No one was expecting 2020 to be like this. It was supposed to be filled with lots of travels around the globe, personal and business achievements and so much more. I mean, isn’t this the beginning of a new decade?
Well, it didn’t go as planned.
We started with what here in Australia is now called the “Black Summer”, where billions of acres (and animals) were destroyed by bushfires and, immediately after, we were already dealing with COVID-19.
People had to cancel their plans, others had to fly back home, and some were even stuck in foreign countries or airports for weeks.
Now that changes are happening overnight and some countries are in full lockdown (including my home country, Italy), you might be wondering: what is it like to live in a van during a global pandemic?
Well…
No more cafes or libraries
If you are a digital nomad or even if you’ve been traveling long-term, then you know the importance of libraries and cafes in every city. They are the cheapest (if not free) places where you can work from your laptop or recharge all of your devices.
Things got real when, due to an overnight change, everything was suddenly closed. Every cafe and restaurant was only offering takeaway service, and libraries were shut.
This was a big change for us because we didn’t have another place to go to. As freelancers, we had some deadlines to meet and had no idea what to do.
Where are the other backpackers?
The same day this change was effective, we also noticed no backpacker was around. And backpackers are always around.
Our favorite park has free facilities to use, such as hot showers and clean toilets, and we could easily stealth camp there. This place is obviously a backpacker’s and van dwellers’ favorite, and seeing it dead empty felt weird.
It was our go-to place for dinner, lunch, showers, literally everything, and we also had some friends we regularly meet up with.
Where are the other backpackers?!
Co-working places are our newfound home
Our last chance was to call a co-working place and see if they were still open. We had seen WOTSO the very first day we arrived in Hobart and were very tempted to give it a go. We saw this as a huge opportunity and immediately jumped on board.
Upgrading cafes & libraries with a co-working place was honestly the best decision ever! Sometimes I wonder why we didn’t think about it sooner.
Working from cafes was cute, but had a lot of limitations, too. Sometimes the internet is not working or is not fast enough, it can be very loud (absolutely not ideal if you have to call a client or are being interviewed), and it closes at 5 pm!
Our co-working place is open 24/7, has quick and reliable internet, booth calls, a small kitchen and even a shower (not to mention ping-pong tables, table football, couches, and TV).
We are taking full advantage of this place and we stay here the whole day (sometimes even at night). Productivity is over the roof and knowing I can take my time to complete projects makes everything easier.
We still live in a van during a global pandemic, but things definitely got better now.
Where’s the pasta?!
I bet this is a worldwide question, and you do not have to live in a van during a global pandemic to have this feeling…
Why did people stack their homes with kilos of pasta?
(And wasn’t that an “Italian thing”?)
I had seen videos on social media of empty shelves in supermarkets and had laughed a lot until I had to dig for my own pasta.
This didn’t affect our lives that much, especially because Australian people somehow didn’t realize they were buying the cheap-ass pasta (which we all know it’s not that great), so we still had plenty of pasta to choose from.
Not the same can be said for rice, though. Have you ever cooked a risotto with sushi rice?!
Our dinner dates have changed
Continuing on the food topic, our dinner dates had to change, too.
Now that every restaurant is closed, eating out means grabbing takeaway food and devouring it in our van. Really romantic, right?
I know this can be a positive change for those of you who live in a regular home because you now have time to prepare, bake, and cook your own delicious food so that you can feel like eating out every day.
So take advantage of that!
Petrol is a new friend
Surprisingly, we are paying far less money than we ever did. It’s not the first time we live in a van in a city, so it’s reasonable that the less we travel, the more we save on petrol.
However, the petrol price is dropping every day, making our wallets happier. We can go on without having to fill our tank every 3/4 days, and when we do it’s way cheaper.
National Parks & Mother Earth are taking a break, too
Van life = travel life. So when we say we live in a van during a global pandemic, the only downside is not being able to travel. We are not even stuck in traffic anymore so traveling right now would be great!
We had to change our travels too, postponing our trip to the northern territory and west coast of Australia. But even within Tasmania, most national parks are closed, making it almost impossible to camp in nature and forget about the outside world.
Even if this is a bummer for us, I believe it’s for the best. Mother Earth is finally healing and the more we aren’t allowed outside, the better it is for her.
Pollution is decreasing worldwide, waters are at their cleanest and the air is fresher and this is all because human action stopped for some months.
Can you imagine if we’d stop moving for just a couple of months every year? Can you imagine how restorative that would be for our planet?
We create our own entertainment
Since every social event has been shut down and no movies or external entertainment are available anymore, I had no idea how to spend my extra free time.
Sure thing, I didn’t want to be working 24/7 (even if sometimes that happens), or to get sucked into the social media black hole. So what to do?
Well, I am now a proud Uno champion and love playing board games like chess or Cards Against Humanity, which I didn’t know could still be a thing in 2020.
Reading is also something I wasn’t into anymore, but it’s now part of my routine and I find myself having multiple books going on at the same time.
I would say that overall, even if we live in a van during a global pandemic, we are finding enough time for ourselves. We are being bombarded by scary information every day: taking time for ourselves should be a priority.
How has your life been affected during this global pandemic?
Pin this for later!
2 Responses
Yes I love that the earth is healing!! Also, this is such an interesting perspective to hear about dealing with the pandemic and with van life. Thanks for sharing!
Yessss me too!! Earth needed this break so bad. And yeah ahahah it’s a completely new perspective!! Thank you so much for reading and stopping by!