March kicked off with us collecting Disco in New York. From there we made our way down the Eastern seaboard of the US, to Huntersville, North Carolina - at which point the Coronavirus pandemic began to impact our plans.
For us, like everyone else, the oncoming pandemic was accompanied by a wave of uncertainty. Not the least being a seemingly substantial gap existing between the risk profile one might conclude from expert authorities and that espoused via the public position of politics, the media, and the surrounding population.
Foremost on our minds remains the circumstances of our family and friends, many of which reside in areas that have been hit hard by the virus.
We decided to slow our progress southwards, concerned that we might cross into Central America and find it difficult to avoid the contagion, receive treatment, or repatriate ourselves and Disco.
At the same time, we were concerned that being in Sydney, and indeed making the trip home itself, exposed us to far more risk of contracting COVID than self-isolating here in the US.
Accordingly we made the decision to pause our travels for a week in Lafayette, Louisiana. From here we are in striking distance of a shipping solution for Disco and airports for us, should we need to evacuate.
It’s uncertain times and circumstances change by the day. With not much else to do however, we’ve pondered what our remaining journey might look like, noting that our window for this trip closes around July-August of this year.
At this stage it seems unlikely that the situation in Central and South America will have stabilised sufficiently for us to continue our itinerary southwards in safety. Instead, circumstances permitting, we plan to follow the Rocky Mountains north all the way to Alaska - with our goal being to reach the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay, terminus of Alaska’s Dalton Highway. Noting that both borders are presently closed to non-essential traffic.
Presuming borders reopen in time and all goes well we will return the car to Australia from Los Angeles, at this stage likely in July 2020.
Until our next update, stay well, stay safe and look out for each other.