Influencer faces backlash after leaving NYC with her family in an RV

Kelsey Weekman
·2 min read

A New York City-based influencer is facing a wave of criticism after she shared that her family of seven decided to break quarantine to travel in an RV.

Naomi Davis’s parenting blog Love Taza has been popular for many years. She explained her choice to leave the city, which has been under lockdown per government orders, to her 500,000 followers in a long Instagram caption.

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***PLEASE LOOK FOR MY UPDATE IN MY COMMENT BELOW.💛*** If you zoom into this photo in front of that big old white thing (which is the top of an RV Camper), you’ll see our family of seven as little dots just a few moments before driving out of New York City yesterday (Friday). My heart is breaking for what is happening in New York where I live and around the world right now. And after two full weeks in the apartment, we made the family decision to drive out west so we can have a little more space (namely some outdoor space for the kids) for a little while. While we’ve been diligent about self-quarantining and social distancing in New York City, we want to make sure we still stay away from others during our trip (even though no one in our family has had any symptoms, you could always be asymptomatic). For this reason, we decided to rent an RV in order to avoid hotels and people and just eat and sleep in the RV on the way. Hopefully a little change of apartment scenery will be just what we need - for everyone’s physical health, for my headspace which is spiraling lately - and for our kids’ own mental health. This situation is serious everywhere and I am sending my love and prayers to you wherever you are. More on my stories. 💛 (and photo from our friends who caught us packing up on the street outside an apartment window and texted us! Thank you so much for this photo, Weinbergs!)

A post shared by Naomi Davis | Love Taza (@taza) on Mar 28, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT

“My heart is breaking for what is happening in New York where I live and around the world right now,” she wrote. “And after two full weeks in the apartment, we made the family decision to drive out west so we can have a little more space (namely some outdoor space for the kids) for a little while.”

She said she and her husband, along with their five children, have been diligent about social distancing.

“We want to make sure we will stay away from others during our trip (even though no one in our family has symptoms, you could always be asymptomatic),” she continued. “For this reason, we decided to rent an RV in order to avoid hotels and people and just eat and sleep in the RV on the way.”

Davis’ post was immediately met with backlash. She has since limited comments, but a few critical ones remain.

“While I recognize the importance of supporting one another during times such as this one, your decision to leave literally THE largest hot spot in the United States is putting many other people at risk,” Instagram user julesgozdziewski wrote. “If everyone makes the decision to leave New York City, other states’ healthcare systems are quickly going to be overburdened by the number of cases, just as New York’s is now.”

Discussion spread to Twitter, where the criticism was just as fierce.

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Davis did receive some support for her actions on social media.

“I think you are totally doing the right thing for your family and NYC. Less people in the city will allow the virus to slow and disappear,” Instagram user lyndavsthenet wrote. “There’s simply no way to isolate in an apartment if one of you gets it.”

Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert, told BuzzFeed News that even though Davis specifically chose to travel in an RV to “avoid hotels and people,” the decision is still “highly irresponsible.”

“On its face, if everyone gets to decide what is safe, then we will just have chaos,” he said. “The only place you can literally separate yourself from society at home.”

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