Traveling During the Coronavirus Pandemic
#halfdozenhundts have gotten to be a pretty well-oiled machine when it comes to overnight road trip travel. We've done Florida to St. Augustine several times and Disney World, as well as driving to Colorado. There are a few things we always include as a part of our road trip...
1.) We leave as little next-day-driving as possible. Once the boys wake up in the morning, they are sick and tired of being in the car and rightfully so. If we still have more than 5ish hours to go after wake up and breakfast happens, it gets real dicey. The earlier we can arrive at our destination in the morning, the better. This sometimes means we have to leave in the afternoon the day before and do quite a bit of driving. That seems to go better than leaving a lot of driving for the second day.
2.) We do most of our stops at a gas station so we can refuel and do bathrooms at the same time. Getting in and out of the car takes time. Stopping and starting takes time. We try to eliminate the amount of stops as best as we can.
3.) We take a longer break around bedtime, usually at a restaurant, to have a treat. The treat is usually ice cream, let's be serious ;) We then get in our PJs, brush our teeth, and boys know once we get back into the car, we are winding down for the night.
3.) After the treat stop, we usually throw on our first (and sometimes only) movie of the car ride. That helps keep things quiet and helps boys get tired.
4.) In the morning, we often stop for breakfast. We ate, stretch, and take our time getting back into the car.
When we were planning to head to Montana, we knew things would have to change about our routine.
The entire points of this trip was to come in as little contact with humans as possible. We weren't about to have stayed home for three months and been so so careful to then blow it by traveling during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
We first needed to prioritize, heavily, what we would need to bring with us to keep safe. I packed two sets of masks for everyone in our family so that if we were going to be around people at all, we'd be able to be covered. We also stocked up on hand sanitizer, sanitizer spray, and whatever wipes I could find to put in our car.
Then, we changed our routine.
Instead of stopping at gas stations to use the bathroom and refuel, we only got gas there. We stopped at rest areas instead. There were less people, the areas were, overall, much cleaner, and we could go straight into the bathroom and straight out without coming in contact with anything else. Often, there was land to roam around at rest areas which helped too. We could eat outside there and stretch our legs. Even though this added time to our trip, we really liked using rest areas. Most of the time we were the only people there. We always wore masks either way.
We also packed food for our entire road trip, including a one-night stop in Madison, Wisconsin. This way we wouldn't have to buy anything at a gas station or restaurant. I needed to pack for two breakfasts, two dinners, and two lunches. Mostly we did things like PB&J, granola bars, bagels, apples, grapes, etc... things that didn't really need a lot of refrigeration. We bought a tiny refrigerator to keep a few things cold that could plug into a cigarette lighter (are those even still called that). That was a huge help as well. I even packed a special late night treat. Even though it wasn't ice cream, it was a Little Debbie treat the boys had never had before and they were delighted. I'm not even sure they missed the ice cream (although I totally did).
Thankfully, the more west we drove, the less people we saw, which was the whole point of going that way to begin with.
We also had to do more research beforehand to write down exactly where there were rest areas so we didn't miss our opportunity and have the next one not be for a hundred miles or something.
I feel very confident that we stayed safe and kept our distance to the very best of our ability and am so proud of the way the boys did changing up our road trip routine. We are so happy to see somewhere new after staying close to our home for three months and feel very lucky to be in a beautiful place where people, for the most part, aren't ;)
1.) We leave as little next-day-driving as possible. Once the boys wake up in the morning, they are sick and tired of being in the car and rightfully so. If we still have more than 5ish hours to go after wake up and breakfast happens, it gets real dicey. The earlier we can arrive at our destination in the morning, the better. This sometimes means we have to leave in the afternoon the day before and do quite a bit of driving. That seems to go better than leaving a lot of driving for the second day.
2.) We do most of our stops at a gas station so we can refuel and do bathrooms at the same time. Getting in and out of the car takes time. Stopping and starting takes time. We try to eliminate the amount of stops as best as we can.
3.) We take a longer break around bedtime, usually at a restaurant, to have a treat. The treat is usually ice cream, let's be serious ;) We then get in our PJs, brush our teeth, and boys know once we get back into the car, we are winding down for the night.
3.) After the treat stop, we usually throw on our first (and sometimes only) movie of the car ride. That helps keep things quiet and helps boys get tired.
4.) In the morning, we often stop for breakfast. We ate, stretch, and take our time getting back into the car.
When we were planning to head to Montana, we knew things would have to change about our routine.
The entire points of this trip was to come in as little contact with humans as possible. We weren't about to have stayed home for three months and been so so careful to then blow it by traveling during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
We first needed to prioritize, heavily, what we would need to bring with us to keep safe. I packed two sets of masks for everyone in our family so that if we were going to be around people at all, we'd be able to be covered. We also stocked up on hand sanitizer, sanitizer spray, and whatever wipes I could find to put in our car.
 |
| Masks with hand sanitizer spray and wipes. Not pictured is the large container of hand sanitizer in the front seat! |
Then, we changed our routine.
Instead of stopping at gas stations to use the bathroom and refuel, we only got gas there. We stopped at rest areas instead. There were less people, the areas were, overall, much cleaner, and we could go straight into the bathroom and straight out without coming in contact with anything else. Often, there was land to roam around at rest areas which helped too. We could eat outside there and stretch our legs. Even though this added time to our trip, we really liked using rest areas. Most of the time we were the only people there. We always wore masks either way.
We also packed food for our entire road trip, including a one-night stop in Madison, Wisconsin. This way we wouldn't have to buy anything at a gas station or restaurant. I needed to pack for two breakfasts, two dinners, and two lunches. Mostly we did things like PB&J, granola bars, bagels, apples, grapes, etc... things that didn't really need a lot of refrigeration. We bought a tiny refrigerator to keep a few things cold that could plug into a cigarette lighter (are those even still called that). That was a huge help as well. I even packed a special late night treat. Even though it wasn't ice cream, it was a Little Debbie treat the boys had never had before and they were delighted. I'm not even sure they missed the ice cream (although I totally did).
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| The little fridge we bought- it worked great! |
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| Eating sliders for dinner in Madison- I packed everything so we wouldn't need to go to any stores while we were there |
Thankfully, the more west we drove, the less people we saw, which was the whole point of going that way to begin with.
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| Socially and physically distant from, well, everything and everyone! |
I feel very confident that we stayed safe and kept our distance to the very best of our ability and am so proud of the way the boys did changing up our road trip routine. We are so happy to see somewhere new after staying close to our home for three months and feel very lucky to be in a beautiful place where people, for the most part, aren't ;)
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