Vacation 2020: Road Trip Pandemic-Style
Travel expert, Karla C, is sharing her tips for an organized driving vacation!
Oh 2020, what a year it's been!
If you're like me, vacations have been canceled, plans have been changed, and chaos has reigned supreme. But those circumstances are precisely why you need a break!
So how to vacation this year, when the world is mostly closed to Americans? When even in the U.S., states are are limiting access to visitors from other states? When cities are sometimes limiting access to citizens even from the same state?
ROAD TRIP!
2020 is the perfect year to plan your great American road trip! A road trip is the best way to maintain flexible travel plans, especially in these unusual times. If one state is on lock down, you can choose another. If one city is closed to nonessential travel, simply move on to the next one.
Life on the Road:
So how to make the most of your time on the road? Here are SEVEN tips that might help!
ONE: Think of masks as a fashion statement!
Acquire a few really cute, well-fitting masks that will complement your road trip attire. And bring more masks than you think you’ll need: the ear straps break, they get dirty, and you may lose one or two along the way.
Disposable masks are okay, but please dispose of them properly. Mask litter is becoming a huge issue around the world, and wildlife can be injured or killed when tangled in the straps.
Holiday masks are all the rage this year!
PRO TIP: Bring along a sewing kit in case your favorite mask needs an emergency repair!
PRO TIP: Even though you may live in a place without a mask mandate, you may travel through or visit places that require them. And it might be that a place without a mask mandate when you started your trip suddenly has one. Better to be prepared than scrambling to find masks on the road.
TWO: Gourmet on the Go
You won't be able to rely on restaurants along the way, like you normally do, so plan in advance for delicious and tasty meals away from home. Of course, you can bring gourmet shelf-stable foods like canned stuffed grape leaves, garlic-stuffed olives, candied walnuts, and yummy peanut butter to slather on crackers or presliced honey crisp apples. Or you can create a charcuterie board at a rest area with things from your ice chest, like cubed cheeses, precut veggies, and deli meats.
But you can also pack a slow cooker that plugs into your car so you can have hot meals along the way. This secret has long been known to truck drivers, but you now you're in on the game!
My favorite road trip meal is taco salad, using leftover chili from my home freezer (place in ice chest frozen, where it can sub for ice and thaw along the way), a bag of lettuce and grape tomatoes, toppings like cheese and sour cream, and a bag of tortilla chips. I heat the chili in my slow cooker while I'm driving, and I top my salad with steaming hot chili that perfectly melts the cheese. A slow cooker works for so many meals: leftover gumbo is my second fave meal on the road!
In addition to healthy snacks, like fruit & cheese, remember to pack salt and pepper!
PRO TIP: Pack an inexpensive, easily-cleaned plastic table cloth to cover rest area picnic tables. Or stock up on several inexpensive table cloths at a discount store like Dollar Tree so you can toss them in the trash after use.
PRO TIP: Remember to bring seasonings, like salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Tony Cachere's!
PRO TIP: Pack the Pantry: if your lodging offers to prestock your kitchen with food and necessities, this is definitely the year to sign up for that service.
THREE: Stopping for Snacks
What to do between meals, when you're bored and looking for something to snack on, but your ice chest is all the way in the back? Keep a small cooler or lunch box with small amounts of presliced fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers in the passenger compartment with you. And remember to drink lots of water!
Each time you stop for gas or to stretch your legs (which experts recommend you do at least every two hours), refill your small cooler with a new set of snacks and beverages from your ice chest or nonperishables container, which are stored elsewhere in your vehicle. Sure, I guess it could be fun to pretend you're a contortionist to get that Diet Coke from the ice chest stored under the suitcase behind your seat, but it's a lot more sensible to simply restock your in-car snacks along the way.
Pack snacks in small packages for easy transfer to your small cooler.
PRO TIP: Freeze water bottles at home and use them instead of ice to keep your ice chest cool. As they thaw along the way, you have nice cold water to drink, and you save all that space that would normally be dedicated to ice that you simply pour out. Plus it's more environmentally friendly to reuse water bottles and minimize water usage!
PRO TIP: Be sure to keep tissues and a few paper napkins in the car in case you need them for sneezes or spills!
FOUR: Plan to be Fully Self-Contained
Normally when we travel by car ... wait - scratch that - it's 2020, and there's nothing normal about it. So this year, and until the pandemic subsides, plan to be fully self-contained. Not just with food and water, as suggested above, but with everything. Pack a full first-aid kit. Bring a compressor in case your tires are low. Remember sunscreen and bug spray, if necessary. Throw in a few trash bags to contain your disposables along the way. Plan in-car and at-location entertainment, like books, cards, and electronics. Remember paper towels, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and - yes - toilet paper.
PRO TIP: Save the disposable utensils and napkins from take-out dining to use on your road trip. Use up your mismatched paper party plates and cups for dining on the go!
PRO TIP: Download any e-books or videos before you leave home. You may find yourself unable to access your vacation favorites if internet is spotty or the WiFi goes out.
FIVE: Condense Your Clothing
We typically throw in lots of extra clothes and shoes when we travel by car, much more so than when we travel by plane. But rethink that habit! Travel should be as stress-free as possible, and the more options you have, the more decisions you have to make, and the more stressful your days intended for relaxing will be. Instead, pack around a color scheme. Or plan a capsule wardrobe for your vacation. Bring accessories to snazzy up your look! Minimizing options on the road will leave you more time for what's really important: relaxing and having fun.
In addition, think about the size of your clothing. No, I don't mean the size you wear. I mean, how small do your items pack down? It's easy to minimize packing space by intentionally choosing items that pack smaller. Fewer bags, less to haul around, easier to manage as you stop along the way.
Packing Small: This is our entire luggage for four days in NYC!
PRO TIP: If you will be staying one night in one or two nights in one place, pack a smaller bag that you will bring inside for only those nights. It's much easier than unpacking all your luggage for a quick stop!
PRO TIP: Plan to do laundry along the way. Pack enough powdered detergent in a small container to hand wash in a hotel sink or in a laundry facility. And remember dryer sheets, if you use them.
SIX: Itemize Your Itinerary
One of the joys of road trips is jumping in the car without a care in the world. And that frequently means without a plan. But during this pandemic, a plan is critical. Many places have capacity restrictions, so advance reservations are recommended - at restaurants, at hotels, at museums, and even at places like some state and national parks.
But at the same time, you have to be prepared to change those plans. Having a Plan B is critical in case the place you've been planning to go is suddenly on lockdown. As you're planning your trip, keep alternate locations, restaurants, hotels, and experiences in the back of your mind - or on a list on your phone - so you're prepared to move on as necessary without too much strife.
PRO TIP: Make reservations that can be canceled at no charge or, if advance payment is required, that are completely refundable.
PRO TIP: If traveling with pets, be sure to check that necessary facilities will be available along the way. And remember to check requirements before bringing your furry friends across state lines.
Pets: please remember to keep your humans on a leash.
SEVEN: Organizing Essentials
Just like a well-designed closet makes life easier at home, a well-designed packing plan will make life easier on the road.
CONTAINERS: Use stackable, hard-sided plastic containers with lids for packing food, paper products, and cleaning supplies. Pack these containers and your large ice chest in an out-of-the way but accessible-at-stops place in your car, like the in the trunk or in rear of your SUV or van. (Remember: you'll have a small cooler for on-the-go snacks in the passenger compartment of your vehicle.)
SUITCASES: Place your suitcases (which you won't need during your travel time) in a place that is less accessible, perhaps under your plastic containers or behind your ice chest. Keep available only those things you will need in the car or for an overnight stop.
A roomy ice chest and hard plastic containers make road trips so much better!
PRO TIP: Label your containers ... and make sure the labels are facing the right direction when packed in the car.
Thanks to CHAOS Organizing for my new cute container labels!!
PRO TIP: Pack your food items in a container that is separate from your other items to avoid any cross-contamination.
CONCLUSION:
Yes, vacation this year is different, and like everything else in 2020, a road trip may be a little unusual, as well. But you can take a road trip and have fun along the way, especially if you take a little extra time to plan in advance.
Have a great trip!
(And feel free to tag me in your pictures so I can live vicariously! @voodoogardener on Instagram)
To view the original post and see more from Karla
To hear more from Karla on travel, check out our Facebook Live with her from this week!
LOVE THIS BLOG?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!