Traveling during the global pandemic is not advisable but it is possible so long as you are cautious. It is critically important that you take every possible precaution in order to keep yourself and your family safe as you travel during these unsafe times. Odds are you will only be able to travel within the United States because international travel is near impossible due to travel bans or restrictions in almost every country.
The one upside to traveling during the pandemic is that travel right now is very affordably priced. Airlines, train companies and the hospitality industry at large are all unfortunately suffering big profit losses because no one is traveling right now. Thus, they are offering big discounts for anyone willing to travel in order to recoup their losses.
You should also consider waiting to travel for a few months. As time has progressed the overall management and rate of the spread of the virus has slowed as the world, the United States included, has gotten a hang of social distancing and overall containment. In a few months’ time it might be even safer to travel
Your options for getting to your destination
As was mentioned earlier, your options for traveling during the pandemic will be cheap but there might be restrictions on where you can travel. Once you figure out where you are going and if you will be forced into a mandatory quarantine when you get there or not, you can look into your travel options.
Many experts say that driving with your family in your own car will be the safest option because that will cause the least amount of potential exposure to other people. With methods of transportation like planes and trains, you will inevitably be exposed to other people. However, you might not want to drive for several hours or days depending on how far you are traveling.
If you choose to travel by plane or train just be sure to follow whatever instructions you are given in terms of safety protocol. All public travel including a train trips or flights are under the strictest supervision to ensure everyone’s safety.
If that is what you end up choosing to do, you can avoid using any public transport, cabs or ride shares at your destination by having your own vehicle to drive. You have two options for this. The first is renting a car. Unfortunately, there are some issues with this. The first is that the car has already been used by other people, so even though the cars get cleaned, you will be at a small risk of exposure to the virus. Also, rentals can get expensive quickly as you have to pay for it every day that you have it.
That is why you should definitely consider shipping your car to your destination instead. This way you will have your own car that has not had any contact from other people. You also will not need to continuously pay for use of your own car.
How to keep yourself and your family safe
Keeping yourself and your family safe as you travel during the pandemic will entail all of the obvious steps as well as a little bit extra. This will include wearing masks any time that you are around other people, keeping yourself and your family socially distant from others, and making sure that you keep your hands washed and sanitized.
You should also only travel to and from states where the covid-19 crisis is under control. You can find more information about that here. In fact, if you travel from a state where cases are on the rise, you might be forced to quarantine for two weeks when you arrive at your destination, so be sure to do your homework before you start traveling.
Conclusion
Traveling at the moment is still not the greatest idea. However, some of you may need to for a variety of reasons. The upside is that travelling is very cheap right now because of the low demand for travel. If you and your family do travel during the pandemic, be sure you take every step possible to keep yourselves safe. If you choose to take a flight or a train ride instead of driving yourself, remember that it will be safer to have your own car when you reach your destination rather than using a rental.