By ANNA MAZUREK | Special to The Washington Post | Published: April 22, 2021 Since the pandemic started, business has been booming for the RV industry. For many, RVs are an alternative way to travel safely in a controlled environment and avoid many shared public spaces such as hotels and rest area bathrooms. “Memorial Day bookings are already up 50 percent over what they were last year and growing,” said Jon Gray, CEO of RVshare, a peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace. The platform’s booking volume tripled in the summer of 2020 compared to 2019, and it continued to increase this year, with spring break bookings up 114 percent. At the start of the pandemic, Gray notes, people were taking longer trips closer to home, but this year renters are getting more ambitious by covering longer distances.
Harvest Hosts Connects Family Farms With RV Travelers Apr 17, 2021 Harvest Hosts connects farms to travelers. Photography courtesy of Harvest Host
Last spring, as the pandemic shuttered small businesses across the country, Dave Putnam began to worry about the future of his Washington lavender farm. Agritourism makes up much of the business at Trinity Gardens, where Putnam and his family grow and sell apples, cherries and other produce in addition to lavender products. And without the weddings they regularly hosted or the usual flow of cars passing by on their way to a nearby amphitheater, visitors to the farm grew less frequent.
Photo: Courtesy of Emily Bozanich (left), Carmen Cheung (centre, right)
How the pandemic pushed three families to overhaul their lives
If COVID has you dreaming of a fresh start, you’re not alone. From moving across the country to leaning into self-employment and home-schooling, see how three families found new beginnings over the past year.
April 15, 2021
The pandemic has been a time of stress and upheaval for most families, but some have found a way to transform that chaos into a fresh start. While many of the changes parents have been making are temporary, like
working from home and scheduling online playdates, living in lockdown is driving some parents to embrace lasting changes. All this time to reflect has led some to realize that maybe they don’t want the life they thought they wanted. Others are realizing that life is, well, unpredictable, and perhaps it’s best to pursue that dream now rather than wait for the perfect moment to present itself.