My name is Karyssa. My husband and I have been doing vanlife with our two dogs since June 2020. Originally we planned to move to Jordan الاردن, where I was going to teach English. But then Covid happened.
So, now we’re bumming around the continent. We didn’t think the pandemic was going to last longer than August, so we thought we’d travel around the States a bit until Canada’s border opened. HA!
Now we’re in México, heading south. Ultimately aiming for Patagonia. It’s a bit alienating because we don’t know the language very well and people stare at us a lot, especially my husband who is from Ireland and thus very white.
Traveling during Covid has a lot of moral implications that I’ve come to terms with, but Nick is still struggling with. Lots of places here are closed, which is a bummer though understandable… sometimes.
If you need any recommendations on places to visit though, let me know! I love sharing experiences even if I can’t be there to experience it with you.
Right now we’re parked in a parking lot. But sometimes it’s the side of a street, next to a lake, on the beach, in the woods somewhere. Though… last time we parked in the woods we got kicked out. To be fair, it was inside a National Park.
Just that we’re traveling around from town to town, some of which are quite small and are indigenous populated towns. This means they have few resources to deal with a rise in Covid cases, which, if we’re not careful, could be caused by us. And, as we travel to poorer countries with even fewer resources, we’re risking the safety of others for our own travels.
The moral implication is that we have the audacity to put more value over our desires to continue to these resource-lacking counties than we have concern for causing a Covid problem for them.
I’m fine with this, as I see the risk as very low. We wear our masks everywhere, sanitize our hands constantly, and avoid crowded places. We haven’t gotten Covid yet, and we’ve been living in the van for a bit. So, I dont see the danger.
My husband, on the other hand is hung up on the idea of “Who are we to make these decisions for other people.” Which, I get. There is an arrogance to deciding for someone else’s country that the risk you pose is low, therefore I’m coming in.
But I dont see him asking to go back home, either. So, he too has made the same conclusion I have. He’s just struggling more. Understandable. It’s a poopy situation
