The Changing Nature of Snowbirds

Have you ever wanted to be a Snowbird? Do you even know what the word means? Well, I am here to share the wonders of seasonal travel with you - and how that industry has been changed by the Pandemic.

Most popular on the East Coast of the United States of America, Snowbirds are generally from the northern states - Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, etc, as well as the southern state of Florida.

Snowbirds generally travel with the seasons of Summer and Winter - traveling between the north and the south between winter and summer, in an attempt to avoid the most extreme of weather conditions, such as the brutally cold winters of the North and the extreme heat of summer in the South.

In the past, being a Snowbird has often been relegated to only those with an excess of money; the retired and the independently wealthy. However, in more recent years, that has changed dramatically.

In recent years, there has been a considerable uptick in younger, seasonal home buyers since the onset of the Pandemic and more flexible work arrangements. Generally in their 30s and 40s - a large change in a system that has always been associated with retirees.

“For most of my career, the person who wanted that second place to live — usually chasing better weather, was retired and an empty nester,” says Trenton Hogg, a Redfin agent in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

But why stay in one place when your work no longer requires you to step into the office on a regular basis? For those whose jobs have gone partially, or even completely, remote - this is a question that is being asked more and more often. Why suffer through harsh winters and blazing summers?

This mindset is changing the Snowbird culture in another way, as well - expanding it beyond the East Coast, and into such places as Arizona in ways that it has never been seen before - at least not to this extent.

That is not to say that individuals in such places as New Mexico, Nevada, or Arizona have never taken part in this phenomenon - but they have certainly never been as prominent as they have recently become.

Particularly, as fires continue to spread across such areas as California, an easily movable, and mobile, home has become the dream of many.

And these movable homes are not relegated only to the expensive RV’s that one might expect.

This has given rise to a sort of culture all its own - one that may seem strange to those on the outside.

Facebook groups, online message boards, and a plethora of other such sites have arisen as a means of communication for those living life on the go - whether that be in a fully mobile RV with all the bells and whistles, or a simple van with a bed in the back.

The individuals who take up this mobile life do not do so for only one reason, but for many. In this changing world, much of our workforce has become mobile in ways never before seen. Diminishing are the days of the daily commute to the office, when work can just as easily be done in your own home, on your own personal computer.

Even the role of the traditional receptionist has changed with such companies as AnywhereWorks. So why not take that job on the road?

But there still exists a segment who take to the road not necessarily because they want to, but because they need to.

People like Maya, a retired carpenter, artist, mother, and grandmother who chose to take her life on the road with nothing more than what she could fit in her van, rather than be forced into an early retirement home.

For people like Maya, the life of a snowbird is not a life they would have necessarily taken for themselves, but it is one that is far preferable to what they left behind.

“I love van life,” Maya stated when asked what she thinks of this new stage of her life, going on to state that she should have made this change much sooner. It has allowed her to see places, and meet people she never could have imagined.

“I meet new people daily,” Maya went on to say. “Being tolerant to a lot of different lifestyles has made me truly appreciate what I have. I don’t even really do without anything I had in my old apartment. My van is set up like anyone else’s home.”

In recent years, the idea of minimalism and tiny homes has been gaining traction - an idea that is closely related to the lifestyle that Maya now experiences with van life.

But to Maya, the true draw of van life is the freedom that comes with it. “Honestly, I have never felt or had so much freedom in life as I do right now,” she stated recently.

Van - and RV - Life allows a freedom that those who were stationary can never truly understand. Living in a house, according to Maya, seems more like a prison than a home. And it is that freedom that draws so many to it.