ROVA Twenty-One: October/November 2020

In case you haven’t heard, it’s the year of the road trip. RV sales are through the roof, campgrounds are booking out months in advance, and roads are heaving with people seeking adventure beyond their own backyards. With the pandemic still affecting every aspect of life after six months—including the massive hip-check that most forms of travel have been dealt—folks are wising up to the adventure that life on the road can offer. No waiting in crowded lines to board airplanes, no hotel rooms whose previous guests are a mystery, no shared air on buses and trains. Just your own home on wheels and an entire country to explore, spread out before you. Of course, we road-trippers have long known what other travelers are only now starting to realize—that this…

I didn’t realize that there were so many other female solo travelers on the road until I read ROVA. Leanne Hoffman’s story about loneliness on the road [ROVA Adventure Nineteen] was such a godsend to me when I was feeling really low. I spent an afternoon in a parking lot by the beach reading the magazine, and by the time I reached the end of it, I felt more able to keep going. Sierra G Long-time reader, first-time writer. I think I have read every edition of ROVA, and I’m always amazed by the heart behind the stories in the magazine. I read other travel magazines, and I feel like they’re missing what ROVA has—real-life insight from the contributors. It makes me feel like road-tripping could be a reality for…

Water distancing Walking is a great way to get outside and stay active right now, but you often have to swerve and duck to avoid coming within six feet of other people. Instead of hitting the pavement, here’s a thought: head out on the water. In a kayak, you’re already in an isolation pod of sorts, and once you’re on the water, none of those walkers will be able to get anywhere near you. On top of the distancing benefits, there are the sick triceps, smooth suntan (please use sunscreen) and vitamin D that will be bestowed upon you while paddling. Isolation bod? Not likely. Field trip of dreams Look, we don’t want to get anyone too excited, but if we were to tell you that you could take Kevin…

For the adventure photographer Any passionate photographer will do whatever it takes to get the perfect shot—whether it be scaling the side of a mountain or hanging onto a tree branch for dear life. We don’t advocate for anyone putting themselves in danger, so we recommend that all you adventure photographers grab a lightweight tripod to help make your shots sharper. The Peak Design Travel Tripod is light, compact and strong, and, mercifully, has no protruding knobs. peakdesign.com, $349.95 Get lost without getting lost Going off-grid is part of the reason we hike, but let’s be honest, it can be a little risky to stray too far afield. We've seen enough “LOCAL BOY GOES MISSING IN WOODS” articles to know that it’s easy to get turned around and find yourself…

Maggie and Dom For us, van travel signified shifting priorities, and freedom. We wanted to experience options outside a traditional lifestyle, and the van helped us prioritize travel and find our ways into remote work. It provided a great sense of freedom, being able to spontaneously road-trip with everything we needed in a 60-square-foot box. Instagram: @bitesizetravels Yuko and Eric In Japanese, when we live a life that is comfortable but without excitement and passion, we say we’re “bathing in lukewarm water.” Life is OK, but not great. So, getting out of our comfort zone—and out of our lukewarm bath—was a big reason for wanting to live and travel in our self-converted campervan. Growing up in Asia, we were always told to be like others and have a stable, predictable…

Okay, I get it… you want to live in a van. Believe me, so do I. I mean, we’ve all seen the pictures and videos of #vanlife: drip coffee in the morning, glam photo shoots in the afternoon, and sunset yoga on a deserted beach in the evening. Adventures and misadventures through national parks and small towns. Get some of those cool Patagonia shorts, maybe even buy a guitar, and you’re halfway to living and breathing the cliché that we’d all proudly fall into if there wasn’t one glaringly obvious obstacle in our way: we straight up don’t have $20,000 to put down on a van conversion. With this in mind, two months into quarantine I realized that if there was any time to try to pull off van life,…