When Wendy Wood and her family left their comfortable life in Burlington to travel the continent in an RV nearly four years ago, they were hoping to find freedom on the open road. But that road is feeling less free these days, thanks to COVID-19.
Like many other Canadian “full-time RVers” who live in their recreational vehicles year-round, Wood, her husband, and their three kids usually drive south to the U.S. after Thanksgiving when temperatures plunge and campsites in Canada close for the winter. But that’s not possible in 2020 because of the pandemic-enforced closure of the land border with the U.S., and now thousands of RV-dwelling snowbirds are trapped in Canada and struggling to make alternate plans.
Wood said not being able to get to get to favourite destinations like Sedona, Ariz., to meet up with fellow mobile families has been a difficult adjustment, particularly for their kids, all of whom are under 11.
“We don’t live this lifestyle because we want to live in a trailer. We live this lifestyle so we can be free to live and explore, and constantly stay above 20 degrees,” Wood said with a laugh in a phone interview from Nelson, B.C.
“We have a big community (in the U.S.) and that’s been really hard for us to be separated from.”
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