Considering it is affecting the entire globe, this is probably the most widespread economic downturn in history. It is certainly the fastest. The United States appears to be going from record low to record high unemployment in as little as two months. Oil actually turned negative for a little while this month as demand dropped and storage capacity is all but depleted; that has never happened before. The majority of our nomadic income comes from investments. So the stock market volatility & unemployment affects our income to a large degree. We still believe there will be another large leg down, so we are very cautious with investments right now. This protects & preserves our principal nest egg to some degree, but it also limits our income considerably. Humbly Nomadic Travel Agency The timing could not be worse as we had recently opened a travel agency. Not that there would ever be a good time for a viral outbreak, but not many industries are hit as hard as the travel industry. I am no stranger to this kind of luck. shortly before the 9-11 terrorist attacks, I had started a travel company. Maybe that was the worst possible timing? Unfortunately, we ceased operations shortly after that because it took a long time for travel to recover. I am more optimistic this time around and hope to see a quick rebound. Just because you make it a goal to pursue your passion in life does not always mean everything will always go as planned, and this is a prime example. The main take away is to keep pushing forward with a positive attitude knowing that you are doing what you love.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Closes Campgrounds & State/National Parks Nomads are quickly finding it hard to be a nomad simply due to lack of lodging. Across the country, many hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks are closed. Several state & national parks are also closed or have restricted access. The ones that are open are operating on a bare bones crew with many amenities no longer available. This may be for the better though, as these places could be like airports with people congregating together all coming from who knows where.

You can get more information on the national parks at: https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/public-health-update.htm So what could a nomad do during the COVID-19 coronavirus stay at home order???

The Good News

The good news is that there are a few options if you need lodging. Some states have deemed RV parks and campgrounds as essential. Some hotels are still open and operating, but take the proper precautions if staying in a hotel or resort. You could also be like us, and live in your Mom's driveway and living room until the world reopens. BLM Land Is Open In Some Places If you are out west with an abundance of BLM land, this is likely the way to go. Dispersed camping is still allowed on most BLM land as we understand it. This seems like the best choice for van life or RV people, especially if you can get by boondocking without full hookups. Please let us know how and where you are finding lodging during the coronavirus in the comments section below. It Is  A Great Time To Catch Up & Reflect Catch up on work, catch up on family time. Read that book, or binge that show. It really is a great time to sit back and take account of one's life and decide where to go from here. I am guessing many people will retire early, and make other major long term life changes after this coronavirus outbreak is over. HilariousGift.com Is Open For Business We also recently opened HilariousGift.com, an online gift store. Hopefully, this will start to take off and help out as other parts of our business slow down during the COVID-19 outbreak. The store specializes in funny gag gifts & has several items that can be customized with custom photos or text. Have a good time browsing the products; we hope to get a few good laughs out of you as you browse. You can use this coupon for 25% off your first order! Code: HN25%OFO

Boredom Turns In To Nintendo Pixel Art Shawna decided to stay sane by creating some pixel art on Mom's windows. She spent a good amount of time cutting out tons of little hearts to glue to the windows to form Nintendo characters. It's pretty cool! You can check out the pictures below, but we also made a you tube video of her process. 

Nintendo Pixel Heart Art - Bowser | Bored Digital Nomads During Covid-19 |