Travel diaries during Covid-19
A week ago, we decided to go ahead with our plans and go to Clearwater, FL for our summer vacation. This vacation was planned and booked back in February way before the lockdowns and wearing masks started to happen.
We talked about it and my husband and I decided we would still go and enjoy ourselves during this trip. We had family members question our choice of going to a state where the numbers of cases kept rising daily by the thousands. By no means were we trying to disrespect anyone or break any rules. Being quarantined and following the rules when our state was facing the worst numbers of cases of Covid made us realize this virus will not go away. We needed to learn how to live with it and try to have a some sort of normal life.
Our home state (New Jersey) lifted the lockdown and we slowly started to go out to eat to restaurants who offered outdoor dining. Eventually stores opened and I went to shop (no I was not part of the crowd who stood in lines waiting for a store to open). Trying to navigate this new normal has been up for discussion- some people want to still be home and others want to act like nothing happened.
What I believe is: the virus is real and my family was fortunate not to get it. At the same time, we cannot live in the fear and we need to adjust to the current situation. We wear our masks, we avoid crowds and keep our distance whenever possible.
Newark airport
We flew out from Newark International airport on Wednesday, June 24. Our flight was at 10:30 am. The airport was empty. There was no wait at all, no lines. It was an eerie experience. Arriving to our departure gate, I was under the impression our flight would not be fully booked. Since United Airlines had advised us in an email about changing our flight we called them to discuss. In those discussions they said the flight would have limited passengers. When we tried to select our seats the website had no availability on the middle row at all for any rows- which I was surprised and relieved at the same time.
But our plane was 99% full! The idea of having the middle seat open and trying to keep passangers not to close was only that, an idea. I would say it was more chaotic and stressful being in the plane with a crew who had no idea what was going on. We are a family of 4 and in the prior travels (before Covid) we would get seated 3-1. Somehow we were seated 2-2 and on the third seat a stranger sitting next to us( no empty middle seat). I didn’t panic but I was confused as to why they would even do this.. A family should be okay to seat together and occupy all three seats, but don’t split a family of 4 and make them seat with strangers. I did complain and we were able to seat 3-1. The only good thing about this experience was all passengers were wearing their masks.
Tampa International Airport
We arrived to Tampa Airport and headed straight to the car rental booth. It made sense to rent a car instead of using Uber(it made us feel safer). Hertz car rental made it so easy to rent our car. It could have been the lack of customers and they don’t have to rush anybody because there were no big lines.
Tampa airport seemed to be busier than Newark, but it could also be the timing. It was definitely not as busy as it used to be. Here we noticed not everyone was wearing masks(not judging) but my kids noticed that and ask if they had to. I told my kids of course we had to, we need to be responsible and protect ourselves even if we see people not being responsible.
We arrived to our hotel around 4pm, on the same day the mask mandate was going into effect in Florida. It was no big deal for us since we were planning to wear masks.
We enjoyed our trip and did everything we could in our control to make it safe for us. My kids were amazing, they wore their masks and did not complain about it..
In the end, if we had to take another trip, we would definitely do it, unless there is a lockdown and the state prohibited travel. We are back to NJ and obeying the rules, being responsible- we self quarantined ourselves to make sure we don’t put our community, friends and family in danger.
Always stay safe and follow your instincts, my kids are older (11 & 10 years old) so I feel confident that they understand what is going on and how different this trip is from past trips we’ve had. I am very proud of them and how they navigated this whole “new normal” travel with respect and responsibility.
xoxo
pam
Pam2k 