Our road trip during a pandemic

We are back from a nice vacation! I needed time to recharge, think about my personal life, get my business life in order, and just see some water. We traveled down to Charleston, SC during Rona. Yes, I know traveling is looked upon as OMG she is going somewhere while the world is in a crisis. Look Rona is here to stay so here is a look at how we took our road trip during Rona, what we saw in another state, info that you need to know before you go anywhere, and why it’s ok to go somewhere for the Summer even during a pandemic.

Our Road Trip during a pandemic

First, when going on a road trip these days it’s best to pack the kitchen sink. Literally I pack that anyway but this time I really packed everything. Including my own towels, washcloths, bedsheets, and all the Lysol and wipes I could find. We traveled in the weekday to keep down on less of a crowd because most people travel on the weekends. We figured by going midweek we avoid most of the crowds and we did! In addition to the Lysol sprays and masks, we packed we also packed all the meds just in case. I packed Tylenol, natural meds, inhalers, etc. You just never know so I like to be prepared especially during a pandemic.

Next, we stayed on the main roads. Although the GPS told us to take some backroads I prefer to stay on the main course in case the phone doesn’t work (tmobile doesn’t work everywhere) and I didn’t wanna stop off in spots that were not maintained properly. In other words, I didn’t wanna go to a country store where more germs might lay. Also with the recent climate of racial tension, I prefer to stay on main hwys and streets. No back roads at all if you are driving while black.

I looked up the news before we decided to come to Charleston. I wanted to see how many cases there were, what were the rules set forth by the governor, and what was opened near where we wanted to go. Make sure you look all of that up before you hit the road and have a plan together. Here is a tip a lot of places haven’t updated their website or info on Facebook so make sure you call to make sure places are open. Things could change daily so call the day before you leave out and have a backup plan for food just in case.

Now on to where we stayed. I opted to stay at a cottage and split the time between my uncle and the cottage. The cottage we stayed at had a great view but I think we should have done a hotel for a cheaper price. I wanted to be near the water and all the beach houses were booked that were in our price range so this was the next best thing. The cottage had ants and wasn’t cleaned from the previous person. I will do another post on that later but trust me don’t stay there..at all!

Here are some extra tips

• Don’t go over 4 or 5 hours for your destination. The drive from Atlanta is 4 hours and it was a lot. I’m getting to old to be driving these roads. I never do more than 5 hours since I’m usually the only one driving
• Make sure you have a decent car. During Rona a lot of places are closed down. You wanna make sure you check your tires and get Tripple A or some type of car service on standby since most places are closed.
• If you have kids pack extra masks in the car and keep some in their suitcases. My daughter kept leaving her mask at home so I am glad I had extra in the car. My kids aren’t used to masks because they have been in the house for the majority of Rona.
• Get your entertainment in order. My kids love going to the mall but in case the mall was closed we had board games, they had their computers, and I made sure to set up some play dates for them with my friends in Charleston.
• take what you need with you. Don’t depend on the stores to have it when you get to where you are going. Let the locals keep their stuff. You are visiting out of town be mindful of that. The only thing we had to get were toothbrushes because we forgot the travel ones.

Plan to be outdoors for your vacation so get a spot where there is a pool that you can use that has social distancing rules. Keep your contact minimal even when out of town. The kids and I did the same thing we do at home. Stay in doors for the most part with the occasional outage to the store. I was even able to leave my kids at the cottage to go to the store a few times so I didn’t have to take them when I did go out.

It’s ok to take a small Summer trip. We originally wanted to do a cruise but yeah…..that’s not happening so I opted to do something quick and small. Make sure you pack the foods and snacks that you need for the road trip and let me keep it real I packed a bucket for us to use the bathroom if needed. Look I don’t play with these bathrooms just in case there was no decent rest stop. I prefer for them to use the bucket than my seats. I have big kids but sometimes they still can’t quite hold it like an adult can. Luckily this trip we didn’t have to use the bucket lol. I made them potty before we hit the road.

Are you going to take a quick Summer trip? If so where?