Traveling During a Pandemic

 

Traveling During a Pandemic

 

Travel.  I love to travel. I’m passionate about traveling 45 minutes away, or across the seas.  Experiencing new places excites me.  I love to plan travel, I love to help others plan travel, and I enjoy the travel experience.  For over 20 years, it has been my mission to not only travel myself, but to also participate in travel forums and blogs to assist others. 

2020 has been rough.  COVID 19 has managed to destroy lives, livelihoods, and the hope that things will ever be normal again.  The word “new normal” is thrown around like rice.  There are so many tragic stories.  I decided early on this journey (that I NEVER thought would still be going on in August as I write this) that I was going to do my part to address the small parts that one little person has the capacity to do.  As I watched my 2 part time jobs fade away, I needed something to keep up my morale.  As far as the actual disease COVID…my only contribution was to make sure that myself, my hubby, and those that I loved were safe.  I am not medical…I can’t do that work.

What I could do,  was something about mental stress, and the fact that our local businesses were suffering greatly.  I became a member of a Facebook group geared to ordering out from local restaurants.  We ordered at least twice a week…tipped like crazy…posted photos…remained upbeat...AND THE RESTAURANTS SURVIVED!!!!   We participated from early March, until the outside dining was allowed.  It gave me a purpose, something positive that I could do, that would help my little community.

So that was March, April, and May.  I continued to participate in travel forums…but the topics were pretty much the same in travel forums all over the world.  We stayed home…cooked and ordered out food, washed our hands, wore masks, and dreamed of travel.  New York was starting to see very good improvement in COVID cases, and it seemed like the time to travel had arrived.  I began to plan how to travel safely during a time where things are very scary.  I wanted to stimulate economies in places other than Cortland.

Here are some travel tips.  Most are my personal opinions.  They are based on my experience alone.

·         Do not travel if you are not completely comfortable to be out and about.  That adds stress…doesn’t make the trip enjoyable.

·         Currently, we are only staying in New York State.  Our personal preference, and you will see in our travels that early on we did leave the state…and how I personally felt about that experience.

·         For us…outside is king!  We have been 100% blessed this summer with knock it out of the park weather.  That has been very helpful-as some trips we would have cancelled if the weather had been bad.

·         Research the heck out of a destination, the places you are planning to go in that area, any lodging that you are planning to stay at.  Camping is NOT for me…but that may work better for some people.  I probably make a thousand calls before we leave to verify conditions/open times/ outside dining, etc. wherever  we go.  I am MORE than happy to help you to research an area.

·         Masks are important.  We wear them everywhere unless we are out where there are no people.  We bring masks for each day-then a bunch of disposables just in case.

·         Hand sanitizer, wipes and paper towels are staples in the car.

·         Traveling mid- week is perfect.  Hardly anyone is out.  Monday many restaurants are closed, and things are a bit busier Thursday-Sunday.  Since we are retired this has worked perfectly.

·         Go early.  We aren’t super early risers…but  it definitely will get a bit busier about 11.  This is parks as well as tourist attractions.  Really…the early bird does get the worm!!

·         Don’t book anything that can not be cancelled.  Like,  that very day cancelled.  Since our lives change by the moment, you need to be able to cancel plans without financial penalty.

·         Previous to COVID hotels have always had germs.  Seriously!!!  Actually now, I feel like more time is spent cleaning the rooms for sanitizing.  I always call the hotels to ask, but we have had absolutely no personal experience that a hotel has been unsanitary.  Hotels are getting a bad rap, and from our experience this is probably the safest time to go to a hotel.  They aren’t crowded, and people really appreciate you so they are actually nice!!!!

·         We try to stay away from any place that would have crowds.  For us we are just not currently comfortable in that environment.  I haven’t gone into Wal Mart, Lowe’s or Aldi’s since COVID began, and I don’t want crowds when I travel.  Now.  During a pandemic.  In February I would have loved the crowd atmosphere.  Not now.  We travel just 2 people, social distancing always.

·         We have at least a couple weeks home between trips to make sure we aren’t wandering germs from place to place.  We don’t quarantine, but we limit who we see and where we go between trips. Daily walks outside have remained a priority since Day 1.  We felt it was mentally good for us.

The remainder of this blog is about more specific details on 4 trips we have been on since June.  We have 3 more planned.  All of the trips were different…but each time we left the house I learned something new, and was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy that it worked out well.  My secret…plan for cancelling when you book, and then be happy as hell when you find out you are there!!!

 

June 5  Letchworth State Park and Niagara Falls  1 night in hotel

We had previously (early March)  planned a 3 night trip to Buffalo and NF.  In Buffalo we had a play booked  and decided to turn it into a getaway with Niagara Falls.  I cancelled the 2 nights in Buffalo, but left 1 night in NF just in case!  The weather had to be perfect for outdoor stuff…and it was!!!  This was the first time we had stepped foot out of Cortland County, and we knew one day was all we could handle with the unknown of staying in a hotel.  We spent a beautiful morning in Letchworth and brought a picnic.  In NF we were upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi and a fireplace since no one was actually staying there.  NOTHING as far as attractions in NF was open at all. We had planned to order food to bring back to our room, but luckily outdoor dining had opened the night before and Anchor Bar was right near our hotel, so that worked out better than expected.   Literally, the city was a ghost town.  But, those falls don’t go away.  We had the best views and on Friday there was absolutely no one around.  It was a bit odd,  we have been there before shoulder to shoulder 10 deep.  This was incredible, and we will never be able to experience it again.  As I type this blog things are now reopen…less capacity, but the tourists have returned I’m sure.  The  Saturday we went  there were a few tourists, but it was super easy to walk around anywhere.  We got to see the Canadian Border closed…epic, historical, and unique…and WE. WERE.THERE.

 

June 26-30 Pennsylvania and Virginia 4 nights in hotels

We left on this trip just after the Governor announced some states were on the quarantine list.  Neither state was added at that time…but literally I worried every day that the states we had chosen to go to would pop up on the list.  They didn’t…but that trip told us we have to stay in New York from here on out.  Numbers were creeping up in many areas…and we did not feel like leaving our state would be safe for us.  Our trip was 1 night in PA on the way to VA.  Our son lives in VA, so once we got there we did stay in a hotel, but spent most of the day outdoors at his house on the James River. Again, the weather absolutely cooperated. PA and VA definitely were not as vigilant as NY was about mask usage.  We wore masks, but they were not widely in use at that time.  Hotels were both following  COVID guidelines.

 

July 20 Albany 1 night in hotel 

I met a friend from VT (still not on the quarantine list as of today).  Hotel was COVID compliant, and here is where I learned that it is not good to travel on Mondays as far as dining is concerned.  I called 20 restaurants.  Many were closed on Mondays-and some of the others only had inside dining.  We actually used Uber and Lyft (once each) on this trip.  Masks were in place for us as well as the driver.  I was somewhat nervous…but it was completely safe.  Don’t think I would go out of my way to do it a lot, but on this trip, for that day….it was fine.  The pool in the hotel was open with very strict guidelines…and we were the only 2 in the pool  room during our visit.

July 28-30  Cooperstown 3 nights in a hotel

The entire area was excellent to travel in these times.  Very few tourists, everyone had masks.  Cooperstown has a rule for 2 main streets that masks must be worn at ALL TIMES on those streets, and mostly people seem to be cooperating. Possibly locals were not as adherent as tourists.  Timed entrance tickets for major attractions, and masks were worn everywhere.  The pool in our hotel was not open. We traveled 2 days after what should have been a crazy busy Hall of Fame Induction weekend with Derek Jeter leading the class.  It was cancelled…along with the revenue that would have been  brought into the community.

 

We currently have 3 more trips on the docket.  Buffalo, Lake George, and Burlington, VT.  For each trip we will assess the current climate to determine if it is safe to travel to that area.  The VT trip is out of state, so we will be very cautious with that one, given my worry with our VA trip.  All of the hotels are cancellable up until day of arrival.  We are hoping we go, understand if we can’t, and will be thrilled if we get there!

Traveling for me is relaxing.  The planning fills my soul.  We feel like we are doing a helpful service by traveling to areas around our state and sharing the financial resources that we have been blessed to have.  Our state (like every state and country in the world) has suffered a serious economic impact.  We can’t fix COVID…but we can travel safely and do our small part to help others. 

Travel is not for everyone.  Everyone has their own “personal rules” for 2020.  I get it.  I have them.  But when I think of my personal rules I try to figure out how to safely do activities that will keep us mentally and physically active, and stimulate the economy at the same time.  We are blessed to live in New York, where the current COVID numbers in our area have allowed us to safely navigate the area.  If that changes, we will not feel safe to travel.  Then we will move on to the next safe venture.