Summer 2020 is almost over, and we can officially declare victory! When Coronavirus cases started popping up in the United States back in February, we took what we thought would be our last trip of the year. We traveled to meet the different tribes in Panama (Full video uploaded to our YouTube channel). Then in April we started our “Travel at Home” series, thinking this is it – Travel is over. But as we learned more about the virus and how it spreads, we decided to make the best of summer 2020 and still have some adventures. Stay-cations and road trips are the thing of the moment.
Here are some of our personal guidelines for a safe adventure during Coronavirus times.
1- The CDC says – Social distancing. We translate that into:
Choose the right place to vacation, a social distancing paradise.
• Open spaces are a must. No elevators, no closed hallways, No indoor game rooms, or ballrooms. Lots of land to spread out.
Examples: Private Island, Hotels with villas, cottages or Casitas. Then camping, Glamping or even RV's are perfect options in our book. If none of the above are available then choose an Airbnb, anyways most hotels are NOT giving you the daily service or even room service to avoid contact with guest.
• The perfect getaway property allows us to go from the car, to the room/tent/villa and back out into the outdoors without having to walk into a hallway or building.
• Make sure there are proper measures of social distance at the pool, restaurant and other areas. We have skipped on amazing pools and eating places at these properties if we feel they are not really complying with REAL social distancing. It is tempting, and we see people give in all the time, because “What the heck we are already here” … That’s the wrong mentality.
• ASK! Always Ask. We have been to restaurants where there is space to be far away, yet the tables are not. We ask the waiters if we can move even further away. No shame in the game.
2 - The CDC says – Wear a Mask. We take it to heart:
If we are NOT wearing a mask it is because the next person is so far away that we can’t even see their face.
• Lots of people FORGET to wear a mask. They think simply because they are outdoors it is safe not to use a mask. We think
(not scientifically proven) that particles travel further with airflow, therefore if there is someone around, even if its outside wear a mask. In some of this places people look at you odd, like “Dude you are outside, take off that mask”. But we are like – “NO we will wear it until you are so far way, that we feel safe”.
• We also call ahead and ask what the mask requirements are for the property we are booking. Real story: At the private island we asked the owners to wear a mask as we were being dropped off.
• If we are walking outside and we see someone walking by us or near us without a mask, we change course and walk the other way. It’s a little uncomfortable, but It keeps us safe.
3 - The CDC Says – Disinfect surfaces and common touch places:
We now have a one hour “Arrival Rule”:
• This means our first hour at any property will be spent disinfecting everything ourselves. The kids stay in the car until everything is properly cleaned.
• We ask for a set of new sheets and pillow cases. We have seen reports of hotels that don’t really change the bed sheets between guests, so to have mental peace we ask.
• We continue to clean everyday to make sure nothing was infected while coming in from our daily adventures. YES, you don’t want to spend your vacation cleaning, but that’s the price to pay if you want to be safe.
4 - The CDC says – Wash your hands often:
We now carry two bags everywhere we go. One is for the cameras, snacks or hats and sunglasses. The other one is for hand sanitizers. After any activity, meal, or any time we touch a surface we use it to disinfect our hands. As soon as we walk into the room, we also wash our hands.
5 - The CDC says – Monitor your health daily:
We carry a thermometer, an oximeter and a blood pressure machine everywhere we go, and we do daily checkups. We used to travel with a thermometer before, but now we upgraded to all the above.
When we say at the top of the blog post that we “Declare Victory” it means that we were able to travel, have different experiences, create amazing memories with our kids, enjoy the best of our state and still be Coronavirus free! The victory is more meaningful considering that it all happened in one of the worst hit states of our Country. We haven’t left Florida at all. Now following our same guidelines mentioned above, we plan to venture further for the fall season, stay tuned and follow along.
Note: Our hearts go out to family members and friends who got the virus even while being very careful. We feel that together with taking the right precautions, god has been by our side on keeping us Coronavirus free.
Please remember to follow us @Ric.saj_ Adventures, we love to hear your feedback.
Love always,
Saj
