How to travel with kids during COVID19
Like many families, I’m sure, before COVID we had grand plans for all the summer travel. I was so excited because unlike last summer, Moseah is now sleeping through the night and so I don’t feel like a zombie. But in March – and rightly so – all those plans went out the window.
However, travel is part of our family’s DNA. The idea of not traveling – at all – make us start to feel a little anxious. So, my husband and I started thinking about how we can travel with our kiddos in a way that’s safe, both for us and for the communities we visit.
Here’s our new, COVID-adapted travel approach:
Drive, don’t fly
Plan outdoor adventures
Stay in one place for longer
Choose Airbnbs over hotels
Pack a COVID cleaning kit
Get good at working remotely
Bring food and toilet paper
Drive. Flying is not an option for us, even though I know a lot of people are starting to be more relaxed about it. Kids touch everything, and no matter how much we disinfect surfaces, or wear masks, or try not to touch stuff, we’ve decided that for our family, the risk for is just too high. So, we’ve opted to drive. I already had a 20+ hour road trip with the kids under my belt from 2019, so I know what to do to make that go as smoothly as reasonably possible.
Plan outdoor adventures. Disneyland and water parks might be closed, but we love the outdoors. So do our kids! We’ve opted to drive to places that have incredible natural beauty, and lots of outdoor adventures where it’s easier to maintain social distance. We have a baby carrier for Moseah and a toddler-carrier for Cimorene, so we’ll each take one kiddo and go for a hike. There’s a great piece detailing the risk of transmission outside (super low) vs. inside (much higher), so we feel good even if we pass someone on the trail who’s not willing to give us a minute to step aside (yup, it’s happened occasionally).
Stay in one place for longer. Instead of trying to see as many places as possible, we’ll stay in one place for a longer period of time. Not only is this easier with kids due to the packing and unpacking, it also means we have to do less cleaning when we get to a new spot.
Choose Airbnbs over hotels. We stay in airbnbs over hotels, which means we’re not interacting with other guests or hotel staff. We look for Airbnbs that mention COVID-specific cleaning practices (when available). We also pack our own COVID-cleaning kit – alcohol spray, disinfecting wipes, a bottle of bleach spray, and rubber gloves. When we arrive, we disinfect the highest risk surfaces – door knobs, kitchen counters, kitchen cabinet pulls, and faucet handles. We also try to pick Airbnbs that have their own built in amenities (a yard, a pool) since we won’t be able to take advantage of those elsewhere.
Get good at working remotely. We’re lucky that we have lots of practice working from home, so the need to work from home during COVID isn’t new to us. That being said, we’ve gotten a LOT better at working remotely while traveling. We’ll convert a bedside table and dining chair into an office, time our meetings and calls around kiddo naptime, and be strategic about the little screen time that Cimorene does get. Working remotely has also meant we’re able to travel for longer, since we don’t have to go into an office. While it’s not the same as “vacation” it’s been an incredible experience.
Bring food and toilet paper. All y’all might laugh at this, but we pack a starter kit of groceries and bring extra toilet paper. While some communities are excited to have the tourist dollars boosting the local economy during a tough time, other communities are frustrated that outsiders are taking up limited resources. We pack a cooler with milk, yogurt, eggs, and a few other things that we know we’ll need, as well as some packaged foods that the kids love. And yes: we bring toilet paper. This isn’t to say that we don’t buy groceries locally (especially since Cimorene and I are making and delivering lasagnas wherever we go) but we’re trying to be as respectful as possible. (And of course, we look for a supermarket that has delivery or curbside pickup wherever we go!)
Traveling during COVID19 isn’t for everyone – and I realize that many states have restrictions in place that make any kind of travel difficult. Our thinking is that coronavirus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and so we wanted to figure out a COVID-safe way to have adventures during the next year. So far, our travels have felt about as safe as going to a grocery store, but every family has to decide for themselves what’s comfortable!