Van Life, well, it’s freedom. We aspire to always stay true to the spirit of Van Life, despite any conceived crisis.
Hope and Fear: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The well known Buddhist phrase nails the human condition, that when we fear something, we are also simultaneously hoping it doesn’t come to fruition. This reality is saturated with fear, of the virus, of each other, of death, of life. We learned long ago that living in fear is futile, no one conquers fate. So escape the covid reality fear, to be free, van life is this family’s only hope. I cannot image having gone through the brave new covid reality trapped within four walls, watching the world as we knew it unravel. And then get wrapped back up in a tangled mess.
Human connection, celebration, meaning, all dashed with a well orchastrated new war on a virus. The end game, or date, is anyone’s guess still. So truly, van life is our only hope, to stay true to the spirit of van life, to be free. We can reclaim everything that was taken away. In maintaining connection not just between people but through nature too, in maintaining celebration not just at events but through sheer adventure, and in maintaining meaning, primarily through refusing to let go of our inherent right to freedom.
Some Do Social Distance, We Do Travel Distance
I’m a cancer moon, so when reality is too much, I’ll crawl into my shell, my van shell that is. Sprinterdad is an emergency medicine physician, so we are in this reality as much as anyone else is practically. But I will choose to navigate this covid fear world by simply driving away from it. We are two years into the covid fear world, a fair number of van trips have been for him to pull shifts. A fair number have been to escape into an alternate reality of forest dwelling. No matter what the next few years bring, we’ll keep on playing travel distance.
Our Van Controls are the Only Controls We Trust
Don’t get me wrong, we mask and social distance if it makes people feel safe, we go along with what what makes people feel safe in any given locale. And trust me that is way different depending on where you stand. Mount Shasta is not only where heaven and earth meet, but it’s where I’ve seen the truth of covid meet with the narrative behind it. The world hasn’t and is still not falling apart there, in a place where people see each other’s smiles and still shake hands.
Control for a cause, like when we served in the military, was justifiable. I’d be right back in that mindset with control for the covid cause if there wasn’t so many holes in the narrative, and so much money in deep pockets of big Pharma profiteers. Controls always alert you that something is wrong, or at minimum, needs to be looked into deeper. There are sure a lot of controls happening in the covid fear world.
In the True Spirit of the Original Van Life
I’m not sure how it all went down, where the original van lifers’, the Winnebago hippies of the 1970’s, defined what left became, and now, what is left is corporatocracy worship and begging for government control. So in this strange twist of fate, we are deciding to stay true to the spirit of van life, and rallying for freedom, in opposition to the left hippies’ mores who created it. The meaning of love and freedom have been captured.
“Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free”
– Winter Winds, Mumford and Sons.
We will always stay true to the spirit of van life, to freedom, in the face of covid reality fear. My wish for my children’s future is that love will be authentic, and not compartmentalized to only some of your fellow human beings, how about we include every sentient being on earth in that Spirit. And even extend that same Spirit to people who read and research science that you don’t (because, science is never settled, despite what the corporate captured media squawks).
Unalienable Rights, the rights of humanity, that, like Love, cannot be taken. It’s our Spirit, People, the simple truth of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
