With all the stay at home orders in place the last few months everyone is itching to get out. But should you travel this summer? Should you get on a plane and visit Europe, California, Florida, or anywhere else.
How about traveling by car? Summer road trip this year? Is this the year to visit National Parks?
Even with the state of the world today. A summer vacation still isn’t out of the question. It may not be your normal vacation to Walt Disney World or 3 weeks traveling Europe. It might not even be a visit to New York City, Philadelphia, or Washington, DC.
Just don’t let this virus keep us down. We just have to be safe and smart about it. The last thing we want to do is spread it more and have the same thing happen again in the fall and winter. I want to take a look at how we can still travel and explore new places this summer. All the while staying safe and having fun in the process.
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Travel By Plane
The Airlines have taken a huge hit recently. People are more afraid of flying today than they were 18 years ago. Today the threat is invisible and with airplanes being a small space. It is hard to make people feel safe even with masks and updated cleaning schedules.
One good thing about the recent issue hitting the globe is that ticket prices are down. Sure some airlines are charging you more so you can make sure the seat next to you is empty. But should you really have to pay a little extra for safety? I don’t think you should. Plus with cancellation policies. It might be a good time to skip flying altogether this year and wait out the storm.
Don’t get me wrong the airports and airlines have stepped up their game. It’s just too early to tell if everything they are doing will work.
If you must fly. Don’t worry about it. The measures they have in place are a start and can only improve. Just it’s not enough if everyone starts to fly again like in the past few years. Kinda sucks when you think about it since oil costs are so low right now. If you’re not going to fly this year but still want to do a little traveling how do you get there?
Travel By Car
This is my preferred way of travel. I have never been a big fan of flying. Not saying I won’t fly just not a big fan of it from a price point. Sure traveling by car takes longer. But you save more money and can see so much more.
Nothing beats the great American Ride trip in my eyes. 2020 would be the perfect year to hope in the car and take that epic road trip. Whether you drive from east to west or north to south. The possibles are endless where you can go. Check out our Maine to Florida road trip post. It is full of 40 different travel destinations that normally have lower crowds.
After all, I think most of us will want to avoid high crowd locations till things get sorted out. Since you will be traveling by car it will be easy to avoid large crowds of people. Just make sure you have some good hand sanitizer with you so you can easily clean your hands while on the road.
Where to go
This might be the biggest question on everyone’s mind. Where do you go this summer? Do you plan on going to the biggest and hottest travel destinations? Or do you stay more locally? This really all depends on your comfort level and how well the said given area is at trying to protect their visitors.
Will they be screening all employees? Will visitors be required to wear a mask? Will employees be wearing masks? Are they going to take temperatures to allow entry?
These are questions many people would like the answer to before they even plan on taking a trip this summer. Sadly we might not find all these answers out till halfway through summer. So what should you do?
I say plan a trip around your local area. I’m lucky enough that I have many great places within a three-hour drive of my home. Many major cities and amazing off the beaten path places and small towns. While I will not be visiting many of the major cities (I’ll get to the reason in a minute) I will be visiting some of the small towns and other attractions.
I feel now is the best time to help out the small towns and smaller attractions. After all, they have been hit the hardest by some of the stay at home orders. Many of these small mom and pop shops are not able to be open. Once they can they will have to bring in customers. If we visit these small towns and attractions we can help them survive and hopefully thrive.
Small towns like Bay Harbor, Maine, New Hope, PA, Gettysburg, PA, Steamboat Springs, CO, Williamsburg, VA, Hilton Head, SC, Cape May, NJ, and many, many more. These places are made up of many small shops. This is where we can make the biggest impact on helping to get America back on their feet. I plan on spending a part of my summer visiting some of these small towns and giving back to the local communities there.
Visiting the many National Parks is another great way to travel this summer. Many if not all are open. Sure the restrooms and visitor centers may be closed but you can still enjoy the trails and views they have to offer. Is this the year you pack the car up and hit the road to visit Yellow Stone National Park or see the Great Smokey Mountains? It sure is. There are 62 national parks in the US. Over half of them are located west of the Mississippi River.
Getting out and enjoy the country would be a great summer vacation. One that you and your family will remember for years to come. Sure maybe hitting up the local theme park or major tourist destination isn’t the greatest idea this summer. However, you can still have a great time and get out of the house by visiting the small towns of America and National Parks.
Visiting Major Destinations
Should you visit some of the hot spots in the US this summer? Places like Walt Disney World, Disneyland, New York City, Las Vegas, LA, Washington, DC, and many other major cities and tourist destinations. I would have to say no. Unless you live about an hour away.
Major hubs like those listed above have millions of people in their local area that can visit and help support them. Plus if you are worried about crowds those would be the last places you would want to visit. We can already see how crazy people can get with what is going on. Some people don’t want to ever wear a mask. Some people don’t want to keep their distance from others. The more people you have in one area the more likely you will encounter those people.
Besides, one of the goals we should have as a country is getting ourselves back to normal and helping each other out. If all the people from small towns go to the big cities. Who’s going to help the small cities?
If you live close to a major city than you should go and support your city. Remember to buy from a small shop instead of a big box store when possible. Eat at a local deli or cafe instead of the chain restaurant. You will find hundreds of places like that in the major cities around the country. Some of the best food I have ever eaten was in little shops in New York City and Philadelphia. Heck even the food trucks in DC are better than some of the big chain restaurants.
Things will all blow over sooner or later. We shouldn’t let this stop us from doing a little traveling this summer. Even if it was not what we originally planned on doing. You never know this might turn out to be the best summer vacation you ever had.
Did the current state of the world change your summer plans? Are you still planning on going somewhere this summer? Let us know in the comments below.
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Kozmo Photos 
Great post 😁
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Thanks
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