A Dystopian Road Trip

June 15, 2020

I can’t take it anymore. I have to get out of this apartment. 2020 sucks.

This year, so far, has yielded a mid-January hysterectomy, two weeks later I flew to Hong Kong (for an adult tour) and was trapped with my group for one month on the NCL Westerdam in the South China Sea, a week later was back to student tours in Washington D.C. and New York City with two fabulous schools before being pulled off the road and having my entire tour season (March – October) cancelled because of Covid-19. Unemployed and trapped in my apartment for three months. JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

I haven’t seen my 85 year old father, who is in a Maryland nursing facility, since March 18th, three months ago. I talk to him on the phone every two days, but he sits in his room alone, depressed, having all meals delivered, and no visitors (which I certainly agree with for fear of him catching this horrible virus). I quickly came to terms with the fact that if he were to catch Covid-19 he wouldn’t make it due to his already compromised body and I wouldn’t be able to see him again. I am certainly not the only person who has had to face this possibility, or this reality. But, for now, he his safe and I thank his nursing staff regularly for their incredible dedication. I try to keep dad entertained, but there aren’t very many more illustrated books I can possible send him to keep him busy. I feel like I’ve done everything I can to keep him sane. Me? Not so much.

I haven’t left the apartment for anything frivolous and my fabulous roommate and I take turns going shopping. I wear a mask at all times when inside my building and the grocery store. I wish others would take this as seriously as they should. We disinfect everything purchased, leave our possibly contaminated shoes by the front door, and immediately wash our hands until the skin nearly comes off the bone. We are very careful.

Every topic on the news is absolutely horrific, depressing, and I have lost faith in humanity and our government. Knowing that so many of my friends feel the same way is somehow comforting… in a disturbing Stephen King novel kind of way.

I’m not sure how I would have made it through this quarantine without our amazing view of northern Virginia.

Since I am unemployed, and don’t get me wrong, I am still actively looking for work, I am hitting the road. I have not had a summer off since high school, I won’t tell you how long ago that was, so I am taking advantage of it, but still making sure I have very little contact with any humans (I’m not a real fan of them right now anyway).

I am going to photograph every lighthouse along the eastern seaboard.

I will start in Key West, and make my way up to the Canadian border. I’ll live in my car #vanlife, because I’m flat broke and can’t afford hotels, nor do I want that exposure to people right now. I’m bringing all of my camping equipment, just in case some are open by the time I leave home in Virginia. I expect this should take about a month – month and a half, but who knows. I don’t have anything else to do. Luckily, looking for work can be done online and from anywhere.

Now, back to the United States, where we drive on the correct side of the road!

Preparing for a trip this long takes some planning and work. Luckily, I have a great car with only 50,000 miles on her and I’ve slept in her before, several times just in a Dave Matthews venue parking lot, so I know this is possible.

Here is my before and after with my Thule cargo box. This thing is amazing! It is easy to lift up by myself and attach to the crossbars with a twist-lock on the inside of the box. Its lid opens from both sides, with hinges, and has a great lock. Completely rain proof and surprisingly, doesn’t add too much drag on the car when driving on the highway. It has 16 cubic feet of space and holds all the camping gear, chairs, tarps, several duffel bags, water jugs, propane, cooking gear… everything! I’ve had it a few years now and don’t regret a penny I spent on it.

More to come…