RVers have to be flexible
You have to learn to be super flexible to live the RV life. You sure have to be flexible if you want to enjoy the lifestyle.
I've been in Costa Rica, going on five months now. The first three months were planned. Then COVID-19 more or less brought the whole world to a screeching halt.
Shelter in place
COVID-19 caused a lot of RVers to be stranded. Campgrounds were closed, and then when they started reopening, many of them were only allowed to be 50% full. Many national parks and state parks were not open. A lot of RVers could not find any available campsites. They were stuck where they were, and in many cases, that was at home--bummer.
Countries closed their borders, a lot of airplanes stopped flying, and people were pretty well stuck where they were--even if they were brave enough to get on a plane.
I've been trying to get a flight back to the U.S. from Costa Rica for the last month. My flights have been canceled four times. The problem is that, like a lot of countries, Costa Rica has closed its borders and won't let anybody into the country. People can leave the country, but the airlines would have to fly a plane down here empty, then fly back only 60% full if they are keeping the middle seat vacant, which many airlines are.
Right now the Costa Rica border is closed until August first, but even then, they are only going to let people from certain countries come into the country, and for sure it looks like the U.S. will not be one of the countries because of the high number of COVID-19 cases. It looks like it will be at least September or later before flights back to the U.S. will get back to normal.
There was one option
United Airlines is not blocking the center seat, so they can fly back with a full plane. That makes it a little more profitable for them. Anyway, I have booked a flight with United to fly back on Friday, going through Houston. I did have to pay $24 extra to not be in a center seat. Maybe I'll survive.Just before my scheduled flight, I received four emails in one day saying that my flight was canceled, followed every time within ten minutes by another email saying that it was not canceled. I finally called the airline, and they said they were having computer problems, and the flight was not canceled, and never had been. I hope they're not using that same computer to fly the plane.
For sure, if you're going to live the RVing lifestyle, you have to be flexible, have patience, and not get rattled when plans change.
Bottom line: Hopefully, I'll soon be seeing an airplane in my rearview mirror like the picture at the top of the page. Then I won't have to think about airplanes again for a while, but who knows.
P.S. Nothing beats an endorsement when it comes to boosting sales. John and Mercedes (The RV Odd Couple) post a new video on YouTube every week. This week's video was about all the problems you will likely face when you buy an RV. They also show you how to avoid these problems and scams. Everyone should watch this video. At the 16-minute point near the end of the video, they had some nice things to say about my books. Thanks to their endorsement, for the last two days, my book sales have been about four times greater than they typically are. Below is a link to the video.