By Steve Barnes
In this time of so much virus news and saturation, RVers can look on the bright side, for we have so much to be thankful for. Rushing home from Nevada to British Columbia, it was comforting to know we had our “fifth” home behind us. RVers, at least boondockers, are self-sufficient.
Perhaps it is time for “full-service park RVers” to think about modifications that would make them self-sufficient. Adding a solar panel, maybe a generator and traveling with full water and propane tanks would now be appropriate. In northern climes, consider alternate heat and stock your rig with blankets. Think about how you can be a minimalist. Visualize your daily requirements in your RV for two weeks. We are in a new reality.
Think about how comfortable your rig will be in an emergency or in isolation. Stock it with books, games and fishing gear perhaps. Maybe it is time to add a satellite dish.
RVs are meant for traveling, and travel you may if quarantined – it’s a nice way to pass the time. Just camp off-the-grid away from everyone. No stopping except for self-serve gas stations, and wipe down the pumps.
Have you thought of your RV as an extra bedroom or a guest room? What if you have to isolate yourself from your partner and your children? Park the rig in your driveway or in front of the house and isolate one of you there. If it is against a bylaw, you can probably do it anyway. The regulators can be expected to relax rules for coronavirus and, if not, then shame on them. And think of this: It may be the one time when you can be a hero for pushing your mother-in-law out on the street (into the RV). We must not expose seniors to COVID-19.
Steve Barnes wrote this from rural Kamloops, B.C., on day 7 of his self-imposed isolation, (now mandatory as of 3 days ago).
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