Road-tripping During Covid — Exploring-Newlands

Why travel now?

Perhaps, like us, you’ve found yourselves in an extremely rare and flexible position to homeschool, virtual school and/or work from anywhere. Never before have we had the opportunity to just pack up and go for an extended period of time - and in the ‘off’ season when locations aren’t as crowded! Obviously we all wish that we had never heard of Covid, but this flexibility has been a silver lining for our family.

Is It Safe?

***The Covid numbers change daily in the United States, so please use the most up-to-date data to determine this for your family.***

My short answer is that it depends on the trip you plan. Are their precautions you can take to make it Covid-safe? Absolutely. In fact, in some ways it felt safer than being at home. Hear me out… when we are at home we are surrounded by a large group of friends and family who we -under normal circumstances - spend a lot of time with. Among this group of people there are varying levels of caution with which they approach Covid, and sometimes that becomes a challenge to navigate. However, out in the middle of a state where we know no one…well, that just made social distancing a whole lot easier.

Will you need to go to a gas station? Yes, but you’re probably doing that already where you live.

Will you need to go grocery shopping? Yes, but again, you mask up, load up on groceries and you’re good to go for the week. Or, see if Shipt or Door Dash will deliver to your rental!

Our rental in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (drone shot)

Before you get too far into planning your trip… check out the current Covid numbers in your destination state and see if you’re heading into a “hot spot.” Some states (like New York) have so many restrictions for travelers that it’s probably best to steer clear. While city travel can potentially still be done safely at this time, you may want to wait a year and really experience that city fully and just avoid the added risk. You can get the latest data by county across the United States on this Johns Hopkins map .

This Was Our Plan:

Minimal stops enroute
Stay at Airbnb or VRBO rental property
Cook most meals at the rental (make sure you have a good kitchen!)
Visit restaurants with outdoor seating or take out
Plan travel around less-populated areas with the focus on being out in nature

Raccoon Mountain Caverns in Chattanooga, TN

If you’re not sure about the mask-wearing culture of an area, make a few phone calls to your points of interest and ask about their current policy. I called a cave tour in Tennessee to ask if masks were required and got a proud, “No ma’am!” We immediately took that place off our list.

Later, while passing through TN again, we found a cave tour that required masks and significantly limited the number of people allowed in at a time. We were the only ones on the tour, everyone wore a mask the whole time, and it was a safe and fun experience.

In Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge Tennessee we rarely saw a mask as crowds of people were lined up for attractions. In Charleston, South Carolina the streets were nowhere near as crowded and about 75% of people on the street were masked, and all were masked in stores.

The bottom line is, pick an accommodation that is away from a congested area. Then you have a safe home base and can determine what surrounding sites you’re comfortable visiting.

The Cost?

Obviously there is a lot of flexibility on how much or how little you can spend. Accommodations are going to be your biggest expense.

This is what we look for:

clean, comfortable accommodations that we can easily homeschool and work in (ideally, a separate room where my husband can set up his office and not be interrupted)
a yard that our boys can run around and play in
a decent proximity to stuff we want to see and do

View from the porch of our Wadmalaw Island rental

You can save a ton of money by finding a rental outside of a major city. Because we would be on the road for three weeks, we knew we wouldn’t be playing tourist every day. We needed a house that would be functional for a long-term stay and our daily routine. And, fortunately, if you’re not right in the center of a city, you’re going to get a deal. We rented this gorgeous, historical house 35 minutes outside of Charleston, SC for $167 a night through Airbnb.

**If you’re new to Airbnb, click here to get $65 off your first booking!

Using Airbnb’s search filters you can choose an area, maximum cost, number of bedrooms, as well as limit your search to hosts who have a flexible cancellation policy. With all the uncertainty surrounding this virus (including states’ policies on visiting) we only looked at homes that had a great cancellation policy. A hotel would give you even more flexibility with easy last minute cancellations, but we wanted to avoid shared spaces.

My new “backyard” to explore. That’s me in the kayak about a five minute paddle from our dock.

If we don’t find what we want on Airbnb (we’re pretty loyal), then we search the same geographical area on VRBO. We found this place near Darien, Georgia for about $225 a night. Not super cheap for a week-long stay, but a lot more bang for your buck than a hotel room. And if you’re willing to sacrifice water frontage, you can drop the cost even more.

Read Reviews!

Because we are doing long-term stays, we aren’t willing to risk an accommodation being sketchy. I rely heavily on the reviews others leave and we only look at places that have 4.8 stars and above. If you’re going to be cooking in that kitchen for a week or two, you want to make sure it feels CLEAN!

In addition to the cost of accommodations, factor in the following:

Gas: It’s cheaper in the south!
Food: if you’re doing the cooking, this may come out even to what you normally spend at home. If you’re planning to eat out or do take out, then pad the food budget.
Excursions: If we splurge, it’s here. If you’re beaching it or hiking the majority of the time, you can keep this cost low.
Unplanned expenses: About 100 miles into our trip a rock hit our windshield. We kept driving to our destination, but when we did have it fixed it was a few hundred dollars. Make sure that you don’t stretch your budget so tightly that you can’t afford the unexpected.

Would you do it again?

100% YES!!! In fact, we are already trying to figure out where and when we can get back on the road.

Are you feeling inspired to hit the road?!

This is the big question you should ask yourself before you book: What do I hope to get out of this trip?

Are you looking for warm weather? Do you just need a change of scenery? Are you checking something off your bucket list?

Our fall trip was a strategic move to make summer last as long as possible and we succeeded in finding mostly sunshine in the mid 70s and low 80s. In the middle of winter (in the U.S.) if you’re not heading straight to the southern tip of Florida, you probably aren’t going to be guaranteed swimming weather. Is weather in the 50s going to scratch your itch? Should you just embrace the cold, but go somewhere that really knows how to do cold?

It felt like we had Congaree National Park to ourselves! (End of October 2020)

Here are some fun trip ideas:

Nature Trip - find a new National Park to visit during the “low season”

Morris Island (off the coast of Charleston, SC) in October.

RV trip - ride around with everything you need and go where the wind blows you!
‘WOW’ house - just do an Airbnb search in random areas and book the coolest house you can find! An indoor pool? A treehouse stay? Nothing like a quarantine to cultivate some house envy. Go find that dream house and give it a test run!
Beach Vacation - Check along the coast for a rental that is walkable or a short drive to a lesser known beach. Depending on the time of year, check the coast of South Carolina or Georgia, or if you want to guarantee warmer weather, head further to southern Florida.

Lake House - do an Airbnb search in Texas or Georgia and choose “waterfront” as a filter option and see what lake homes pop up.

How long is long enough?

This will partially depend on how far you’re driving. If you’re heading over 10 hours away, I recommend a 1 ½ - 2 week trip minimum. If this is your first time giving remote living/working a try, I probably wouldn’t plan for over three weeks. This three-week jaunt was a good trial run for us to see just how living, schooling and work on the road would go. AND, to figure out how well we packed. And speaking of packing…

Packing

My new official rule is: always bring a sweatshirt. No matter how warm it’s supposed to be, there is ALWAYS a moment when I want my sweatshirt. Whether it’s a chilly night, or crazy cold air conditioning, or I swam in freezing water and now I can’t get warm again - just always bring a sweatshirt.

THIS does not say ‘vacation.’ Nor is it where you want to be during a pandemic.

Sweatshirt aside, only look for places that have a washer and dryer.

Important items in addition to the regular stuff:

Small folding table -then you can put a home office anywhere!
Cutting board (in case you do get a scuzzy kitchen)
Stain remover -in case laundry sits for a while before you can get to it.
Medicine - if you’re new to an area, you don’t want to have to find a drugstore in the middle of the night. Bring the Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Cortisone Cream, etc. with you. In fact, just have a first aid kit in your car ready to go.
Car Entertainment - the tech, the Lego bins, the box of schoolwork somewhere easily accessible to pass the hours

**Pro tip: if you are breaking up the drive with an overnight stay at a hotel, pack ONE overnight bag for your whole family. You DO NOT want to lug in every suitcase you brought for one night.

Leaving Logistics:
Amazingly, leaving our house for three weeks took very little planning and effort. We turned off the water and lowered the heat and checked off this list:

Stop the mail
Organize Pet Care (Or take them with you! Often you can filter “pet friendly” properties).
Coordinate lawn care/snow removal (depending on the season)
Have your neighbors keep an eye on the place

If you’re interested in taking a similar trip to ours, stay tuned for more specific posts on the following locations:

Tennessee
South Carolina
Georgia

I’d love to hear about your experiences with travel during Covid! Or, if you have a question about something I didn’t cover, ask away! Leave me a note in the comments and let’s help each other explore in a safe, informed way.