Life during COVID-19 has been a challenge for everyone. Even if you’re fortunate to be in good financial shape, you still have to worry about the health concerns of the pandemic.
If you’re like us, you’ve probably been getting restless during this seemingly never-ending shelter in place. At the same time, we want to do the right thing and stay isolated to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
In order to satisfy our wanderlust and get a bit of a break from our COVID bubble, we put together a little road trip adventure. We planned it out meticulously to try to be as safe as possible. That meant traveling in our car (Lola the Corolla), staying in select Airbnbs (or our friends’ place), and practicing stringent health and safety guidelines (e.g., masks, physical distancing, and hand washing).
The Adventure Begins
Even though we would only be traveling around three states (California, Oregon, and Washington), it felt like we were planning an intensive international voyage. Fortunately, we have a lot of experience with big trips.
We had just returned from a 10-week trip to Europe and South America before having to lock down for the coronavirus. Before that we spent six weeks tripping around Southeast Asia, and I even overcame a bout with dengue fever. We got this!
So, we loaded up Lola and set off for a 2-week excursion from the Bay Area up the coast to Seattle. We would stay in Washington for several days, and then slowly make our way back home through the interior of Oregon and California.
Here were our routes (not including the 8-hour Olympic Loop that we did in Washington), which would allow us to stay mostly outdoors, in nature, but also explore a few cities along the way (Seattle, Portland, and Bend):
Just like our other big trips, this adventure was a learning experience. It helped us to better understand and contemplate our own lives and the state of the world right now. Here are our thoughts on life during COVID from our 2-week road trip…
Nature
1. Getting in touch with Mother Nature feels great
When you’ve been cooped up at home, especially in an urban area, for months on end, it feels so good to immerse yourself into a natural environment. We experienced a wide variety of nature’s bounty on this trip: redwood trees, rocky beaches, waterfalls, mountains, lava pits, and even a rainforest.
Each day we spent several hours outdoors, and really tried to soak up as much natural beauty and fresh air as we could.
What you can do: Even if you don’t live near a beach, mountain, or rainforest, you can still find some nature in your area. Try to spend time each day in a park, near a body of water, or any green space close by (including your backyard).
2. America is beautiful
I think we sometimes take our great country for granted. We’re privileged to have so much geographical diversity in our nation. As the song says,
“From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home.”
The national park system is a wonderful way to see much of this beautiful land. We bought an annual pass for only $80, and we enjoyed multiple parks just on this one trip: Olympic, Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Crater Lake, and Mount Lassen.
We’re now planning on visiting many more national parks within the next 12 months. We're looking at Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, Zion, Grand Canyon, and more! (If you have any favorites, let us know in the comments below.)
What you can do: If you live anywhere near one of the country’s national parks, do yourself a favor and get an annual pass. It’s one of the best deals you’ll ever find! Your state may also offer a pass for state parks, so go out and explore!
People
3. Socializing is important
Let’s face it, human beings are social creatures. Sometimes, even introverts need to have some interaction with other people to maintain good mental health.
Throughout the COVID self-isolation, our social interactions have been minimal. We’ve done the Zoom thing with family and friends, and we’ve participated on a few FIRE podcasts (Marriage, Kids & Money and Informed Choice Radio). In-person meet-ups have been pretty rare, other than a couple of outdoor meals and the occasional run-in with neighbors.
So, it was refreshing to be able to meet up with some friends IRL on our road trip. We made sure to do it as safely as possible. First, we connected with a couple from our transatlantic cruise who were exploring the northern California coast in their camper van. We enjoyed dining al fresco in Mendocino and hiking around the beautiful coastal area of Fort Bragg the following day.
In Seattle, our good friends, Jonathan and Leslie, invited us to stay in one of their many guest bedrooms for a couple of nights. Their wedding, the week before, was the impetus for this road trip. We were originally planning on driving up and attending the ceremony, but new state regulations put a wrench in that plan.
Fortunately, they had both recently tested negative for COVID, so we felt comfortable expanding our pandemic bubble. (Note: we also tested negative while visiting them, but our results came right after we left).
What you can do: It’s not easy to socialize during COVID, but you can do it if you’re really careful. The main thing is to maintain the same vigilance you normally do by wearing masks and washing your hands. Try meeting up outdoors for a meal or a hike, and make sure to do it in small groups.
4. People in the FIRE community are everywhere!
The people in the FIRE community are some of the nicest, most interesting, and down to Earth folks you’ll ever meet. We’ve been fortunate to meet many of them at FinCon and various online meetups. We were able to catch up with a few on this trip.
Amy and Tim Rutherford from GoWithLess happened to be house sitting just outside of Seattle while we were there, so we made sure to get together for dinner one night. They officially became nomads in January after selling their home in Colorado, so it was interesting to hear how that was going. Their plans have been turned upside down, but they are doing a great job restructuring their strategy.
We also were able to visit with Karsten (“Big ERN”) from Early Retirement Now, and his wonderful wife and adorable daughter. In 2018, they moved from San Francisco to Camas, Washington (just across the river from Portland, OR). Since we’re from the Bay Area, we were fascinated about their decision to move to that area. If you know Karsten, then you probably know he analyzed the pros and cons very carefully.
We just missed JD Roth from Get Rich Slowly who was returning from the Oregon coast as we were pulling out of Portland. Next time, JD (that’s a promise, not a threat)!
What you can do: You can connect with others in the FIRE community in a variety of ways. One of the easiest is to join a Facebook group like ChooseFI (also has smaller local groups) or Mustachians in Practice or find a local Meetup group.
Health
5. You don’t need a gym to stay in shape
Most gyms around the country have been shut down in some capacity during the pandemic. Some areas are starting to open up, but the gyms in the Bay Area are still fully closed. We’ve improvised by increasing the length of our daily walks and working on our muscles with body weight and exercise bands.
During this road trip, we averaged 5-6 miles per day hiking around all the beautiful parks and natural areas. We also typically carried backpacks with water, snacks, binoculars, clothes, etc. That extra load helped work our backs and legs more during our hikes.
What you can do: If you don’t have access to a gym right now, make sure to continue exercising on your own. You can walk, run, bike, do push-ups and sit-ups, etc. Think about all the things people do to stay in shape in the military without the luxury of a weight room or cardio machine.
6. You need a mental health break
2020 has been relentless. Between the coronavirus, social injustice and unrest, economic uncertainty, and the upcoming election, it’s been a pretty stressful year. And the 24/7 news cycle makes it difficult to remove yourself from the non-stop barrage of breaking news.
One of the great things about traveling is that it allows you to disconnect for a while. You’re so focused on what you’re doing in the moment -- the sights, the food, the people, and all the things that make visiting new places interesting.
It helped that our cell phone reception was practically nonexistent for much of the trip. We could focus on the scenery, listen to podcasts, and talk to each other rather than text, check social media, or read emails.
What you can do: Even if you can’t go away on a road trip, you can still make an effort to unplug on a regular basis. Maybe you limit yourself to only an hour or so of news time. Use your time to be creative, work out, or go outside. Power your phone off at night, or at least don’t bring it with you into the bedroom when you turn in for the evening. Your REM cycle will thank you!
7. Taking COVID precautions is crucial
There’s no way we could have (or would have) done this trip if we didn’t practice rigorous COVID safety precautions. Not only do we not want to contract the disease, but we also didn’t want to be responsible for spreading it to others.
This meant that we always wore a mask if we were near other people, we did our best to avoid others when possible, and we religiously washed our hands (or used hand sanitizer if we didn’t have soap and water).
With our Airbnbs, we looked for places where we would be alone and have our own private bathroom. One Airbnb even left us personal size bottles of hand sanitizer, and others left disinfecting wipes out if we wanted to clean up on our own!
As an added precaution, we got tested twice. Once, as we mentioned, halfway through our trip in Seattle, and then again when we returned home. Fortunately, both times we tested negative and we were able to get the results in less than 48 hours.
What you can do: The most impactful thing you can do is stay sheltered in place until we have a vaccine. However, that’s not always possible or practical, so take as many precautions as you can. It’s all about wearing masks, physical distancing, and hand washing!
Money
8. Our spending was out of whack
We’ve been fortunate since we FIRE’d in early 2015 that we haven’t had to worry too much about our spending or keeping to a budget. However, we thought it would be interesting to examine our expenses from this trip and see how they compare to our regular spending.
Besides the cost of accommodations, two expenses stood out (as you would expect for a road trip): restaurants and gas. Here’s how much we spent on those items in three distinct timeframes: 1) Pre-COVID, 2) During COVID, and 3) Road trip.
Note, these are monthly expenses and the road trip expenses are extrapolated for a full month (we just doubled what we actually spent on our 2-week trip).
| Expense | Pre-COVID | During COVID | Road Trip |
| Dining Out | $370 | $150 | $1,880 |
| Gas | $32 | $15 | $450 |
What does this tell us? Well, first that we have been spending a lot less (over 50% lower) on dining out and gas from pre-COVID to during COVID. Allison does a great job of meal planning and preparation, which keeps our food expenses very low and our diet quite healthy. As for gas, there really hasn’t been any place to go!
The huge increase in spending during the road trip is to be expected, but it illustrates how much money you could spend if you ate out all the time and did a lot of driving. Now that many people are working from home, this is a good time to examine your budget and dig into what you’re spending money on.
Were you spending on wants or needs? Assuming you’re spending less now, is this something you could maintain or will you revert back to your prior spending habits once the pandemic is over?
What you can do: This is a great reminder that you can save a lot of money by eating the majority of your meals at home and driving less (and driving a more fuel efficient vehicle). We outlined our budget in this post a couple of years ago about living in the Bay Area for under $3K per month.
9. RVs & tiny homes are cool but not full-time
We have always been enamored with the idea of living in a tiny home or enjoying the nomadic life in an RV (like Michelle and her husband from Making Sense of Cents). So, we were very excited to book an overnight stay in a trailer home one night and a couple of small cabins (similar to tiny homes) on other nights.
The trailer, which was basically an RV that attaches to another vehicle, was very cool. It had everything we needed: a fully functional kitchen, a dining area (that could be used as an office), a living area with TV and electric fireplace, and a small but well-appointed bedroom and bathroom (including a tall shower for me!).
We left thinking that we could live in something like that. But once we got home, we realized that we have too much stuff, and we kind of like having a decent amount of space. Our condo is by no means large, but it’s a very efficient ~1300 square feet with two bedrooms (one is my office) and two bathrooms.
We won’t close the door on the RV or tiny home totally, but for now, we’re pretty happy with what we have!
What you can do: If you’ve also fantasized about living in an RV or tiny home (or boat), do what we did and rent one for a period of time to see how you like it. And if you rent the RV, take it for a spin around some of the national parks we talked about to get the full experience.
What’s Next?
It was great to break out of our cocoon for a couple of weeks, but we will probably hunker back down for a bit. Between the pandemic and the California wildfires, it’s tough to do much of anything in our area right now.
However, we do hope to continue making use of our annual national park pass. Next time, we may rent a campervan to get a feel for #vanlife (assuming Allison can deal with RV park bathrooms and showers).
Stay safe and let us know what life lessons you’ve learned during this time.