Traveling Safely in the Age of COVID-19
What a time to be launching a travel blog! With COVID-19 shutting down the whole world this year, just like many of you, we had to pivot a bit and be flexible in our goals and expectations. Dave and I had intended for 2020 to be our “Year of Travel.” At the close of 2019, having watched another year whizz by, we realized that for years we have been so invested in nurturing our careers and building our businesses here in Los Angeles, that we had a tendency to ‘put off’ vacations, always afraid to walk away from our work and telling ourselves “next spring,” “this summer,” “in the fall,” when we would discuss visiting our dream destinations. While we share a deep love for travel and a desire to make it a priority, we were always hesitant to try to get away, because (as any entrepreneur knows) building your own business is NON-STOP work.
So we decided to make a change! We promised to take at least four major trips in 2020, one per season, and we got to booking! Our first trip was planned for the Bahamas in March, and then Costa Rica.
And then COVID happened, and the world closed it’s borders, and California locked down. Our trips were cancelled, and we holed up in Los Angeles, keeping busy with our creative projects and waiting for the danger to pass.
In late summer, as the US began to reopen, we decided we would scramble to make a quick trip to visit our families on the East coast, knowing that we probably weren’t exactly “out of the woods” as a nation yet, and that it may not be safe in the winter to make our usual holiday visit (with a high volume of traffic around that time likely and having high-risk family members). By August, with a ‘lull’ in new cases, and the warm summer weather making it possible for us to visit our families in an “outdoors only” situation, we took advantage of what might be our only window of opportunity, and booked a trip!
Like I mentioned, having a high risk family member, we were determined to eliminate risk of exposure as much as possible. Here are our recommendations for safe travel in the COVID era:
1. Choose your airline carefully
We chose only airlines who had committed to leaving middle seats open. It was important to us not to be seated in close proximity to strangers, so we flew Southwest and Jet Blue (**JetBlue has since ended their policy of blocking out middle seats, but instead says they have reduced the total number of seats for sale by 30%). At the time of this publication, Alaska and Delta have both committed to leaving middle seats open through Jan. 6th. Southwest has committed to leaving middle seats open through Dec. 1 (which isn’t exactly ideal for holiday travel plans, unfortunately). Hawaiian is also leaving middle seats open, and they have not published an end date for this practice.
2. PPE 😷
Face masks, face shields, Clorox wipes, and hand sanitizer!!! We geared up as if we were entering the COVID ward! We thought it prudent to behave as if every person we came into contact with was potentially infected and every surface potentially contaminated. I know it sounds over-the-top, and I’d like to stress that we weren’t fearful - we did feel safe, we just wanted to be VERY CAREFUL in such a high-traffic situation. We figured we’d rather be safe than sorry, so we decided to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
We wore KN95 face masks, and face shields over that. We ate before our flights and opted not to eat or drink while on board, to avoid being potentially being unmasked at the same time as others who were snacking, and to reduce the frequency with which we might touch icky surfaces and then touch our masks and faces. We wiped down all nearby surfaces with Clorox wipes as soon as we boarded, including tray tables, armrests, entertainment screens, and air vents, and we kept hand sanitizer nearby.
We also decided to pack a spare outfit for each of us in our carryons. Once we deplaned, we changed out of our “contaminated” plane clothes before exiting the airport to avoid bringing germs into our car and home where we might potentially infect family members. We stuffed our dirty clothes into a plastic bag, and dumped them straight into the washing machine upon arrival to our family home. We figured any steps we could take to reduce risk and protect our family would be well worth it!
Also, don’t forget to disinfect your bag handles when you pick your suitcases up from baggage claim!
3. Get tested
We are lucky that here in Los Angeles we have very easy access to free COVID testing, typically with only a 24-48 hour turnaround time for results! We opted to get tested right before our trip to be sure we weren’t unknowingly bringing the virus with us from Los Angeles, once during our trip so we could be sure we hadn’t been exposed on the plane, and again upon arrival back home in Los Angeles before returning to work. We felt this testing necessary not only for helping to keep our loved ones safe, but it also gave us priceless peace of mind, knowing that we could potentially be pre-symptomatic for up to 14 days.
4. Keep your circle small
While the isolation and limited in-person social interaction of 2020 has been super tough, we know that minimizing the number of people we are in contact with helps to reduce the risk of spread. We have opted in general to avoid gatherings and crowded spaces, and have limited our exposure to friends and coworkers as much as possible. We were especially careful in the weeks leading up to our trip. When visiting our families, we limited the fun to immediate family members only. 💕
We believe safe travel is totally doable when everyone is responsible, takes sensible precautions like quarantining or testing, and most importantly - keeps to their “bubble!”
5. Embrace outdoor activities
When it comes to reducing risk of transmission, the outdoors is better than indoors, so if possible, visit outside! We took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent all of our time with our families outdoors (and six feet apart!). We socialized and ate our meals out on the back patio, and relaxed together by the pool with our chairs set up at a safe distance. ⛱ We took advantage of safe and socially-distant outdoor recreational activities like hikes, croquet, tennis, #lakelife, and outdoor wine-tastings. When we had to be indoors, we wore masks and were careful to sanitize surfaces and wash our hands frequently!
6. Travel by car
If your destination is within driving distance, opt for a road trip instead of air-travel! It gives you lots of flexibility and feels very safe, with the ability to limit your stops and your contact with strangers. We chose only to fly for the cross-country portion of our trip. When traveling between our families’ homes in Kentucky and Rhode Island, we opted to drive, and enjoyed ourselves getting to take it slow and do some site-seeing along the way! 🚗
7. Follow the local rules and regulations
If traveling to a destination with quarantine or testing requirements, please follow the rules! They are there for everyone’s safety. Most of New England had quarantine or testing requirements for visitors from out of state when we were there, so we got tested upon arrival in Rhode Island. It took a bit of research to find a testing site who would take non-residents (most want you to get tested before arrival, but since we weren’t coming directly from our home state, our negative tests from before we left were beyond the acceptable 72 hr. window), but we did find a testing site who would take us, and we were happy to comply with the the state requirements to help keep everyone safe, keep borders open, and ensure that we can all continue to travel freely!
We hope these tips and tricks will help you to be able to enjoy safe travel in the age of COVID-19! I know we have a long list of destinations waiting once borders reopen, and we can’t wait to get back to exploring! Until then, we’ll venture locally and responsibly! 🏕. Have any other recommendations that we missed? Send us an email!
XO,
Tasha and Dave
