Facing a Global Pandemic Whilst Traveling in a Van in Africa 😫 // S04E09

Here in Morocco during this state of emergency, things are different to the UK. We figured we had three options. Option one is we stay in our van. We have an off-grid camper. A lot of people are saying to us just go surfing, go somewhere remote, get away from all of it so that you don't get the disease. Which is fine, like it sounds great being off-grid and away from people and kind of self-isolating in here. But we have heard of people being moved on. We've been moved on by the police as well. And we have been moved on by the police, yeah. And they're camping, they're closing campgrounds. And then when we do need supplies, because we can't have, we don't have unlimited like water and food, so we would need to go back into town. And then how is that going to look when we're kind of like driving around mobile, when technically you need permission to be out. You're going to need permission to be out. You're going, the people are also going to see us moving like our mobile homes, looking like we're not staying in place and observing the rules of the country. So, you know, they won't understand that we're actually just driving to the shop. They think we're going to be camping. So that could go down really badly and could play out really badly with the locals. We suspect that any free-moving nomads like ourselves would be herded into lockdown camps and not allowed to leave. But would being stuck in a lockdown camp in Morocco be that bad? Alex is documenting his experience in a van with his dogs in a lockdown camp in the very south of Morocco. Originally, my plan was to head back into Spain. And then when this pandemic hit, the point of me realising, you know, there's no leave in this country, at least without a lot of fuss and a lot of expense, then I thought, you know what, I'm just going to hunker down here. The place is all right. Especially when we could still kite surf. There's none of that now. But there was a couple of little issues getting some certain supplies, but the locals helped us out with that. Everyone's been really nice. There's sunshine every day. There's a beach. The dogs can run around. And luckily enough, I can do all my work online. So at the moment here, everything's good. We followed the story of many of the vanlifers that we've met whilst exploring Morocco and every one of them has understandably been forced into the nearest lockdown camp. Many of those off-grid isolation camps are not great. But Alex chose the off-grid option and it looks like so far he's doing okay. So option two is we make a run for it. The make a run for it option was the most common for all travelers and nomads overseas. Eamon and Beck were lucky enough to score a last minute rescue flight from the Canadian government, but that meant that they had to leave their van in Morocco. Who knows when they'll be able to get their van back. Meanwhile, Trent and Ali had been traveling in their van for two years and were in South America when the pandemic hit. And they were faced with some difficult decisions to make. Our original plans had been to continue traveling and obviously when the coronavirus took everybody by surprise, we didn't think it was going to be a big deal. We wanted to just keep traveling South America. And as we started making our way north, things really started to change and we started to realize, one, we weren't going to be able to get into a different country because they were closing all the borders. And two, if the pandemic comes here, it's probably going to be really scary. Originally, we had planned to just hunker down in Argentina and wait out the storm, but we very quickly realized it was going to be a very long storm. Over the course of about 72 hours, we realized it would be really important for us to get back to our home country, the United States. So we flew back from Argentina to the States. We're back home in Utah now. And I would say the situation isn't ideal for anyone, but we're really grateful to be back here. And we're in a state in the United States, like Ali said, Utah, where there's a lot of testing, there's not a lot of cases, and we're in a very rural part of the country. So the odds of contracting the virus out here are actually very low for us, which makes us feel really good. We kind of have some space to move around. I think we're in the best situation possible, except for the fact that we left our home in Argentina. So we're feeling homeless, but we're feeling healthy and we're trying to be grateful for that. All I can say is that we're both extremely happy to be together with our dog, Frank, and in a place that's safe. Obviously, this is the type of adventure that we weren't planning on, but it's working out. We were happy to hear that these guys were able to get home safely. Meanwhile, here in Morocco, we were waiting for confirmation of a rescue ferry to get us, our dog, and our Kombi out of Africa. Some of our friends have actually just driven up to the border in the hope that they can get a ferry, because they have European citizenship. Marley and Mish do a great job of documenting their travels on their Instagram page as a family in a van. Very inspiring, but I'm worried for them. You know, they're going up there. What happens if they can't get in? What happens if Spain closes the border? Yeah. As you guys know, we're in the middle of a pandemic. We decided to drive up to the border to cross, because we have heard that many people, some of our neighbors at the campground included, were able to cross. And while we're driving here to Ceuta, it was a 600 mile drive, we learned on our way, literally two hours before we got here, we heard that the border was closing at midnight. So, we knew that we'd get here at 9 p.m. and it would be okay, but what we didn't realize is that there were already probably close to 300 vans already waiting in the line to get in. And none of us had a chance. This is where the Marley Mish family was stuck for days, with Morocco agreeing to let travelers leave, but Spain understandably refusing to let them in. With no toilets, no power, and a rapidly spreading virus, this is as raw as nightmares get. So, we have not budged in the last 40 hours, and the information we heard is that Spain had closed its borders at midnight, temporarily. Problem is, there are about 400, probably 500 motorhomes, camper vans here, waiting to get across. And there's no movement, no movement at all, and there's no timeline on when it will open. The Moroccan government, to their credit, had a lot going on, but they realized the severity of the situation and came to their rescue. Really grateful for everything that the Moroccan government has done to make it safe and sustainable for us. They've brought in water. It looks like there's city water being piped into a pedestal over there. And from there, they brought in like these containers that are bathrooms. And they even brought in like two little huts, also made of containers or something like portable buildings. One is like a bakery, selling bread and baked goods and pastries. And one next to it is like a little store selling fresh vegetables, water, milk, those kinds of basic like grocery supplies. So, that's all been really good, and we're just here to wait it out. No one we can tell is sick, but we're still keeping our distance away from them. So, we're keeping to ourselves, and we've actually secured this little corner in the back and trying to get people to not walk through here, but people still do. The end of the day is we're here now. We are sustainable. As far as I can tell, there's still a couple of kinks to work out. So, once we figure that out, we'll be here for the long haul. We'll be here until repatriation can happen, meaning that we're going to be able to get on a ferry to go back. The normal ferry options from Morocco to Spain had still not resumed, but a special ferry was put on from Morocco to France, and the Marley Misch family managed to get out and across to Europe safely. Well done everyone involved in making that happen. Unfortunately, we didn't know about that rescue ferry in time to actually catch it, and even though Ben and I are registered with our embassies, they didn't tell us about this ferry, and maybe that was because we are not, well I don't have a European passport, and neither does Ben, so maybe we weren't allowed on that ferry. So, hopefully there's other ferries where we're actually allowed to get on. And the third option is that we stay in this town and ride it out, extend the apartment that we rented from when my sister was here, and just stay in the apartment, and knowing this area quite well, and people kind of know us already, so it's probably the safest bet to be where people know our faces, and the landlord is quite helpful with everything that's going on too. She's been a great help, and the community has been quite nice to us so far in supporting. Absolutely, the Moroccans here have been great. I do worry a little bit because a lot of people in this community work with tourism, and they've all lost their jobs, and so as one of the only white people in town, how will we be treated by the locals as it pans out, as the situation gets more desperate and time goes on? Yeah. And also having our nice shiny Kombi parked outside without us in it, and able to protect it, that also concerns me a little bit. So far everyone's been really supportive and helpful, but like Ben says, you don't know how it's going to turn, especially if it's going to be months and months with people losing their jobs. How upset are people going to get here? And if we do take option three and ride it out, what happens if one of us gets sick? It's difficult to know at this time what the best option is, and if we will live to regret our decision to ride out the pandemic in North Africa. As we moved out of our tiny home and into this apartment, we were prepared to document quarantine life. But at the time, we had no idea just how long we'd be trapped under this super strict lockdown in Morocco. And I just sensed that we can't leave. We take comfort that no matter where we are in the world, how we've chosen to prepare for this storm, or the different sacrifices we have to make, at least this time we are all in it together. We want to share with you guys what quarantine life is like in Morocco at the moment, so that video is going to be coming out to you very soon, so stay tuned for that. Yeah, it's been a very strict quarantine and it's been quite harsh on life here in Morocco. Can't wait to share that story with you, hopefully in the next week or so. Thanks for watching and until next time, stay safe guys.