In 2020 we cancelled 3 trips due to the corona virus outbreak, 1 of them was for a reunion with my entire family which left me bummed for weeks but as an overly paranoid and risk averse person, I got over those feelings quickly. I have taken every possible measure to keep myself and my family safe during this pandemic which is still an ongoing practice in my household. We stayed home majority of the time except for grocery runs and daily walks and avoided meeting up with people for the entire 5 months. As a working parent with no childcare, me and my husband was burnt out is to say the least and was in major need of a break from the daily grind. So as we booked our time off for our religious holiday (Eid-Al-Adha) few weeks ago, we almost instantly decided to take a few extra days off and planned to take a road trip to a nearby city and we decided to visit Niagara Falls. The lock-down measures have been loosened in Ontario so this seemed like the perfect opportunity!
Research The Destination
Ofcourse avoiding any non-essentials travels is still the safest course of action but if you choose to travel during this pandemic, it’s imperative that you research your destination thoroughly.
I know a lot of people are still flying when possible, but for the purpose of this post, I will be discussing tips on travelling by road only and since I’m in Ontario, Canada, my discussions are limited within this region however the general precautions can be taken for traveling pretty much anywhere in the world.
Since we planned to go away for only 4 days, I was looking for a destination that’s within a short distance from our home. When researching each destination; after looking up distance, availability and accommodation charges; I looked up the current corona virus stats in each location and then looked up “things to do” on tripadvisor specifically “activities that are still open to do” and reviewed the special COVID 19 requirements for each activity.
Our top preference was booking a cottage in the woods but since our plan was very last minute, almost every desirable destination was all booked up and that’s how we chose Niagara Falls, literally the only place that had vacancy within our budget and we went on board. Talk about desperation!
Deciding Transportation
We definitely did not want to fly during this time and decided on a road trip and even then we chose to drive our own car rather than using a rental car or a public transportation like bus or train service. If you chose to rent a car, it’s important to wipe down all the surfaces and if you choose a bus or train ride, wearing a mask the entire time would be ideal (probably hella uncomfortable) as there will be lots of people within very close proximity of each other in an enclosed setting.
Deciding Accommodation
If possible, renting an individual apartment or a cottage was our first preference because staying in a hotel will inevitably cause higher exposure to many people while going in and out of the hotel room through the lobby and the elevator also the hotel restaurant is a heavy traffic area where physical distancing is challenging.
Due to time constraints, we couldn’t find any suitable cottage within our budget so we opted to stay in a hotel and this affected our destination of choice as I said before and that’s how we ended up with Niagara Falls. It’s very important not to choose an unknown, random hotel to cut costs right now rather opting for a well known chain, preferably a chain where you’ve stayed before and are familiar with their level of service is ideal.
Before arrival, I reviewed the hotel website and spoke to the hotel management over the phone, in regards to their cleaning and guest safety measures that are currently in place. I confirmed the following:
• Disinfectant is used to clean the property and each room following departure of each guest.
• The property affirms that it follows sanitization practices according to local regulations.
• I was also told that due to COVID-19, the hotel’s restaurant was closed.
• I also discovered that they did NOT have a microwave or a coffee maker in the room or in the hotel lobby for use.
Having these information handy, I was prepared for the next step. Being a frugal person, I always liked staying in a place with a kitchenette which helps cut travel cost tremendously by avoiding eating out too often; however this wasn’t an option this time. But I was still able to avoid eating out a few meals by bringing lots of dry foods and snacks.
Having snacks also came in handy during the road trip itself as it reduced the amount of contact we made with people in cities that we passed through as we didn’t have to stop for food too many times.
Precautions During The Road Trip
Every time we stopped for bathroom break or a meal, we carried a pack of Lysol Wipes, hand sanitizer and wore a disposable mask. The entire time, we were inside a service area or food court, we had our masks on. When using the toilet, I wiped the seat down and did the same for my 5 year old when she used the bathroom. And of course as soon as I was done, I washed my hands and once I came back to the car, I sanitized my hands again as I had to touch the doors a few times on my way out. We followed these steps every time we got out of the car and entered a service area.
Precautions After Reaching The Destination
– Once we reached the hotel, we all wore our masks as we entered the lobby and even though we were told the room was sanitized, we disinfected EVERYTHING again (I did mention, I’m a paranoid person right?).
⁃ We wiped down the main door handles, air conditioner, bathroom door knobs, all the surfaces in the bathroom, night stand, desk, tv remote, telephone, basically everything except the bedding.
⁃ We used the lysol spray instead of wipes for convenience. Once sprayed we left the room for a bit to let the chemical smell out.
⁃ I brought my own bed sheets, pillows and blankets and used that for sleeping. But use your own judgement and feel free to skip this step if you trust the hotel safety measures.
⁃ I also let the concierge know that we do NOT want daily cleaning service and made sure no one entered our room after checking in.
– We also didn’t use the pool even though it was outdoors, just to be safe.
Practising Safety Measures
– Each day as we stepped out, we carried a sanitizer and wipes at all times and wore masks when in indoor areas and even outside when social distancing wasn’t possible.
⁃ Niagara Falls was extremely busy considering there’s a pandemic going on especially in the Clifton Hill area and by the falls. We wore masks in those areas even though it was outdoors just because of the close proximity with people. However, we made sure to only go when the crowd was manageable: very early in the morning and around 3-4pm was a good time to avoid large crowd. Unfortunately we drove around and scanned each area before getting out of the car and noticed people were NOT always wearing masks even though social distancing was impossible at times. We just didn’t want to take that risk.
⁃ We opted to go see a lavender farm, outdoor golfing, skywheel, the butterfly conservatory & bird Kingdom (both indoor activities) where crowd was not crazy and we could safely roam around. We kept our mask on for both the indoor activities.
⁃ I also carried a laundry bag and stored each day’s outfit in that bag at the end of the day for the entire family and kept it tied tightly and washed them once I came home.
Food Arrangements
Since there was no kitchen in our hotel, we had to go out for lunch and dinner for proper meals. The dry food I packed served well as snacks for in between meals and for breakfast but we had to step out for real food. Even then we avoided dining in a restaurant even though many were open (surprisingly). We also avoided patio as we noticed the tables were very close to each other. We chose to do take outs for every meal and if we were out and about, we ate in our car or did a picnic nearby on the ground. Or if it was dinner at the end of the day, we just brought the food back and ate in our hotel room. We also made sure to sanitize all food containers and wrappings before consuming the food.
Things To Pack
I make a lot of effort to travel light but when there is a pandemic going on, I just couldn’t risk not having all the essentials handy.
Here’s a comprehensive list of everything I packed:
Food
- Dry foods (without a kitchen, I only packed things that are readily edible).
- I brought the following:
- Muffins, croissants, cake, ready made pizza
- Instant coffee
- Instant noodles
- Chips, crackers, cookies, granola bars
- An electric kettle to make noodles and coffee.
- Water, juice packs, pop
- Apple, banana
Cleaning/Disinfecting Supplies
- Hand sanitizers including travel size ones
- Disinfecting wipes including travel pouches
- Disinfecting spray
- Kitchen bags
- Paper Towel
- Disposable masks
Miscellaneous
- Bed sheet, pillow, blanket, towel
- Lots of spare clothing
- Laundry bag
- Paper plates, cups, bowls, disposable cutleries
- Extra tote bags
- Ceramic bowl to make noodles
- Dish soap and sponge
Kids Stuff
- Coloring books
- Crayons, markers
- Story books
- Favorite stuffy (Molly 🙂
- Tablet (download movies and shows for the road)
My Toiletries
- Unlike other times, I did travel super light when it came to my cosmetics and toiletries. I used to carry a large bag full of shampoo, lotion, skincare products, makeup products, hair products, hair tools, etc. but this time I only took:
- A bottle of lotion that we all shared and used for both face and body.
- A kids 50 spf sunscreen spray that we all shared.
- A bug spray
- Brow kit
- A lipstick and a liquid lipstick!
For the first time in my life I used hotel shampoo, conditioner and their hair dryer and did not use my own and skipped hair serum and hair styling. Liberating is an understatement to the feeling I had. I now know LESS IS DEFINITELY MORE!! I will never go back to heavy toiletries packing ever!
Final Thoughts
Was travelling during a pandemic an absolute necessity? Probably not and I would probably never take such risk if it was another time but being quarantined for 5 long months while working full time with a 5 year old in tow, our mental health was on the brink of collapsing; so we took a leap of faith and prayed for the best. No matter how careful we were, there were times when we were around heavy crowds when I questioned the functionality of masks.
So I wanted to mention some mistakes that we made and hope you guys can avoid that.
- Do not travel to a busy tourist destinations like Niagara Falls unless it’s during a off peak week. Rather choose camping or staying in cottages in the nature away from any crowds or simply choose a non-touristy spot and rent a small apartment for your own family only.
- Do not stay in a hotel and choose an individual apartment if it’s possible.
- Avoid going out when there’s a heavy crowd because let’s be honest adhering to the proper rules for wearing a mask is impossible when there’s 90 degrees out. There were times when I had my mask hanging from my ear (or below my chin) and I touched it with my dirty hands multiple times and put the same mask back on. Only God knows how effective the mask was.
As we are home safe now, we will be quarantined for the next 14 days before we go out and let’s hope we are healthy and not-infected.
I hope you find this post helpful, don’t forget to let me know if there’s anything else you would add here in the comments section.
Until next time, stay safe!
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a health or travel expert and everything I shared here is completely based on my personal judgement, opinion and experience.
