This past weekend we went on our first and potentially only trip since the since the Covid-19 pandemic begin in February. While both of us love to travel. Visiting new places, trying new restaurants, exploring museums, experiencing a new place. I have missed doing that this year and have been craving an adventure, all while not wanting to leave the house any more than I absolutely have to. So going on a trip was both an exciting and nerve wracking possibility. In preparing for our trip, I tried to take every precaution I could to make sure we were traveling in a safe manner.
Research Where You are Staying. The only reason I even felt comfortable taking this trip is because we will be staying at a family beach house. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable staying in a VBRO or AirBNB right now. Hotels I would be more comfortable with but still give me a bit of worry. Regardless, make sure to do some research. Look on the hotel’s website and see what their policies are. Look at recent reviews to see what other people are saying. Call the hotel and make sure they have a thorough understanding of their own policies.
Travel By Car. This was a deal breaker for me. I know airlines are taking precautions to keep people safe, but you are still going into an airport, using public restrooms, going through security, etc. Our trip is about a three hour driving, meaning we can drive straight there without stopping. Even if the trip is a bit longer and you do have to stop once, that still feels safer to me than getting on a plane. If you don’t have to stop, all the better. If you do have to stop, try not to touch anything, use hand sanitizer as soon as you are back at the car, etc.
Sanitizer Everything. As in when you get there. Even though we are stayed at a family house doesn’t me I wasn’t taking all of the persuasions. I brought sanitation wipes, hand sanitizer and all of our masks with us. When we got there, I wiped down all of the surfaces that I could, just to put our mind at ease. I also set hand sanitizer by the doors so we could sanitize as soon as we walked in the door from being outside.
Bring Food for Meals. One of the hardest parts about going on a trip is most of the time you have to eat out because there is not a way to cook. I highly recommend find a place with at least a small kitchenette so that you are reducing the need to eat out. We cooked most of our meals so that we wouldn’t have to go to restaurants and ordered in for the others. I did a big shopping trip prior to leaving so that we would be ready to go once we got there.
Bring Activities. We also brought board games, cards and a puzzle with us. Normally we keep it pretty casual at the beach so we didn’t need a whole lot to keep us happy while we were there. Just a few things here and there to keep us entertained at night or while we were hanging out at the beach. This can also help with being tempted to go out to a bar or other activity 🙂
All in all I was both nervous and excited for our trip. I don’t think we will be doing any other trips any time soon, but it will be interesting to see how travel changes after the pandemic is under control. Until next time, friends… CML
