Five months ago we arrived back to Sanford, Florida – a favorite stop in our prior travels that felt most like home to us.
Effectively putting nomadic life on pause as we wait out the pandemic and the craziness of the world.
This now marks our longest stay in one place since we hit the road more than 14 years ago. Our second longest was 5 months living on the island of St. John in the Virgin Islands before we got our vintage bus in 2011.
Here’s a quick video update to mark the occasion:
Five months later, it still feels right and we have no regrets.
And we don’t see leaving anytime soon – we’re here through at least the peak of hurricane season, and likely beyond.
Many new RVers and boaters are just embarking on their travels. The RV industry in particular is ON FIRE – with dealers hardly able to keep inventory. Heck, we’d love to upgrade our 2016 Travato G camper van to a brand new model with lithium, but we can’t secure one until MARCH!
Traveling in your own home or motel room is now considered the safe way to travel during a pandemic. Going on a cruise and international travel just isn’t in the cards for a while. Staying in hotels or going to theme parks is just less appealing.
And working remotely is now a thing. So why not combine the two? Work remotely from an RV or boat.
Which is keeping us super busy over at the Mobile Internet Resource Center.
We are not alone amongst our community of long time nomads to be either slowing things down or pausing. We’re seeing many of our friends staying put, buying land or buying traditional homes to wait this out.
We’re blessed that our boat makes a most excellent and comfortable downtown condo – so this is our own version.
Travel just isn’t the same right now. Sure, the more crowded campgrounds trying to accommodate novice RVers is a concern. But so much of travel for us is EXPLORING local towns – theatre, events, culture, dining, attractions. And so isn’t meeting people.
Trying to travel, find safe transient places to stay, safe things to do and having to keep socially distant just isn’t our idea of fun.
And sometimes a home base calls even nomadic spirits.
We’re absolutely loving life in downtown Sanford with walking distance access to so many places for excellent take-out, breweries, a distillery and winery. We have friends and family nearby, and we have ample opportunity for outdoor walking.
And of course, we continue to mix it up with local van trips to Florida State Parks, and taking the boat out for local cruising & anchoring adventures.
We are contemplating a cross country winter trip to Arizona to get the bus out of storage and back into our co-op lot (we had left our lot in the rental pool, but the co-op continues to turn away renters due to the risks).
We’ll see how the world feels in a couple months.
But otherwise, we would not be surprised at all if this extended stay turns until a solid year or more.
It’s just the way things are. And we’re mighty fine with that (even if we’re not fine with the state of the world in general.)
Life is about change and continuing to find your unique happiness quotient.
We’re constantly reminded to not let labels define us – even ones we consciously choose like full time nomads, Looper, RVer or cruiser.
We hope you’re doing as well as can be during these crazy times.
Sanford is such a cool place! If it weren’t for COVID, we would have suggested a meetup while we were in Davenport. We just left Florida after about an 8 month stay. We made it to New Mexico and found a great spot near Albuquerque, so we plan to stay in the Southwest for a while. But staying put actually served us pretty well. Glad you’re enjoying it and doing what works for you!
It’s nice that you found a great place to hunker down and have the boat and Travato with you. We have been in our home in N Georgia since the end of March after months in Fl. We intend to head back to the Keys in November.
So happy to see and hear from you both. Glad you are in a beautiful place to hunker down. So happy that you are taking precautions and being smart about the virus. I trust you did not have any problems from the recent hurricane. Absolutely love all the Kiki cameos. Such a sweet fur person, she is. I enjoy hearing what you are doing and how you are spending time. I am staying put in my apartment in the greater Seattle area. My travel plans have been put on hold and I probably won’t travel until sometime next year. It is comforting to know that I am not the only one staying put at the moment. Be well and take care, I look forward to the next video.
So good to know you are both still enjoying Sanford! I would love to sell my Wayfarer (2019) never used by me. Long story. I am in The Villages if anyone is looking for one. I looked for a Travato but they are rarer than hen’s teeth!
Virtual hugs, Cherie and Chris and beautiful Kiki.
Finding your Travato couldn’t have happened at a better time for you two. It’s allows you maximum flexibility. Stay safe.
It’s comforting to know others are feeling the same thing. We are closing on a condo this week ( bought with only a virtual tour) because we felt the need for a home base during all this upheaval and a need to reinvest our funds in to something tangible. We love life in the road and aren’t nearly finished but we plan to stay put beginning in October and until things become a little clearer.
Excellent post and gorgeous photos. I’m glad to hear you’re finding the best and claiming it for your own. I recently wrote an article about this extraordinary opportunity to discover little luxuries—things we might otherwise dismiss or overlook. You two are pros at this! It feels nearly impossible to rise above the chaos and ugliness in our world, but I believe we must. It doesn’t mean our heads are in the sand or that we are uninvolved in the world in which we live. But we must lift our heads to take in the sweetness and beauty that is still everywhere—nature, culture, and (when we must ) people. Our hearts and souls will be nourished and fortified for whatever is to come—more challenge or blessed relief. Thanks for the encouraging testimony.
It’s good to already have systems in place for living life during these odd times. Glad to hear you are doing well.
Hello you guys. Haven’t been receiving notifications about new publications from you. Happy to hear you are doing well.