Can we travel safely?

If you are like me, you long for the opportunity to get out and travel, see parts of the world  you haven't been and yearn to visit old familiar places, like old friends.  

With the pandemic still out of control you might be wondering if we will ever be able to continue to work on our bucket lists. While international travel is still on hold, we can still travel domestically. 

The key is to do it safely and to minimize your risk to not only catching the virus, but also spreading it.

Planning is key. 

I am taking a trip in just under a month. I am 'road tripping' from the upper Midwest to Florida. Here I will chronical planning, preparation and scenes from the trip. 

First step is to decide how many days. This particular trip I am planning on 10 days. 

Next, I will make sure I have enough face coverings to double mask each day. In planning my activities, I will keep in mind to keep it outdoors as much as possible and/or social distance as well as keeping my face mask properly in place. 

I am in the second group of eligibility for getting the vaccine and if I can get it before I go, I will do so. I know this is a subject that has become politicalized, but it shouldn't be. Nor am I saying you must get it before travel. I am only saying I will get it when I can and hopefully before I leave. 

Now for the fun part! Planning!

I know that I am boarding two dogs so I have made the reservations for them and made arrangements for a friend to take my parrot and check on my cat while gone. 

This makes my first day pretty easy. I will be leaving after work, so all packed up the night before. Then dropping off the dogs and then hitting the road. 

Travel in the Midwest during March is always a bit iffy as one never knows if/when a snow storm or blizzard will strike. I am doing my planning as if there will be no issue, buy I am aware that all things will need to be fluid to accommodate changing weather patterns. 

Being aware of the pandemic issues, this particular trip I will plan on eating 'on the run' as opposed to eating in dining rooms. So, a cooler will be part of the items I will pack along with easy to keep foods for the drive. Much like camping. 

I will also stock up on paper maps. While GPS is helpful, nothing replaces a paper road map if you find yourself hitting detours or wanting to know how far to the next town to fuel up. Call me old school, but there is just something that is tangible about paper maps that you don't get from a GPS. 

For this trip I will need Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and West Virginia. I have many of these that are only a year or so old but others I will need to update. Tip: you can contact each state independently to get one for free, or you can stop in at the first tourist information station as you cross the state lines to get one. 

Stay tuned for more on planning!