Vacations are about more than kicking your feet up and relaxing. They play an integral role in resetting your brain and putting you in the right frame of mind to pursue responsibilities like your career and/or parenting. And in times such as these, when travel seems impossible, finding ways to enjoy a fun, relaxing, and safe vacation is key.
Make Your Vacation Safe and Enjoyable
With so many types of travel off the table during the COVID crisis, understanding how to vacation in a safer capacity is an absolute must. But where do you start and what do you do? Here are a few helpful suggestions:
- Stick With Your Family
It’s best if you stick with your family during a vacation. Regardless of what you’ve done in the past, traveling with other families and friends simply increases your risk of exposure. You don’t know where they’ve been, who they’ve been in contact with, or how seriously they’re taking the virus. When you keep your traveling party to members of your immediate family, you have a higher degree of control over the experience.
- Travel Via RV
If you’re vacationing and staying in a hotel and/or eating at restaurants, you’re significantly increasing your chances of coming into contact with infected people. But what if you could travel as a family and avoid both of these risks entirely?
Consider renting a luxury RV. It essentially allows you to travel in a luxury “bubble” where you don’t come into contact with other people. It’s like a quarantined house on wheels. Plus, you can travel to some beautiful places and still enjoy a high degree of comfort.
- Go Camping
Camping is another good option. It’s relatively safe to be outside – especially when you’re in the woods and unlikely to encounter other people. Plus, after being quarantined and/or isolated for so many months, there’s something freeing about being outside in nature.
Depending on where you choose to camp, you can enjoy a number of fun activities without much (if any) risk of coming into contact with the virus. This includes hiking, swimming, fishing, and kayaking. But, don’t forget to pack essential gear such as camping lighting and other survival items.
- Choose the Right Destination
When traveling in an environment such as this, be overly cautious. Understand that local requirements and restrictions might be different at your final destination than they are where you currently live.
“Some state, local and territorial governments have requirements, such as requiring people to wear masks and requiring those who recently traveled to stay home for up to 14 days,” Mayo Clinic explains. “Save yourself unpleasant surprises and delays by checking for restrictions at your destination and anywhere you might stop along the way.”
With all of that being said, it’s also a good idea to study COVID numbers and avoid areas where there are large scale outbreaks. The last thing you want to do is get infected and then bring it back home.
- Avoid Public Transportation
When traveling, taking public transportation is one of the worst things you can do. Not only is it difficult to socially distance yourself from other people, but you come into contact with a lot of high-risk surfaces.
If you have to find some method of transportation while on vacation, consider renting your own car and wiping it down with products that kill the virus. This is a much more controlled environment.
There’s no perfect solution, considering today’s current circumstances. But as this article shows, there are ways to be safe and have fun. And since the effects of this pandemic are likely to linger for many more months (and possibly years), learning to embrace new ways of traveling will allow you to continue living life in a fairly normal capacity moving forward. Good luck!
