Travel in the time of Covid
Originally published on my fb page in Sept 2021.
Photo credit: Zarna Joshi
I went on a road trip this year. I hoped that pandemic conditions might be somewhat improved by the time I traveled but that didn’t happen and isn’t likely to happen for some time. So here is the strict covid protocol I followed. It might be helpful to you.
It was a road trip with almost exclusive car camping. I took the backseats out of my car to set up my bed alongside my luggage and food. I decided from the beginning that I would treat the front seat as covid contaminated while the back was to be kept clean. To keep this a reality, every night I would take off all my clothes and sanitize myself fully before I even touched my bed or put on any pajamas.
I kept a spray of 70% isopropyl alcohol handy at all times that I used to sanitize my hands, my body, my handbag, my bank card every time I used it, my phone, the steering wheel, the gear stick, the door handle, the seatbelt, the radio, the A/C, etc. I packed multiple cloth masks (all with 3 layers each including a medical filter) and wore a mask every day when I exited my car. I also thoroughly sanitized my mask with the alcohol spray, inside and out, every time I took it off, including the elastic strings. I also had a couple of N95 masks for when there was a lot of wildfire smoke, which was eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, Utah, Idaho. The Park Ranger in Southern Idaho said that the smoke there was coming all the way from California. The smoke cleared up a bit in New Mexico and Colorado at least to the extent that I could see blue skies above me.
I packed my clothes carefully, with a complete set of clothing for each day including underwear and socks in its own individual plastic case (I save plastic bags and packaging from online orders and shopping and thus had it available for this use). I did this so that just in case for any reason I put a contaminated hand into my luggage bag, all of the clothes wouldn't be contaminated and I could just spray the cases with 70% isopropyl alcohol to fix the situation. This meant that I could dress every day with zero stress.
When I ordered food, I'd go into the restaurant to order, then wait in my car. I'd collect my food and then sanitize the outside of the container and my hands/mask etc, before eating. I usually ate in my car unless I could find a place with no people, and used utensils I kept with me that I sanitized before use each time and cleaned after use before storing in their own container.
I kept metal and glass water bottles that I filled every time I stopped to rest. I sanitized the outside of the bottles every time I brought them back to the car and before drinking.
Anything I bought, I sanitized before allowing it into my car and especially before allowing it into the backseat where my bed was.
I kept a black bag in the back corner of the car that I put all dirty clothes and masks in to keep them away from my clean luggage. Made it easier to do laundry too when I got home.
I used my bank card instead of cash because cash might be contaminated whereas a card can be easily sanitized with alcohol spray and dried quickly. I put all receipts in exactly the same pocket of my handbag so they weren't loose and contaminating everything.
I kept hand sanitizer in every corner of the car and in my handbag, just to be safe. I also kept bleach wipes to periodically clean the front seat of my car more thoroughly than just spraying it with alcohol, just in case.
When I sanitized myself, I obviously wasn't able to find a shower every day so I used 70% isopropyl alcohol spray, then gave myself a sponge bath with water to wipe it off. I kept cloths and bottles of water purely for sponge bath purposes. I was squeaky clean every day. And before putting on my pajamas, I moisturized to ensure the alcohol spray didn't make my skin too dry.
I had a camera that I kept in my handbag and only took out when I was outside my car. I sanitized the handbag every time I got back to the car but kept the camera inside it so I didn't have to sanitize it too much.
I took only one pair of shoes and always left them in exactly the same corner of the car every night so they didn't contaminate anything. I always sanitized and washed my feet every night before bed.
When I left my car, I always pinned my hair up and wore a hat over it so that I could wear it loose at night in bed without worrying about contamination. I sanitized my hat with the alcohol spray every time I took it off.
I wore sunglasses while driving and periodically sanitized them every day.
I didn't talk to anyone I didn't have to, only got relatively close to humans when I was ordering food in a restaurant or getting gas or asking a park ranger how close the wildfires were, or if someone obnoxiously walked close to me in a national park for no reason. But I managed to avoid any real close contact for any prolonged period of time which I considered to be about a minute.
The only time I didn't sleep in my car was when I spent 2 nights sleeping in an Earthship.
My protocol for this was no contact entry (which the Earthship community already organized), and when I got there I went inside with my mask on and alcohol spray and sanitized everything including doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, bedcovers, tables, light switches, chairs, remote controls, coffee maker - when I say everything, I mean literally everything. Then I brought in my luggage and food which I also sanitized to be safe. Then I took off all my outside clothes and put them in a covid contaminated bag and took a shower and washed my hair. After my shower, I was safe and could sleep and eat without worrying about anything.
With all this sanitizing and pandemic protocol, you might be wondering when I had time for fun. But I had a lot of fun. The protocol was pretty much second nature at this point so I just did it by rote and concentrated on the other stuff I was doing.
Photo credit: Zarna Joshi