How to Keep Adventuring During the Pandemic
Maybe you had a special camping trip down south planned to soak in some hot sun rays or maybe you were hoping to catch the tail end of winter and ski some fresh powder. Maybe you were hoping to take your truck camper to your favourite local campsite, or maybe you had an all-inclusive booked for somewhere tropical. Whatever your travel plans were for April and May, chances are they’ve probably changed.
We know how vital adventures are for our well-being. It’s exactly why we exist as a company; to ensure our customers vacation dreams be realized.
But given the virus pandemic, the whole world has been put on pause as many of us begin to work remotely, practice social-distancing, and cancel future commitments. While we are doing this for the greater good of our communities and to protect the most vulnerable, it is still a difficult transition, especially if you had some exciting plans in the future.
We’re with you, this is hard, but we are also here to remind you that the adventures don’t have to end. There is still plenty you can do to keep your adventurous spirit alive and get ready for the next camping season to come.
Explore Your Backyard
Get a fresh perspective on where you live.
While local trails and parks may be closed, you can still spend time outside exploring your own backyard or neighbourhood. Sometimes we forget that there is still so much to explore at home. Maybe there is a forest down the road you have never wandered in, a river you have never fished, or a hill you have never climbed.
If you live in a busy city this may be more difficult, but you could stand on your patio and watch the sunrise or sunset for a dose of nature. If you have a car, take a scenic drive with the windows down and stop for a walk somewhere remote. Who knows what you’ll find on the adventure. Try to avoid “hot spots” and instead visit somewhere off the beaten path.
You could also learn some astronomy at night by looking at the sky through your window or on your deck. Long ago travellers used astronomy to guide them on expeditions across the sea and land. The sky is there every night but most of us don’t know always appreciate it. This knowledge could be beneficial to your future adventures to come!
Take yourself on a free nature tour. Most of us also don’t know the names of trees and plants in our own backyard. Order a book or audiobook online about the flora and fauna of your region and start the tour. It’ll offer you a new way of looking at your backyard and some great local knowledge.
If you have children, kick around a soccer ball, play frisbee or throw a baseball. It’s a great time to play sports as a family and just have some simple fun outdoors. If you have a dog, you can take them on more walks, possibly somewhere new too. Chances are they’ll love it!
It’s also a great time to start some gardening projects, yard work, and landscaping. You might not be able to get your wheels dirty down a new dirt road but you can get your hands in some dirt and try something new.
And what’s stopping you from setting up the trailer or truck camper in your backyard and at least pretending you’re camping? Cook your usual camp foods outside, crack open a beer, take out the camp chairs, make a fire, roast marsh mellows, tell stories and enjoy! There’s no reason why you can’t set up camp in your own backyard if you have one.
These times are a great opportunity to spend quality time with our families and enjoy the little moments like we do on the road.
2. Keep Travel Planning
Read books, watch travel videos, and plan your next big adventure!
Often, the planning of vacations is just as exciting as the vacations themselves. Depending on who you are, you may read guidebooks and magazines, watch Youtube travel videos, follow travel influencers on Instagram, or read in-depth travel blogs online to prepare yourself. Doing all these things keeps our adventurous spirits alive by keeping us in the travel mindset.
Travel media can take us on new, remarkable adventures. Reading magazines like Outside or National Geographic feels like your exploring many new places thanks to their collection of unique travel journeys, great storytelling, epic photography, and abundance of gear reviews. You can use this time to dive into a few of these and you’ll feel like you’ve been on a few trips from the seat of your couch.
You can also make a gear wish list or shop for new camping products. What do you want to add to your rig next? Do you need some new hiking boots? Maybe you’re looking to upgrade your camper? Today we have so much information at our fingertips – you can shop from home and do thorough research from there too. You have lots of time to explore your options, compare products, and chat with representatives.
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Why not plan your dream vacation? You may not execute it anytime soon but at least you’ll have much of the research done. You also have plenty of time to research things deeply, find secret locations, jot down local tips from online sources, find out the best and worst times to go, and from there make a detailed itinerary.
Pinterest is a great place to virtually wander. There you can roam and find beautiful travel boards and photographs that will both inspire and move you. We live in a time where we can see the beauty of world through photography anywhere, anytime. Why not see what’s out there? You can even make a board with all your dream destinations.
It’s also a great time to sit back and create a bucket list of all the places you want to visit in your lifetime. There are some great travel inspiration books out there that can inspire this list. Once this quarantine is over, you’ll be able to start ticking some of these places off.
Eventually the pandemic will end and when it does, you’ll have the opportunity to travel freely again. For now, you can adventure through engaging storytelling in travel magazines, through informative Youtube videos, and beautiful photographs on Pinterest. Take this time to soak in the excitement of creating your dream holiday.
3. Reminisce on Past Adventures
Take a trip down memory lane!
We take so many photos these days but how often do we sit back and review our past adventures? What a great time to get the family together and go through some old vacation photos from last year or maybe last decade. Chances are, you have a lot of great memories that are just sitting on a memory card somewhere in your house.
If you like photography, you may want to take some time and edit some of the beautiful photos you have taken on your past travels. There are plenty of free tutorials online and lots of editing platforms too. It’s likely that you have a photo editing program built on your computer. Mac users can user Photos for simple edits. If you’re really keen to get into photography, now could be the time to invest in Lightroom and learn some new skills that will transform your photos into masterpieces.
You could organize your favourite photos and get some developed. Today you can get developed photos mailed to your home by ordering them online from your nearest photo lab so you don’t even need to leave the house. You can get creative and order a photo album or scrapbooking kit online for all your favourite photos. To lift the mood of distant family or friends, send them some photos out of the blue. It will be a pleasant surprise and allow them to travel down memory lane as well!
Washington, USA
If you have video content, you could also create a movie for each of your past trips. Maybe you’ve always wanted to create a Youtube channel to share your adventures and give travel advice. If you have the content, now is the time! You could also host a virtual movie screening through Skype or Zoom or email your loved ones a copy. It will be a nice shift from all the Netflix people are consuming these days.
Memory lane is a great place to travel. Sometimes the memories in our heads and our hearts are enough to give us company and warmth during these isolated times. It also gives us hope that things will get better and when they do, we can create more happy travel memories.
4. Get Your Vehicle Ready for the Next Adventure
Knock some dust off your stuff and get your rig ready for summer!
Might be a good time to knock some dust off of your gear and get things cleaned up for the upcoming summer camping season. Taking good care of your adventure vehicle and camp gear is essential for its longevity and your peace of mind. If you get your things organized now, you can dart off faster as soon as the season begins!
Spring is the best time to do maintenance on your adventure vehicle. Start by de-winterizing if you winterized. Flush the water tank, check your pipes, and give them some sanitation. Make sure there are no leaks. Check your appliances, batteries and generator. Make sure everything is working correctly. Do an inspection of the exterior structure and make sure there is no damage. Make sure all safety equipment is functional and charged like your smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
You could also commit to a spring clean the interior of your camper. Give the cabinets, countertops, walls, sinks, and floors a good scrub and polish. Clean the mirrors and windows. Bring in fresh linens and blankets. Your camper will be as fresh as a spring day.
Getting your camp gear in order is also a good idea. The process can get you excited for the season to come. Give your tent a clean, make sure your headlamps have new batteries, check your propane levels, organize your camp kitchen equipment, and make a list of new items you need.
If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could even start packing for your next adventure! It’s never too early to start packing.
So Keep Calm and Keep Adventuring!
While the pandemic is pausing our lives in a lot of ways, it doesn’t have to stop our adventures completely. These suggestions and recommendations could keep you busy until your next road trip.
We hope that they do and we also hope that you are practicing social distancing and other precautions recommended by your local government. The sooner we all work together on this, the sooner we can all get on the road again.
Remember, this will soon be over and there are still many adventures to be had!