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Running from COVID in our RV Cocoon
A couple of grizzled old geezers leave for a months-long RV trip in February 2020.
But they are about to hit a bump in the road.
Gerri Almand and her husband Michael have been living part-time in their RV for years. Gerri has gone from reluctant RV wife to a deep appreciator of the open road, so when it comes time for their next trip, they know they are going to be just fine.
Enter: COVID-19.
When the pandemic hits, their return home becomes impossible. They must run for their lives to elude the dreaded coronavirus, and they do what any logical senior couple would do…
They sell their home in Florida and embrace a full-time RV life.
They spend six weeks in a nudist RV park, chase after Dennis Hopper’s ghost in Taos, deny themselves a Koi fishing expedition in Cripple Creek, learn the art of the ‘wike’ in Leadville, survive a snowstorm outside Colorado Springs, stroll across the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, and nestle in the desert in southern California as the pandemic rages.
Running from COVID in Our RV Cocoon is a humorous true story of one couple’s paradoxical journey of both losing and finding freedom during COVID-19. It is packed with helpful tips to becoming full-time nomadism and offers the complicated truths of what it’s like to live in an RV during a pandemic.
But they are about to hit a bump in the road.
Gerri Almand and her husband Michael have been living part-time in their RV for years. Gerri has gone from reluctant RV wife to a deep appreciator of the open road, so when it comes time for their next trip, they know they are going to be just fine.
Enter: COVID-19.
When the pandemic hits, their return home becomes impossible. They must run for their lives to elude the dreaded coronavirus, and they do what any logical senior couple would do…
They sell their home in Florida and embrace a full-time RV life.
They spend six weeks in a nudist RV park, chase after Dennis Hopper’s ghost in Taos, deny themselves a Koi fishing expedition in Cripple Creek, learn the art of the ‘wike’ in Leadville, survive a snowstorm outside Colorado Springs, stroll across the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, and nestle in the desert in southern California as the pandemic rages.
Running from COVID in Our RV Cocoon is a humorous true story of one couple’s paradoxical journey of both losing and finding freedom during COVID-19. It is packed with helpful tips to becoming full-time nomadism and offers the complicated truths of what it’s like to live in an RV during a pandemic.
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
242 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2021
About the author
Gerri Almand
6 books17 followersGerri grew up in the rural South, received an undergraduate degree from Florida State University, and completed a Master’s of Social Work degree at the University of Maryland. During her forty years of social work practice, she worked with children and families in a variety of settings. Little did she realize through all those decades of writing evaluations, social histories, and investigative reports that she’d write creative nonfiction books after she retired.
Gerri had enjoyed a lifetime of gardening prior to her husband’s RV purchase and the ensuing lifestyle changes. As a Master Gardener, she created an award-winning yard and nurtured over two hundred orchids on the lanai of their home in Tampa, Florida.
Always an avid reader, Gerri began writing with intent following retirement. Her works have appeared in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, The Florida Writer, Orchids: The Bulletin of the American Orchid Society, The Sun, Odet, The Tampa Bay Sounding, and Wanderlust: A Literary Map. When she and her husband started RVing, Gerri found a new voice as an ambivalent RVer.
The Reluctant RV Wife is the first book of a series exploring RV travel, aging, marriage, freedom, and the meaning of life. In their fourth year of extended RV travel, her reluctance is now her tongue-in-cheek schtick. Gerri and her still-excited husband continue to prepare for fulltime nomadism as they bounce down the open highway in their tin-can home.
Gerri had enjoyed a lifetime of gardening prior to her husband’s RV purchase and the ensuing lifestyle changes. As a Master Gardener, she created an award-winning yard and nurtured over two hundred orchids on the lanai of their home in Tampa, Florida.
Always an avid reader, Gerri began writing with intent following retirement. Her works have appeared in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, The Florida Writer, Orchids: The Bulletin of the American Orchid Society, The Sun, Odet, The Tampa Bay Sounding, and Wanderlust: A Literary Map. When she and her husband started RVing, Gerri found a new voice as an ambivalent RVer.
The Reluctant RV Wife is the first book of a series exploring RV travel, aging, marriage, freedom, and the meaning of life. In their fourth year of extended RV travel, her reluctance is now her tongue-in-cheek schtick. Gerri and her still-excited husband continue to prepare for fulltime nomadism as they bounce down the open highway in their tin-can home.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 8, 2021
Author Gerri Almand shares her story and adventures of trying to escape the dreaded coronavirus, with her husband Michael, in their RV.
Both in their 70's, with medical issues, they leave for a months long RV trip in February 2020. When Covid-19 hits they are unable to return to their home in Florida which they decide to sell and live a full-time nomadic life.
Their travels include many amusing and remarkable adventures including chasing Dennis Hopper's ghost in Taos, learning the art of the 'wike' in Leadville, spending 6 weeks in a nudist RV park and settling in the desert in Southern California as the pandemic spreads with a fury.
Most importantly is Gerri's honest account of feeling traumatized and at times crazy during their journey. It was very comforting to read this confirming I am not alone in this difficult time.
I highly recommend this timely read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Sunbury Press and author Gerri Almand for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Both in their 70's, with medical issues, they leave for a months long RV trip in February 2020. When Covid-19 hits they are unable to return to their home in Florida which they decide to sell and live a full-time nomadic life.
Their travels include many amusing and remarkable adventures including chasing Dennis Hopper's ghost in Taos, learning the art of the 'wike' in Leadville, spending 6 weeks in a nudist RV park and settling in the desert in Southern California as the pandemic spreads with a fury.
Most importantly is Gerri's honest account of feeling traumatized and at times crazy during their journey. It was very comforting to read this confirming I am not alone in this difficult time.
I highly recommend this timely read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Sunbury Press and author Gerri Almand for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
May 27, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed this candid and informative look at living full-time in an RV during the pandemic.
More thorough review to come.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance digital review copy.
More thorough review to come.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance digital review copy.
May 26, 2021
Running from COVID in our RV Cocoon by Gerri Almand is an insightful and sometimes humorous memoir of life on the road in an RV during the Covid pandemic. I could not help but grin each time Gerri's husband called her a psycho! I enjoyed reading about how they tried to travel and stay out of cities with higher numbers of Covid-19 cases. The author writes about how confining, isolating, and depressing it could be at times as they traveled. The two-month maiden trip to test their new RV became a life-changing experience. "This mask is making me stupid" was a chapter in the book that had me feeling indignation at how Gerri was talked to by a highway patrol officer when she was stopped for speeding. Yes, she admitted she was wrong for speeding, and she was respectful to the officer. It appeared he wanted her to beg or grovel and it made me feel angry that there was a lack of respect by that officer for a person who had never had any type of previous citation. There are many scenes in the book that I could identify with during the past year, except the author's fear of rattlesnakes!
"I'd never return to the person I'd been before the pandemic struck."
I think all people could agree with that statement. It is alarming when you are a senior-aged person and trying to protect yourself from catching an illness that could cause your death from complications. Personally, I had friends who went into the hospital with Covid and died there with no family and friends. It has been scary!
The descriptions of scenery, parks, and places the author visited are beautifully written. So many of the places they stayed are remarkably familiar to me and I could feel as if I were traveling there again as I read of their adventures.
Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
"I'd never return to the person I'd been before the pandemic struck."
I think all people could agree with that statement. It is alarming when you are a senior-aged person and trying to protect yourself from catching an illness that could cause your death from complications. Personally, I had friends who went into the hospital with Covid and died there with no family and friends. It has been scary!
The descriptions of scenery, parks, and places the author visited are beautifully written. So many of the places they stayed are remarkably familiar to me and I could feel as if I were traveling there again as I read of their adventures.
Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
May 20, 2021
Real Life Disaster Movie Memoir. This is one of those memoirs from someone who was "on the ground" at an event that so very many of us have lived through and with, and thus someone whose experiences are at least worth exploring. That noted, Almand and her husband are both 70 ish yr old seniors with comorbidities (including Type 1 Diabetes in her husband) that make them more susceptible to COVID-19, and this does in fact inform much of her own thoughts on the issue. Still, as a memoir of a sort of Gilligan's Island - where they went out expecting one thing and got something dramatically different that cast them into a survival situation - this is quite remarkable. From being at Mardi Gras 2020 to being at some of the last NBA games to be played outside the "bubbles" to piecing together where to go in light of confusing, conflicting, and scant data to the various experiences of coming to terms with the new life and reality, this is truly an interesting memoir. Recommended.
June 2, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Sunbury Press for the ARC.
Listed as non-fiction humor, this book reads like you're having a one-sided conversation with a good friend. Being stuck on the road, in various RV parks, encountering others who may not treat the pandemic with the same concern as you, leads the author to new sets of concerns. Almand not only admits to some of the unreasonable fears most of us have had, she also admits to less than charitable thoughts. (I'll admit I've waved my arms in the air and ranted about someone, to my husband, more than once during this pandemic - but I'd probably be reluctant to repeat what I've said in print!) She also refrains from blunt political statements; not easy to do with the way things occurred.
An enjoyable and timely read, and some insight on what it would be like if this woman of a certain age would go for the RV life.
Actual rating 3.5, rounded up to 4. Though I had many smiles and nods, I wouldn't call this humor.
Listed as non-fiction humor, this book reads like you're having a one-sided conversation with a good friend. Being stuck on the road, in various RV parks, encountering others who may not treat the pandemic with the same concern as you, leads the author to new sets of concerns. Almand not only admits to some of the unreasonable fears most of us have had, she also admits to less than charitable thoughts. (I'll admit I've waved my arms in the air and ranted about someone, to my husband, more than once during this pandemic - but I'd probably be reluctant to repeat what I've said in print!) She also refrains from blunt political statements; not easy to do with the way things occurred.
An enjoyable and timely read, and some insight on what it would be like if this woman of a certain age would go for the RV life.
Actual rating 3.5, rounded up to 4. Though I had many smiles and nods, I wouldn't call this humor.
May 22, 2021
I am not sure why I started to read this memoir, since we were/are all going thru this pandemic and the world is downright nuts now!
I would say "Misery loves company"?
I had to see how this elderly couple managed to run from Covid-19!
Run they sure did!
"I only hoped I could maintain the necessary self-discipline to live through this horror that had become my world."
"One can never really know how they'd react or hold up until the crisis arrived."
It is a wonderful, quick read and many times I could feel my own heart racing as they traveled in their RV to new sites and the same isolation that was felt during the holidays we all once loved to celebrate together.
I predict in a few years when our young children, and some not even born yet, will want to engage in this novel to learn and gain insight on this time in history!
Stay safe, folks!
I would say "Misery loves company"?
I had to see how this elderly couple managed to run from Covid-19!
Run they sure did!
"I only hoped I could maintain the necessary self-discipline to live through this horror that had become my world."
"One can never really know how they'd react or hold up until the crisis arrived."
It is a wonderful, quick read and many times I could feel my own heart racing as they traveled in their RV to new sites and the same isolation that was felt during the holidays we all once loved to celebrate together.
I predict in a few years when our young children, and some not even born yet, will want to engage in this novel to learn and gain insight on this time in history!
Stay safe, folks!
May 24, 2021
I enjoyed "joining in" on the author's experiences as a new full-time RVer in many places I've also visited. Her perspective on how the pandemic events of 2020 affected her travels, her mental state, and her relationships added to the flavor of the adventures and misadventures of herself and her husband, as well as the assortment of people they met during this period.
Read
May 18, 2021If you like geezers and RVs and if you especially like them together this memoir of being on the road during 2020 will be a book you'll want to read. It is made even more interesting due to the unexpected ramifications of COVID for this couple. It felt a little repetitive in places but it is easy reading and interesting to hear of life on the road.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
March 25, 2022
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Running from Covid in our RV Cocoon
Author: Gerri Almand
Star Rating: 3 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 6/10
Cover: 2/5
Of the 16 readers:
11 would read another book by this author.
8 thought the cover was good or excellent.
16 felt it was easy to follow.
12 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘clarity of message’.
13 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
11 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“Interesting book. I enjoyed finding out a little about the RV lifestyle, not so common in the UK. Personally, I felt the story spent a bit too long on the Covid subject and, as a result, it felt repetitive. Also, I suspect most books describing being ‘on the road’ are rather cheerful. This is not!” Male reader, aged 54
“Enjoyed this. Has good pacing, particularly towards the end. We all have to handle the pandemic in our own way and it was engrossing to see how this particular family did it. I don’t particularly agree with the author on how they travelled so much during the pandemic, but it was still interesting and often even thought-provoking.” Male reader, aged 33
“I enjoyed many aspects of this books: tips on RV living, what it’s like being a full-time nomad. However, there was a lot of whining regarding the pandemic. Yes, I know it’s horrible; we all do, but often readers want a little escape. Yes, discuss the pandemic and how it affects you, frightens you, etc. But, in this book, there’s just too much of it. I did, in fact, go back and read The Reluctant RV Wife, which is much, MUCH better! There’s an element of fun to that; of adventure, and much less pessimistic.” Female reader, aged 49
“Interesting perspective on Covid and how it impacted on her and her husband’s life. Rather introspective; you really get to know the thoughts and feelings of the author. I mostly enjoyed when they met other characters; then her story felt less cocooned. Simple, clear writing style, and not overly long.” Female reader, aged 37
To Sum It Up:
‘An engrossing story of a woman and her husband RV-living during the recent pandemic.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: Running from Covid in our RV Cocoon
Author: Gerri Almand
Star Rating: 3 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 6/10
Cover: 2/5
Of the 16 readers:
11 would read another book by this author.
8 thought the cover was good or excellent.
16 felt it was easy to follow.
12 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘clarity of message’.
13 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
11 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“Interesting book. I enjoyed finding out a little about the RV lifestyle, not so common in the UK. Personally, I felt the story spent a bit too long on the Covid subject and, as a result, it felt repetitive. Also, I suspect most books describing being ‘on the road’ are rather cheerful. This is not!” Male reader, aged 54
“Enjoyed this. Has good pacing, particularly towards the end. We all have to handle the pandemic in our own way and it was engrossing to see how this particular family did it. I don’t particularly agree with the author on how they travelled so much during the pandemic, but it was still interesting and often even thought-provoking.” Male reader, aged 33
“I enjoyed many aspects of this books: tips on RV living, what it’s like being a full-time nomad. However, there was a lot of whining regarding the pandemic. Yes, I know it’s horrible; we all do, but often readers want a little escape. Yes, discuss the pandemic and how it affects you, frightens you, etc. But, in this book, there’s just too much of it. I did, in fact, go back and read The Reluctant RV Wife, which is much, MUCH better! There’s an element of fun to that; of adventure, and much less pessimistic.” Female reader, aged 49
“Interesting perspective on Covid and how it impacted on her and her husband’s life. Rather introspective; you really get to know the thoughts and feelings of the author. I mostly enjoyed when they met other characters; then her story felt less cocooned. Simple, clear writing style, and not overly long.” Female reader, aged 37
To Sum It Up:
‘An engrossing story of a woman and her husband RV-living during the recent pandemic.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
June 17, 2021
One of the true pleasures of reading is going to places you haven’t been and/or probably won’t go. Such was the delight of reading “Running From COVID In Our RV Cocoon”. I have friends who occasionally RV and one or two who actually spend years RVing. So, I occasionally wondered if I would enjoy that lifestyle. The answer was always NO.
Reading Gerri Almand’s accounts (I have read her 1st and 3rd book) was experiencing the trips without having to always use a road stop restroom, or having the heating go out during a snowstorm, or lugging the laundry to a laundromat, etc. I could enjoy the beautiful sights traveling across the USA and leave all the worries to Gerri and Michael.
Gerri tells a tale as if you are sitting across from her at a restaurant table (or a picnic table in this senerio). Her sense of humor comes shining through. Her journey from reluctant RV wife to full time, full on RVer is enlightening and alternatingly hilarious and terrifying. I finished this book thrilled to have taken the journey with the Almand’s but very happy to be in my comfy home. What a trip!
Reading Gerri Almand’s accounts (I have read her 1st and 3rd book) was experiencing the trips without having to always use a road stop restroom, or having the heating go out during a snowstorm, or lugging the laundry to a laundromat, etc. I could enjoy the beautiful sights traveling across the USA and leave all the worries to Gerri and Michael.
Gerri tells a tale as if you are sitting across from her at a restaurant table (or a picnic table in this senerio). Her sense of humor comes shining through. Her journey from reluctant RV wife to full time, full on RVer is enlightening and alternatingly hilarious and terrifying. I finished this book thrilled to have taken the journey with the Almand’s but very happy to be in my comfy home. What a trip!
July 20, 2021
All of us who are living at this point in time have shared the disruption caused by covid. This book is an enjoyable account of the author’s and her husband’s ways of coping with the realities of this disease and it’s ramifications. She explores with honesty her innermost thoughts and fears about getting ill, dying, and being forever changed by this experience. I am amazed by their courage in selling their home outright, thus narrowing their living options significantly. However, I was equally impressed that they have found freedom in being less encumbered by possessions—except, of course, by the numerous online purchases filling the role of retail therapy 😄. I laughed aloud many times while reading, but also felt their fear with an almost visceral response. I really liked their way of finding community amid isolation and islands of humor amid seas of uncertainty. I think that it must be difficult for an author to be so forthcoming about their own inner dialogue and intellectual meanderings. Ms. Almand accomplishes this with humor and insight. This book is well worth the read.
September 21, 2024
Rehashing
There’s very little new stuff in this third book by Almand. It’s mostly a rehashing of stuff in the second book, and even some from the first book.
Most of the ending chapters are about Covid and Gerri’s thoughts —not about RVing at all.
And the book has no ending. We aren’t told whether they got their vaccinations or where and when. We don’t know when or if they finally moved on down the road to somewhere new.
She talks a lot about her inner thoughts - in my opinion too much. The last book is kinda’ like several months of navel-gazing.
It also jumps backward in time to talk about past times and again, is extremely redundant. It became rather boring after awhile, but I had enough interest to finish the book.
There’s very little new stuff in this third book by Almand. It’s mostly a rehashing of stuff in the second book, and even some from the first book.
Most of the ending chapters are about Covid and Gerri’s thoughts —not about RVing at all.
And the book has no ending. We aren’t told whether they got their vaccinations or where and when. We don’t know when or if they finally moved on down the road to somewhere new.
She talks a lot about her inner thoughts - in my opinion too much. The last book is kinda’ like several months of navel-gazing.
It also jumps backward in time to talk about past times and again, is extremely redundant. It became rather boring after awhile, but I had enough interest to finish the book.
July 30, 2021
Running but worried
Hopefully they got their vaccinations. They managed to hunker down while living in the RV during covid , hiking, and meeting people, setting up precautions.
These precautions were exactly what lots of people were doing , not everyone but most. Analyzing there decisions and the isolation described is understandable. To make the best of this difficult time
This new delta variant will add more stress, no one knows what will happen with that one.
,
Hopefully they got their vaccinations. They managed to hunker down while living in the RV during covid , hiking, and meeting people, setting up precautions.
These precautions were exactly what lots of people were doing , not everyone but most. Analyzing there decisions and the isolation described is understandable. To make the best of this difficult time
This new delta variant will add more stress, no one knows what will happen with that one.
,
June 7, 2021
A fun and easy read!! Not an RV’er myself, but interesting to see how Gerri & Michael handled Covid-19 on the road.
Trying to stay ahead of the Pandemic and still enjoy RV life was a unique challenge for sure.
Her book raises awareness of the various segments of RV’ers from part time weekenders, full time campground visitors and Xscapers.
Absolutely recommend Gerri’s 3rd book chronicling her RV Adventures!!!
Trying to stay ahead of the Pandemic and still enjoy RV life was a unique challenge for sure.
Her book raises awareness of the various segments of RV’ers from part time weekenders, full time campground visitors and Xscapers.
Absolutely recommend Gerri’s 3rd book chronicling her RV Adventures!!!
December 1, 2021
A fine chronicle of a strange time
Gerri's story rings true for any of us who've made an RV part of our COVID isolation strategy. Plus, the editing is flawless, and she never confuses it's with its!
Gerri's story rings true for any of us who've made an RV part of our COVID isolation strategy. Plus, the editing is flawless, and she never confuses it's with its!
August 14, 2022
married to reluctant wife
I enjoy the details of daily life on rv living, l’m married to a reluctant wife, stuck in a rut, nice comfortable home, full of THINGS and not very happy about it! Just surviving! Not enjoying much of life,
I enjoy the details of daily life on rv living, l’m married to a reluctant wife, stuck in a rut, nice comfortable home, full of THINGS and not very happy about it! Just surviving! Not enjoying much of life,
June 23, 2021
Good read about a retired couple with ongoing medical issues trying to cope with the covid pandemic. They did this while travelling & living full-time in their RV after selling their house. I’m sure a lot of people especially seniors can identify with what they are going through.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews