If you’ve been sheltering in place since the beginning of the pandemic but you’re still considering a get-a-way this year, we encourage you to do so. These are 5 Tips for traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic that made our trip to Fort Bragg in late August 2020 a success and we hope that you find them useful too.
Make yourself comfortable:
Select a vacation rental instead of a hotel. In a small vacation rental, any common spaces (and most likely the private spaces) are less trafficked than a larger establishment like a hotel and this may help ease some of your concerns. Airbnb allows its hosts to opt into an enhanced cleaning protocol (this is called-out in one of the first 3 highlights below the photos of the listing), this enhanced cleaning protocol includes a rigorous cleaning and disinfecting process. You can also look for a rental that is self-check-in to reduce contact and increase your comfort. *other rental platforms may provide the same protocols, we used Airbnb.
Plan ahead:
Do you like to dine out or cook while you’re on vacation? This is an important consideration because many restaurants are closed more days of the week, have reduced hours, or only offer take-out right now. Many restaurants are closing early, you’ll want to avoid late lunches so that you can make sure that you’ll be hungry for dinner while restaurants in the area are still open. Additionally the smaller the town or city is that you are visiting, the fewer options you will have (but there will also be fewer people); if there is somewhere that you want to make sure you go for a meal, see if you can make a reservation.
Go prepared:
It helps to bring your own antibacterial hand soap, hand sanitizer, and antibacterial wipes, but why? These things are hard to get these days and you don’t want to find yourself without them. This also provides a little peace of mind since you will know exactly what is in the bottle and have no doubt of its antibacterial qualities.
Vacation during the week:
This way you can enjoy fewer crowds in everything you do on vacation. Again, we recommend planning ahead and starting activities like hiking early; some trails may be closed (at the time this post is being written many are closed in CA due to wildfires), outdoor wine tasting may require reservations, and popular small group tours may be selling out daily so make sure you aren’t left in the cold. If you do choose to go hiking, to the beach, or to do anything outdoors; please pack-out what you pack-in and do not leave anything behind!
Do some research:
Every State and even County has it’s own guidelines, regulations, and even feelings, toward the Covid-19 virus and the pandemic. We think it’s important to respect the land and cultures where you go, it’s also important to respect their mandates. Locals in some vacation spots are not excited about waves of people coming in from big cities right now, show them you respect their space. If you are looking for an area with more relaxed regulations they are out there too (again, do your research; you may need a negative Covid-19 test result to be allowed in). We chose to visit a place we wanted to go and agreed to follow their rules.
Smooth travels!
Leave a Reply