When thinking about the van life, I often wonder what makes this community and lifestyle so special? When thinking about the reasons, I believe it stems from the free spirited and boundless adventures of going wherever the open roads and your heart decides to take you. However, regardless of the past histories of the van life, there’s no debate that things have changed. That culprit?
When diving deeper into the personal reflections of people’s beliefs on Covid-19 and the impacts it had on van life, there were mixed signals largely stemming from the personal interests these people valued. For example, take Heather Rochfort’s story from 2020, during the peak of Covid, where she shares the stories of “van lifers” on the Washington Post, writing about the struggles this pandemic has brought upon them. The article illustrates these struggles by talking about the massive shutdowns among states such as, “45 of the 50 states have closed or delayed the opening of their state park campgrounds, and only a handful of national parks still have open campgrounds.” The shutdown has made parking for “van lifers” extremely stressful, costly, and even their safety is at risk. Given the growing number of Covid-19 cases, locals in low population states such as throughout the west, will often be standoffish if they see out of state van plates. Take fellow van lifer Dani Reyes-Acosta for example where she shares her experience of harassment, “The driver loudly revved the engine and aggressively yelled out the window, “Go home.” It was scary, especially as a woman by myself” Acosta further states. With Covid-19 still persisting, in the midst of all this stress, it was inevitable that van lifers were forced to adapt to find sustainable means of getting by.
Alt Text- (A closed sign in front of a Yellowstone entrance park way.)
So what could’ve possibly been the good that came out of this pandemic?
Well, if we change our focal points from “van lifers” to the economic flip side of things, we witness view points far different from Heather Rochfort’s writing. In fact, business reporter Nathan Bomey from USA TODAY, discusses about the economic success among automobile producers profiting heavily on producing vans in the middle of this pandemic. Bomey emphasizes these points, “Mercedes-Benz U.S. van sales soared 22.5% in 2020, even as the brand’s overall sales fell 8.9%.” The reason behind this is that during Covid times, it's truly become a seller’s market as lives are changing, and the demand has increased. People are losing their jobs, foreclosing their mortgage, and simply changing their lives in hopes for a better tomorrow.
That better tomorrow? Buying a van, starting over, and taking their lives back.
Alt Text- (A statistical image of America’s opinion about Van Life.)
In conclusion, Covid-19 impacted the van life in ways of which depending on who you ask, you’ll get mixed responses. When we examine Heather’s Rochfort’s background, we soon discover a person who’s an avid traveler, who hiked 45 mountains ranging above 14,000ft, a person who lived on 3 continents, traveled to 30+ countries, and a person who wrote an inspiring book called, “Women Who Hike.” She’s a person who lives by the essence of the van life ideals, with writing perspective towards the “person doing the traveling.” On the other hand, Nathan Bomey is an author who lives by the numbers. A business reporter, who’s priorities aren’t towards the experiences or people’s stories, but rather towards economic profits. It’s clear by the numbers that Nathan Bomey would think that the pandemic was beneficial towards the van life, but did he really account for the “van lifers” personal experiences and challenges they had to endure?
What are your thoughts on the impacts Covid-19 had on the van life?
Yellowstone Image- (Source: The Guardian taken by Christopher Cauble)
Van Statistics Image- (Source: Move by Joe Roberts)
