How to Take a Pandemic Beach Trip

Each July, I pack up my car and my kids and we set out for Rhode Island, my home state.  It’s a long day in the car but we make it work and it is all worth it when we pull into the driveway of our rental and take in the salty air.  Aaaah…

In April of this year, I started to worry about my beach rental deposit.  The pandemic wasn’t winding down.  Traveling between states wasn’t OK. Would our trip even happen in 2020 or would it be another thing scrapped like so many other activities?

Turns out YOU CAN take a pandemic beach trip here’s how we did it.

Pandemic Pre-Trip Prep Work

Before we left I did a ton of research about what the state we were traveling through expected of any visitors.  So far we were in the clear and not expected to quarantine upon arrival.  I talked to the rental property owner many times in the weeks prior to our trip asking for tips, advice, and what-if situations.  The trip was a go! Now it was onto supplies for the car trip and our stay.

Pandemic supplies and road trips require new rules.  My post on Social Moms gives you lots of advice on how to have a safe trip. 

First, I ordered up additional masks and gloves (I’m immunocompromised) for the kids and myself.  Then I bought us each a small bottle of hand sanitizer to keep in our own car door.  Every time we used a rest stop or stopped for gas we used this.  We continued to use the spray all week long before getting into the car.

We like these Old Navy Masks because they are soft, wear well, are breathable, and wash easily. Anchored Heart is another company we like to buy face masks from and they are a Rhode Island company too. 

In the Car

We decided to reduce our travel time by leaving early in the morning and packing our own food and drinks.  This way we reduced not just our drive time but our exposure too. It not only saved time, created peace of mind, but saved us money too.  No more giant bags of chips from the rest stop store for $9.  No additional candy or soda. We packed all of it and kept it located in consoles, side pockets, and a soft cooler in between the seats.

On the Way

I packed non-perishable groceries in the car for our week at the beach.  It took up more space than I would like but I wasn’t sure about the beach grocery store. It’s typically congested on the easiest day full of entire families picking out their beach week food.  It’s definitely not a social distancing possibility.  In non-pandemic years it is stressful, to say the least.

On our drive had my teen create an Instacart order (you can also do this in advance) and our perishable items were delivered a few hours after our arrival to the rental.

Our last stop which is was only our second one was for gas and bathroom.  It was in a seaport town in Connecticut.  I looked around the nearby area and found a large cemetery and convinced my kids it was NOT weird to throw down our beach blanket and eat our lunch there. And it wasn’t.  It was quiet, on the water, and a great way to relax before the last stretch of our drive on our way to our pandemic beach trip.

Upon Arrival at the Beach House for Your Pandemic Beach Trip

Since we can’t fully know the germ situation in the house before your arrival you can put your mind at ease by doing the following things.

1. Pack your own sheets, blankets, and pillows, if you have space.
2. Bring your own towels for the shower and beach.
3. Wipe down all surfaces with disinfectant before settling into the house.  You can use wipes or spray and disinfect all the doorknobs, handles, light switch plates, etc.

Finally

Relax.  Wear your mask when out in public, follow the rules your vacationing state has in effect, be kind to those around you (we’re all a bit on edge right now and tired.), and take in the gorgeous scenery around you.  It is still a vacation after all even if it is an out of the ordinary pandemic beach trip.