Many more people are staying closer to home and doing road trips this summer, rather than flying anywhere. Case in point, Joe and I will soon be going on our first real vacation since February. We’re not comfortable flying at this time so we’re road-tripping to a secluded place about 8 hours from home.
Road trips usually require some stop-offs to get gas, food and to visit restrooms. However, all 3 during the age of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus put you at more risk. Here’s how to decrease some of those risks.
Gasoline
If you own a car, chances are you’ve already bought gas since COVID-19 hit the U.S.. As long as you wash your hands thoroughly after touching everything, you should be fine. Personally, I use a paper towel, plastic or even a glove on my hand when I put gas in my car (just so there are fewer potential coronacooties on my hands anyway). When I’m done, I throw out whatever I was using as a barrier between me and the pump, and then wash my hands.
To avoid interaction with people, pay at the pump if you can – watch out for skimmers.
Food
Since we’ll only be driving for 1 day in each direction, Joe and I plan to bring a lot of our own food. But if you’re driving for a few days, that might not be realistic.
I wouldn’t recommend eating inside a restaurant at this time. Not indoors, anyway. If you get an outside table that’s socially distanced, that’s safer than eating inside. Or if the restaurant has lots of open windows and good cross ventilation. Otherwise, drive-through windows are safer. You can also use many restaurants’ app to order ahead of time for pickup.
To save yourself time, you’ll need to know what restaurants are coming up in your travels. This post can tell you several ways to find out.
Rest Rooms
Restrooms are tricky because they’re relatively small indoor spaces and tend to have little ventilation. I’d also be concerned that people wearing masks take them off while in the rest room (I’ve seen it at Disney and Universal more times than I care to think).
I’d suggest not using the rest rooms at highway rest stops or at restaurants, simply because EVERYONE uses them. Instead, get off the highway and stop at a supermarket, pharmacy or even a department store (if it’s open) – places that have restrooms that are open to the public but don’t get nearly as much foot traffic.
While in the restroom, keep your mask on (although we wear masks mainly to protect others from whatever coronacooties we may have and not [yet] know about, evidence is starting to show that masks may also protect us, to an extent, from getting the virus, or from it being as severe). If anyone else is in there, use the stall or urinal as far away from them as possible. When washing your hands, use a paper towel to shut off the water after you’ve dried your hands (or use one paper towel to shut the water and a different one for hand drying) and to hold the door handle to pull the door open when you leave.
Finally, get out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. Don’t hang around to fix your hair or pick stuff out of your teeth. If there is aerosolized (“floating around the air”) COVID-19 in the room, the longer you spend in there, the better your chance of breathing it in.
Safe traveling!
Feature Photo: pixabay.com
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
