I never would have guessed when I started a blog called Frequent Flyer Styles that a year would pass without going near an airport or touching my passport. More and more every day, however, that is exactly my expectation. My last flight was coming home from New York in mid-March 2020. That week, I transitioned to work from home and started self-quarantining. Other than moving to DC and driving to see our families while we were still in Florida, we haven’t traveled at all since March.

What to consider

Choosing if/when/how to travel right now is a personal choice that has public implications, and there are a lot of factors one should consider. As health professionals (scroll to the bottom for my credentials), my husband and I are particularly cognizant of the risks and have been extra (some might say extremely) cautious. But six months into this pandemic, the itch to travel is hard to ignore and I’m seeing more and more people taking trips for leisure. Here are some things I recommend considering before booking domestic travel in the US:

• The positivity rate where you live. If it is higher than 10%, that means your area probably doesn’t have sufficient testing and contact tracing to identify all positive cases. Unless you and your travel companion(s) get tested and receive a negative result right before you leave, you could be an asymptomatic carrier. Leaving your city, especially for an area with a low infection rate means you could be the reason a community gets sick.
• The positivity rate where you are going. Same thing as above. Coming home from a higher-risk area, you could unintentionally bring the virus home with you and increase incidence of COVID in your family or community.
• The infection control policies where you are going. On our drive from Florida to DC, we noticed a big difference between Virginia and DC compared to Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas (where rates have been higher) as far as mask compliance, indoor dining, and social distancing. Look up what rules your destination has in place to keep you and their residents safe.
• How far away is your destination? Far flung destinations mean more stops, maybe even overnight, which increase your risk for transmission. I won’t go into detail here, but google ‘fecal cloud COVID‘ for why you may want to avoid public restrooms right now (or forever).
• How are you getting there? For me personally, air travel is off the table. The number of common touch surfaces (aka fomites), closed air circulation, shared restrooms, passengers being non-compliant about masks, and the volume of people from different locations is a recipe for transmission with limited ability to trace. If you absolutely have to fly, look for direct flights. Driving is the safest option.
• Where are you staying? Hotels are higher risk because of shared spaces like elevators and narrow hallways, the volume and turnover of travelers, and number of staff. I would look for a stand-alone AirBnB where the host has indicated “Enhanced Cleaning” in the listing.
• What’s the cancellation policy? Worst case scenario, you or a travel companion start feeling sick prior to your trip or even test positive for COVID. Unfortunately, the only safe thing to do is call the trip off and self-quarantine, so you want to be sure your reservations include a very flexible cancellation policy or you have trip insurance.

I have really appreciated this handy infographic developed by a group of experts to explain the different levels of risk. It’s available to share and so far has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Turkish.

Ideas for socially distanced travel

• Road trip in an RV with its own bathroom to visit some wide open spaces. I am loving Helene In Between‘s epic RV adventure.
• Drive to a campsite or cabin with your household or the small group you have been exclusively socializing with. Can someone say s’mores? Check out the retro A-Frame cabin The Doctorette stayed at recently in North Carolina.
• Live near the water? Rent a beach/lake house or go camping at a less popular stretch of beach with your household or a small group whose social distancing practices you’re aware of and are comfortable with.

And of course pack the essentials – masks, and hand sanitizer for when you can’t readily wash your hands. When driving, I bring plastic grocery bags to use as barriers when pumping gas and then throw them away at the pump.

What we decided

Hitting six-months of ‘new normal’, we considered how to navigate doing what we love – traveling – while keeping ourselves and those around us safe. After discussing some options, we finally decided we were comfortable taking a weekend trip in the DMV area to nearby Annapolis, MD. We were looking for a destination under three hours away so we could drive there with no stops. DC has a list of high-risk states that residents are required to quarantine for two weeks upon returning from, so any of those were eliminated from consideration (Maryland and Virginia are exempt). Maryland’s positivity rate as of mid-September was 3.5%, about half that of Virginia and close to DC’s rate of 2.1%.

Once we settled on Annapolis, we looked for AirBnB options with enhanced cleaning and no interaction with the host. We ended up booking a studio apartment above a detached garage with a key pad to enter. Last but not least, we made sure there was a flexible cancellation policy in case our plans had to change.

Even taking all of these precautions, we are still accepting some degree of risk visiting a city we otherwise wouldn’t be in. I would say that is the final thing to consider, that there is almost no choice other than staying home that is guaranteed to be risk-free. But everyone can do the research and make a choice they feel is both safe, enjoyable, and responsible.

My credentials: I earned my Master of Public Health from the University of Florida and am Certified in Public Health, INCLUSIVE of EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS, by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. I completed my Graduate Practicum at one of five CDC-Funded National Tuberculosis Centers, which focus on Control of TB, A Respiratory illness.

I am not a Physician, virologist, or infectious disease epidemiologist. If you are immune-compromised or otherwise vulnerable, you should check with your healthcare provider before traveling.