Like many parents of preschool-aged children, the decision to either go back to school or not pretty much consumed a significant part of my summer. We initially felt comfortable going back to school but then California cases skyrocketed and I was so paralyzed with indecision that I finally called my pediatrician (not sure why I didn’t do that sooner!) to ask his recommendation which was not to go back unless we have to. And that’s the thing, we don’t have to. My husband and I work for ourselves and have the ability to largely make our own schedules. In a perfect world would we send her back to school, but in the current Covid-world, we’ve decided to hold off for at least a few months.

Immediately after making our decision I felt a sense of relief (no challenging drop offs where parents aren’t allowed in school, no stressing about what I can’t control in terms of potential exposure) and I also felt a huge sense of FOMO (I’ll miss my parent friends, my daughter will miss her school friends, it’s a million times easier to get work done when your child isn’t physically by your side all day). That led to many, many (many many many) conversations with the hubby about what we want our lives to look like this fall and how we are going to manage it.

Enter… our brand new cutie patooty Meerkat trailer! We decided that we’re going to turn this period of uncertainty into an adventure for our family. I want to stress that I am not judging anyone’s decision to go back to school or not go back to school (I have friends doing both options and if we had a 9-to-5 we would have gone back to school as well) but this is what works for us for now.

So what’s our plan? Well, we’re not quite sure yet. We know we can’t hit the road until this fall and there’s always a chance that work schedules will derail us, but for now we’re planning on exploring the outdoor gems of the country while socially distancing and enjoying our family time. Our daughter is absolutely thrilled and asks us everyday if it’s time to leave yet and my husband and I are getting pretty excited too! Okay, who am I kidding? I spend at least a few hours every week in random RV and camping chat rooms so “excited” might actually be the understatement of the pandemic.

Every week I’ll be posting something here related to our camping/road trip journey. From the books we’re reading to prep our daughter for camping life to how we’re picking campsites to RV living for dummies (that’s me!). So follow along every week and feel free to send any questions you have my way.

- Callie AKA “MiLOWE Mom”