You will be shocked at how many people are going on vacation. On YOUR same vacation. The mountain towns are packed. Hiking trails are packed (often no parking at trail heads after 8 am). Restaurants have so much business they are turning people away, in part because they can’t hire enough help because workers are making more on unemployment with the extra $600.
My brother lives and works in Steamboat (and is working much more than normal as he builds luxury homes and the rich are still rich and all want new homes) and said the town is so crowded he can’t even go to the grocery store on weekends. People AREN’T going OOS on vacation, so everyone from the front range flocks to the mountains every weekend. Federal parks have limited access, so there are fewer places for (more) people to squeeze in.
In Colorado, you have state regulations but need to watch the local ones too. Denver is still full of restrictions including masks required in any building. Yes, you have to wear a mask in the airport (city facility) but masks aren’t required by the state so you’ll see many fewer masks in the mountain towns. Vail is the first to ask for any health department exceptions - opening bars and restaurants, allowing 250 people to congregate, opening the lifts and slopeside activities like ropes courses and trampolines. Vail has been the first to ask every time.
I don’t need to see my son or my mom, I see them plenty on FaceTime/Zoom. I talk to my mom almost every day. This is no different than pre-Covid. I talk to my kid more now than ever- at least once a week, sometimes even twice a week. We all text constantly, too.
Visiting in person would be a want. During a pandemic wants must take a backseat to needs.
My only need right now is to get groceries and I don’t even go into the markets to that.
I’m sure at all those family get togethers people believed they were being safe. Until they got sick. Then it’s, “I didn’t think, blah, blah, blah.”
Even on this board people have said, my so and so said they were SAH, but they saw SIL, & BIL, went to a restaurant to eat, etc., etc., etc.
On one hand, I’d love to go on vacation. But I know I’d be too nervous to enjoy it. My heart was beating fast eating with the in-laws yesterday. Were we infecting them, them us? Logically, I know it’s unlikely and I’m being silly. But combined with the fact that we like to go places and do things, and those places are probably crowded. I don’t think I’d enjoy it like I should.
And I admit I am enjoying seeing $$$ in the bank. For the first time in forever, we are able to save $$$, so I hope to stay in this mode for awhile, especially with the uncertainty of H’s job as a teacher next year. They added a clause where they could close schools and cancel their contract in case of a pandemic.
We are moving older S to a new city 5 hours away this week. That will require an overnight in a hotel and will be our excursion this summer. I will see how that goes and Maybe we can visit later this summer or fall and do things outdoors.
I think there is quite a range in how drastically someone’s life changed due to the pandemic and stay at home orders. Mine changed dramatically. There are also varying degrees of adaptability. I believe I’ve been quite adaptable as far as work- which is saying something since the nature of my job completely pivoted with the need to handle pandemic issues (along with all the normal stuff)- all from my house. I’m much less adaptable as far as being OK without face to face interaction with co-workers, friends and people who I saw on my business trips all over the country. It all stopped on a dime on March 13. I fully understand the risks of travel. I have no grandkids and no elderly relatives. The people I would be likely to infect is a low number- biggest risk would be my husband who is very healthy and fit but 75 years old. We are completely on the same page as far as what risks we are willing to take. At this point I would rather get the virus than give up the couple of planned trips (which have been rescheduled…). Mental health is a factor, too.
In my area of middle Tennessee it seems like everyone has gone on vacation- especially those with kids. They all drive to the Florida Panhandle/30A. Judging from my social media, they are all there. It sounds like it is crowded down there with lots of people in the elevators in the high rise condo buildings and lots of people in restaurants and on the beach. The two places we are going will not be like that.
@twoinanddone super helpful. Thanks. We will be in Aspen and I’ve read their restrictions. Looks like people are supposed to wear masks. We will be there over a weekend but also a few days on either side of it so, hopefully, it won’t be super crowded the whole time. Love the grocery store there and, if we just have to buy food there and have picnics outside every day, that’s fine with us! Rafting and horseback riding is allowed. One family per group. We definitely will NOT be eating inside anywhere unless we are in our room.
Good to know about Vail. If I do drive I-70 east, I won’t be stopping there. In Jackson, Wyoming, where I stayed one night last week, and which I use for comparison as a similar place to Vail, I’d say about half of the people on the street were wearing masks. All waitstaff where we ate wore masks and tables were very far spaced. One store we went into had paper face masks free for those who ‘forgot’ theirs and store employees were wearing masks. The local bookstore had contactless, plexiglass service and staff wore masks. I was the only person in the nature photographers gallery. The town’s accommodations all had ‘Vacancy’ signs and the town was noticeably less crowded than other times I’ve been there. Still there were family groups of tourists on the streets not wearing masks.
When planning future trips, the tiny towns will be my stopping points. Fewer people contacts that way.
We normally don’t go in vacation in the summer when schools are out. Our summer travel is limited to a traditional weekend-long trip to HI in July, but that is obviously not happening. If HI figures out their pre-flight testing rules, then we might travel in the fall depending on how busy we will be with our jobs by then. So far, fingers crossed, we are busy.
Vacations around us are mixed. My lad went to an AirBnB within an hour from home for his wedding anniversary. They kayaked and hiked. No shopping, no eating out. Plenty of enjoying themselves just having the place to themselves. H and I are going to a different, but still within an hour, AirBnB in August for our 32nd. We’re undecided yet about meals, but might allow ourselves take out for the Anniversary day itself. Kayaking and hiking will be on the agenda weather permitting.
Neighbors down the road went to Universal and Sea World very recently. They said it was very empty and easy to get on the rides. Time will tell if they caught anything and returned with it, but they’re all young and unlikely to have major complications.
Other neighbors have taken their camper out several times so far, but only during the weekdays and she tells me they never leave their site. Usually they’d use a campsite restroom, but now they aren’t.
No other neighbors have told me about going anywhere or have said they won’t be going anywhere. A couple further down the road I don’t have as much contact with, so have no idea.
One person H was working with on a project took his kids out to the Grand Canyon and perhaps a couple of other national parks. I haven’t heard an update - also haven’t asked.
Local tourist sites have reported a lot more day travelers, but not so many spending the night. They are hoping for more to take “close” vacations because we’re within a gas tank or two of many major cities. I’m curious what will be reported for June’s numbers.
We’re still hoping to get to the Caribbean or HI for a couple of months in early 2021, but have made no reservations because it’s way too uncertain for us at this point. H is still lobbying for a live aboard catamaran instead. A lot more money would be needed for that though.
People have to make their own decisions, but I don’t like it when my friends (former friends?) judge the decisions I make.
Not everyone can afford to have groceries delivered and stay home reading or walking the dogs. Someone has to be the grocery store worker, the Amazon driver, the farmers and toilet paper makers. And some people WANT to do those jobs. I had my hair cut this week. I am grateful the salons are open again and that I could give someone who needs to work my business. Stylist told me she was making more on unemployment than she is working, but she needed to get back to work.
Even my friends who are 100% isolationists (and have food delivered and order whatever else they need) set their own rules for having their children visit (okay, even from OOS and with a girlfriend) and somehow justify other trips out of their homes, mostly to go bird watching. They complain that there are too may people ‘out there’ (yes, just like you are ‘out there’). I can’t afford to stay home 100% of the time and I don’t want to. I wear a mask and wash my hands and actually LIKE the no touching rules, but I can’t stay home all the time. If I had elderly relatives, I’d go see them. My kids visit me. I don’t want to spend years of their lives (or mine) isolating. Zoom and phone calls aren’t good enough for me.
I also don’t believe America was ever shut down. If I was told there was a pandemic and I HAD to stay home, I would but then I’d expect everyone else to live by the same rules. No Starbucks, no ordering groceries, no amazon. It would be like China and Italy were - one person allowed out at a certain time of the day for the grocery and pharmacy run and that’s it. Emergency repairs to homes only, but no need for Home Depot to be selling flowers or Target to be selling t-shirts. Everyone treated the same, rich people or poor, but the country shut down.
We are now taking the 7 hour drive home from NYC where we visited our oldest son and his fiancé. He ‘lost’ most of his second semester at his M7 bschool and enjoyed his graduation wearing his fancy cap and gown in his small-ish Manhattan apartment alone, where his Dean gave a 20 minute streamed speech to the graduates. The selfie he sent in his cap and gown was cute, I guess. He starts his 90-hour a week job in a couple of weeks and we wanted to see him before seeing him became very difficult. His July wedding has also been postponed. His fiancé has worked at home since March. I am a healthy 58 yr old female, and H is an equally healthy 63 year old. We both work at home now and have a s20 who started a summer job a week ago. We live in NE Ohio (kind of in the middle on the compliance scale, I would say). I give this context for all to populate the ‘risk and reward’ algorithm.
My observations on NYC: heavy compliance everywhere we went. At this point, I would say 90% of retail stores are still closed and maybe 20% of restaurants are allowing outside diners (but many are really not serving people, but there are now tables to sit at after ordering food). No mask/no entry signs are ubiquitous and appear to be fully complied with. Hand sanitizer is also everywhere…jugs of it sit at all entrances. People are using elbows to hit elevator buttons and 2-3 max people are allowed in elevators. We could have been the only people at our hotel…we saw or heard no one else the entire four days. (We were pretty far downtown in very lower TriBeCa). My son tells me that virtually all existing workers he knows at his new job left NYC quite a while ago if they could. The number of people on the streets suggest that anyone who could leave, did. I don’t recall seeing a single taxi. Buses were running but looked empty. We love NYC and spent all of our time walking around and marveling at the architecture and such, which is what we normally do. The Brooklyn Bridge is still standing and a joy to walk across.
My son says that his employer asked all new associates to ensure they are now living in NYC as they could be called back in the office on short notice. My son’s apartment window happens to look right at his work building and he said that he has watched the number of offices with lights on increase by a couple every day. It’s a BIG building and there is a long way to go before all of the lights are on…but they are in that road.
All in all, New Yorkers (at least downstate) appear to be pretty darn vigilant. Now that I have seen that I think I will be even more nervous in NE Ohio where the masses are not trying nearly as hard. No one in NYC, according to son, doesn’t know someone who died. Most have had a death in their building. I guess that sort of thing is pretty motivating.
The most interesting thing to me was the access to testing. There are multiple locations (Eg Urgent Care), and the info is freely available. My son got a virus and antibody tests in 30 minutes. Results in two days. Covered by insurance by law. (Both negative, FYI).
So will be interesting to watch the numbers as they slowly open up. Simply because limiting elevators to 3 people at a time will require LOTS of people to still work at home for quite a while, it will not be ‘normal’ in NYC in terms of workforce size, so it should never get to the rapid spread it saw in Feb and March. I am sure my son will be reporting in regularly.
The only place we will go this year is to our vacation home. I cancelled plans for a trip to Croatia with my H and kids. Americans aren’t allowed in the country.
Our vacation home is in our state and is 105 miles and a ferry trip from our permanent residence. We haven’t been there since last December, but my oldest daughter and son-in-law stayed there during quarantine and worked from there. They drove to the ferry and once they got to our house, they quarantined for 2 weeks. (Brought their own food and later had food deliveries). They drove back home 10 days ago to Indianapolis.
I am a little nervous about the ferry because the car will go on standby and we will have to sit in the passenger section. Masks are required and there will be fewer passengers to allow for social distancing. I am excited about getting the chance to go to the beach and bike paths. It isn’t hard to get away from crowds and all summer activities (Fourth of July, festivals, Pops concert, etc) are cancelled.
^that reminds me. If you want an empty place to visit. Williamsburg after Busch gardens season. I had a conference there and I signed up too late for the conference hotel. I stayed in one (holiday inn express or equivalent) right outside the park. I was the only person there I think. It was eerie. Empty parking lot. Empty halls. Empty breakfast room. Maybe that’s a thought for us (H and I) this fall…
We are having our house fumigated (dang termites) and will be staying overnight at a hotel in Waikiki. We believe it will be pretty safe and are looking forward to spending time in a quieter, less crowded Waikiki. The hotel says our staying there one night allows them to give a room to a 1st responder for a night, plus they have deeply discounted rates.
We rarely spend time in Waikiki so are looking forward to it.
I can’t physically handle more than an hour of mask-wearing at a time due to breathing limitations, so flights (the major way to leave our island) are pretty out of the question for the near future. Flying to anywhere other than neighbor islands takes a minimum of 4-5 hours, plus TSA etc.
I feel very fortunate to have my kids sheltering with H & me and my mom with us two days/week. We are all being as careful as we can but not 100% locked down by any means.
I think all of us must just do our best and be KIND to one another. I’m sure many are agonizing about whether or not to visit vulnerable loved ones and that’s such a tough decision. For many, electronically keeping in touch is nothing like being in person. It really doesn’t work for my mom at all.
I am still very wary of our scheduled trip in a month. It has to many risk factors and not enough to benefits, short of being able to see the family close up (though socially distanced and masked) rather than on facetime and unmasked. Since numbers both where we live and where we are going are rising, the airlines keeps monkeying around with our return flight and there won’t be much for us to do, we are having family discussions as to what to do. I’ve already suggested that if we go, that we shorten the trip to just a few days, but in truth I’d rather just cancel for now. Would love to see the family, but this is just dumb, IMO. Why deal with a cross country flight, 2 big airports, a rental car, lodging who knows where, and not much to do… Sure we can take walks/hikes. But its a long wait ot go to do that.
My S, DIL, and GS just left to return to NYC after spending 2 weeks with us here in Texas. They felt safe to travel after testing positive for antibodies. They were all sick back in March when testing wasn’t available. After the first week, things really took a turn for the worse here and now they will be required (for the second time!) to quarantine for 14 days because they are returning from Texas. They are pretty disappointed as they had plans to send the GS back to daycare so my S could do scheduled teacher training while my DIL worked and studied. They’ve had a long hard lockdown in NYC. My S teaches at a high school in the Bronx and attended the graduation from our guest bedroom (I think he was wearing pants).
It’s too bad they have to quarantine again now. I can see why they (and you) felt comfortable having them visit since they’d been sick in March and tested positive for antibodies. It would be so helpful if we could get to a point where antibody tests are deemed reliable.
@jym626 I’m in the same position as you are, weighing the risks and benefits for family visit next month. I would definitely do it if we could drive…but as you mention, the airlines keep changing flights around on top of all the other issues. It is starting to feel more and more like it’s not worth it to me.
But then later on, I’ll go back to thinking about whether we should do it because something else might happen to prevent our going next year (older generation will be older, spouse has chronic illness) and then I’d be sorry. If I could just magically arrive there, I would put up with the mask-wearing and social distancing as well as the lack of restaurants and events, and just spend quiet time happily with the family.
@orangepurple - Completely get it— I want to see them, I want to BE there, I just don’t want to go through what it takes to GET there. We can’t drive across country.
DH is having surgery in August, a few weeks after we would be returning. He wants to see them before the surgery, but (OK this is TMI so skip the next part if you don’t want to see)- he will be using restrooms frequently which has its own set of concerns.
How/when will you decide? For us, if we get sick, the kids will feel terrible; If any of them get sick, we will feel terrible. I am in the “old geezer” category (D is several years younger so is only in the “mildly old geezer/risk” category. I don’t have other risk factors (though I am not in as good shape since the gym closed) but still… would rather not get sick or risk getting anyone else sick. So I continue to waffle on the plans…
@“Youdon’tsay” I can’t post in the other thread since I’m moderating it. I wanted to mention that the length of trip you’re considering is almost identical to the one I took from Maine to West Virginia to pick up our puppy two years ago. I loved it! I listened to audiobooks and enjoyed the solitude. Of course, driving back with a puppy was a little challenging! I picked up DD in Philadelphia, halfway back, so at least she helped me the rest of the way home. Anyway, I wouldn’t hesitate to drive instead of fly. If Wisconsin were closer than it is, we would drive but it would be a 22-hour drive each way.
We are planning next year vacation, fingers crossed next summer will be somewhat normal…if all is well we will go to Japan, will watch a few Olympic events, go to Tokyo Disney Sea and Disney world, the ancient city Kyoto, mountain Fuji and many more. DH’s boss said he could get tickets to soccer matches and any event we want to see. He is the CEO of one of the major sponsors of the Olympic so he pretty much could get us any thing. Really hard to decline the offer.