Kicked Out of the Campground | RV Life During The COVID-19 Outbreak | Ramblin Home

Flexibility is essential when living full-time in an RV. We were reminded of this constantly throughout our first long distance trip since selling our sticks-n-bricks home to become full-time RVers. While wintering in the same spot in East TN, we’d been planning this trip to sunny Florida for quite some time, but our timing could not have been worse.
     This adventure started off soggy but quickly turned into an enjoyable road trip with a quick layover in Savannah, GA. The plan was to break the trip up into two days so we would arrive in Jacksonville, FL & immediately be able to check in to our campsite. We had reserved a 10 day stay at Katherine Abbey Hanna Park, a beachside park operated by the city of Jacksonville.
     However, upon arrival we were unpleasantly surprised to discover that the Mayor and city officials had just decided to close all public parks in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. We had heard some news stories about this virus, but outside of NYC, there had not yet been much action taken. We were allowed to stay in the campground that evening, but asked to evacuate first thing the next morning.
     We headed south to Daytona Beach, where we were very familiar with the city layout and areas to find shelter. However, not knowing it was the last weekend of Bike Week, we were surprised to find very few RV openings & what few were available were charging astronomical prices. We found a perfect location to boondock in the back parking lot of a Planet Fitness. We stayed there three days and were able to enjoy the beach and other activities. However, as news about the virus spread, we began to realize that our options for a secure and safe camping location were growing increasingly smaller.
     After countless unsuccessful calls to various state parks and private campgrounds, we reserved a campsite at Bulow RV Resort in Flagler Beach. This was a nice campground with tons of amenities. Unfortunately, the day after we arrived, they shut down most of the public amenities in accordance to CDC guidelines about social distancing. Throughout our stay we seemed to be chased by business closings as we ate our last beachside lunch, missed the grocery shopping essentials by a day, and eventually were not even able to relax on the beach.
     By this time the outbreak was creating sheer pandemonium across the nation so we decided it was best to head home while we still felt it was safe to travel. We had no issue with travelling north but passed many rest stops full of truckers and RV'ers with nowhere to go. We had already reserved a long term stay at a private park close to our home base of Knoxville, which turned out to be a stroke of luck as many surrounding parks began to cancel reservations for any weekend campers. Shortly after arriving at our final destination the governor of TN implemented a “safer at home” policy which turned out to be a full on quarantine.
     Ultimately, this trip solidified our belief that being flexible and always having a backup plan is vital as a full time RVer. Life will often throw you a curveball, and being unprepared can cause you to go from enjoying life on the road to fearing for your life very quickly. Through facing this pandemic as full-time RVers, we have also learned that the full time RV community is not always on the radar of our governing body when it comes to our need for safe and secure campgrounds to call home. Since RVing is considered by many to be a strictly recreational, part time hobby, we’ve learned that we have a responsibility to speak out & help give a voice to the million plus full-time RVers across our great nation.