Needless to 2020 has been a near total wash when it comes to overland adventure travel. Every major event and most minor events have been canceled. Any events managing to survive the chopping block outright found themselves a nerfed capacity. Travelers themselves were either stuck at home or relegated to short trips in their own backyards. Not exactly the best time to be a content creator in the travel industry.
Like you I have struggled to keep my wits about me when it seems the world just wants to fall apart. It’s this struggled, combined with the lack of events, that has led to the current content slump here at ECOA. I was all gung-ho to create more videos and then my camera broke. Sad to say, even though the camera came back relatively quickly I have yet to even unwrap it from it’s protective plastic bag.
As far as the blog goes, even this has been a bit of a struggle. With the ’04 sidelined due to a derailed LS swap and the lack of events or trips to write about I’m honestly at a bit of a loss for new content. I know that’s not the case. There is plenty I could write about. I just struggle to be creative when it comes to overland travel content when I haven’t traveled further than my own backyard in almost a full year.
Locally, I was able to attend a guided ride with John Fury of Fury Training Concepts, and I was able to attend the Adventure X Fest hosted by Mountain State Overland. Coming up soon is the Virginia Rooftop Tent Rally and another guided ride with Fury Training Concepts. Beyond that Overland Expo West, Mountain, and East were canceled. As were a host of Jeep shows in the region.
The question is, what does the overland lifestyle look like in a time of quarantine? For starters, it’s a lot of sitting around. It’s also a lot of short drives. Those of us that are mobile by nature are going stir-crazy. It’s not uncommon for me to travel to see friends, go to concerts, and of course overland camping trips. This year it’s been a lot of sitting on the front porch watching the sunset longing to chase it over the horizon. Luckily there is always next year.
This trail actually goes under the Blue Ridge Parkway!
I’m interested to hear about how you’re adapting to life during quarantine and the impact it has had on your overland lifestyle. So drop a comment below and let me know how it’s going!
In the meantime I apologize for the lack of content here, on the podcast, and on the YouTube channel. There will be new stuff soon, I promise! There is some content I’ve generated via the BROG and Overland Expo YouTube channels, so make sure to check them out. At any rate, thanks for checking in!
