Travel safety precaution with the new normal

Life has changed a lot since the year 2020. So has travel and socialisation. While human race is known to tackle and win against all adversaries, the impacts do leave our ways of life altered. In short, let me put it this way – travel is never going to be the same. However, it’s unavoidable for many of us for various reasons. So, I thought to pen down the travel safety precautions with the new normal that myself and my family have been personally following ever since we started traveling again.

PS: The opinion expressed in this post are solely my own. And the travel safety precautions are totally what me and my family are taking. The intent of this post, in no way, is to assert that these precautions eliminate the risk associated with travel as of today.

With that let me get started. Ever since our last beautiful road trip to Gandikota & Belum Caves in March 2020, we were left craving for more travel. But all we did was wait and watch. After 10 complete months, we felt a bit confident to venture out. But only for a half day trip. And then slowly, we planned more such day outings with our family. Are we scared? Yes, at times. Why are we traveling  during this time then? Because we need a change, kids need a change of place. Besides, we have done a lot of study and research. And practiced to take the precautions that can minimise (of course, not eliminate) the risk of travel during these times. So, how are we doing it and trying to stay safe at the same time? Let me share some personal tips with you.

Choose the destination wisely : Most important travel safety precaution

As of now, it is of utmost importance to choose the destination wisely. We must not visit very crowded places. So, we have been trying to choose very less known and offbeat destinations. When we started going out again, we visited some pristine lakes and valleys around our home which hardly anyone knows about. As a result, they were mostly devoid of any crowd. Some of these included:

Mariapura Lake and Muninagara

Vatadahosahalli Lake and Gudibande Fort

Chhota Ladakh which lies on way to Kolar

After this we did a one day drive to Horsley Hills from Bangalore. Although we were tempted to stay overnight at Horsley Hills. but, given it was a long weekend. And we expected lot of bookings there. So, we instead decided to do a one day trip and return back home by evening. After this we went to Ooty. But we didn’t visit any of the local attractions like the botanical garden or the Ooty lake. Instead, we booked our stay at a resort 30km from the main town. Not only was it much less crowded but also at an extremely pristine location. And that helped us rejuvenate without worrying about being in the crowd.

So, choose your destination wisely. For now, stick to places which are not over crowded.

Social Distancing : A no brainer travel safety precaution

We are all aware how important is social distancing at the moment. So, how do we maintain it while traveling:

1. We travel in our own vehicle. No train/bus/taxi/air travel for now.
2. Wear our mask at all the social places – in restaurants, hotels, even lawns and gardens of the resort that we stay in.
3. Always maintain a safe distance and wear our mask when interacting with the staff – at the reception, in the restaurant, when they come to our room etc. as well as wear our mask.
4. Do not interact with anyone unnecessarily.
5. When in public areas like say the resort lawn, we try to maintain the safe distance from other guests.

Avoid people, just enjoy places for now : An easy travel safety precaution

We all know we need to avoid crowded places, public places, surfaces which are frequently used by many others. And we need to take this same travel safety precaution while on our trips as well. So, what this means for us is:

1. Use our own car and do road trips. So that we don’t have to use any public transport and share the vehicle with strangers.
2. We ditch the regular touristy places for now. And stay in little known places, or, just some place nice for nature and views.
3. Also, we try to do half day or one day trips for the same reason. So that we don’t create much chances of social interactions or close interactions with strangers.
4. In hotels, we try to make online payment, or payment through phone pay kind of medium. And use our cards only if it is absolutely necessary.
5. If at all we use our card anywhere, we immediately sanitise it before putting it back in the wallet.

Sanitise on the go : A basic travel safety precaution

We are carrying not one but many bottles of effective and advance hand sanitisers with us where ever we go. We place these in the car, in the kids bag, baby bag and our handbags. So that they are handy to use where ever we go. Also, we carry sanitiser spray bottles which are effective on both hard and soft surfaces. When we reach a destination, we spray the sanitiser on all possible contact points in the room including the bed sheet, duvet, curtains, window panes, door knobs and handles, keys, key holder, tables, chairs, any desks, cupboards, bathroom vanity surface and all other such possible places, especially those that the kids are likely to touch easily.

Also, with little kids, we can’t stop them from touching different surfaces, including the floor. Actually, my little one just lies on the floor at times while playing 😀 . So, the best we are able to do is sanitise. our as well as their hands regularly. I know it does sound crazy but we are carrying multiple packets of both hand sanitisers and sanitiser spray bottles with us. And we will continue to do so as long as required.

Be self sufficient, prefer self catering

The key to avoid infections is to avoid social interactions. And that includes avoiding to go out in public spaces that tend to be crowded. Including hotel restaurants and other such places. So, to avoid such interactions and visiting such places, we are trying to book self sufficient, self catering properties. Wherein we have the rooms with kitchenette. Or, if possible, the whole villa to ourselves. And we carry or buy our own grocery and cook during our stay there. So, this way, we don’t need to order room service. Or even don’t need to go out to the hotel or restaurant for different meals.

One such property that we booked on our recent trip to Ooty was Accord Highland Hotel on Ooty Kotagiri road. It had a villa with a separate living room that is equipped with a kitchenette. The kitchen has an induction cooktop, a mini bar / refrigerator, a sink to wash the essentials. Although it didn’t have any pots and pans. Similar was our experience at Sterling Elk Hill. When trekking to Nandi Hills, we stayed overnight at a self catering property, fully equipped to cook and clean on our own. If you are interested to book any such properties, follow the link below. If you book through our link, it will generate a small commission for us, without any added cost for you.

Sterling Elk Hill Ooty at booking.com

Sterling Elk Hill Ooty at Agoda.com

Accord Highland Ooty here at booking.com

Accord Highland Ooty here at Agoda.com

 

We will add further properties to this list as we explore other places following the new normal.

Enhance your travel packing list

Although our travel packing checklist was always comprehensive when traveling with our kids and parents. But now, we have gone a step ahead and added some new “regulars”. As a part of travel safety precaution that we are currently taking. Here are some items that we have added in our packing list post pandemic:

1. Sanitiser spray – surface disinfectant that work on both hard surfaces and fabrics.
2. Mini sanitiser bottles.
3. One main sanitiser bottle (also used to refill the mini sanitiser bottles if required).
4. Face mask – cloth based.
5. Face mask – disposable & Disposable hand gloves. (these are extra and used when we have to be at confined places with other people around, or frequenting those places like public toilets)
6. Toilet seat paper (For use in case using public toilet is unavoidable)
7. Homemade snack and meals (I will share some recent recipes & snack ideas for self-sufficient travel food with shelf life of all items in a separate blog post)
8. Paper cups & Plates (for short duration stay so that we can use our own plates and cups)
9. 5-6 water bottles – reusable, refillable.

Have a handy “Right when you reach checklist”

When you reach a destination, particularly when you are staying over at a public place. Like a hotel or any other shared accommodation , it is important to take certain precautions before you can settle down. Let me list down my own precautions which I call “Right when you reach checklist”. Although some of you might find some of these unnecessary. But, following all of these gives me a peace of mind. If there is anything which I am missing here and you will like me to include, let me know. I will be more than happy to add it to my list. So, here goes my “Right when you reach checklist”:

1. Self-checkin. If that is not possible, maintain social distancing at the hotel reception, use your own pen to sign any documents & sanitise your card as soon as it’s swiped.
2. Carry your luggage till the room on your own.
3. Once you enter the room, self sanitise the common touch points and surfaces. We sanitise all tables, racks, window curtains, door and window knobs, switch boards, bed frames, bed sheets, duvets and any other possible surfaces that we might be frequently coming in touch with, using a sanitiser spray that is usable on both hard surfaces and fabrics.
4. Settle your luggage and sanitise spray on it as it’s reached here after hours of travel.
5. Wash hands thoroughly.
6. Spread your own bed sheet on top of the hotel bed sheet and pillows. (Some might find it unnecessary, but it does give me a peace of mind so I do it)
7. Till the above 5 things are done, we ask elderly and kids to wait in an open area near the reception or in the garden or as applicable. After these points are taken care of, we call them in.
8. Everyone change into fresh cloths, wash hands, legs and face – if it’s not possible to bath.
9. Put a hand sanitiser near the entrance door, if it is not already provided by the accommodation.

Create a “Return Home Checklist”

We have to stay cautious, not just for the time when we step out. But also the moment we return back home. Because if we have picked any infection, we won’t want to carry it all over our home and contaminate all surfaces. So, that is the reason I have created my own “Return Home Checklist”, which needs to be 100% ticked as soon as we arrive back home. And here is how it goes:

1. Leave footwear outside the main door.
2. Wash hands as soon as we enter inside the home.
3. Sanitise the home keys, mobile phone, wallet and any other essential items before putting them at any surface.
4. Put all luggage immediately in an open area of the house – a balcony, terrace or backyard – for at least the next one day.
5. Spray these luggage with a Sanitiser spray to disinfect their outer surface.
6. Take a bath & wear fresh cloths.
7. Dump all laundry (cloths that you took off) in the washing machine and run the load. Or, soak them for hand wash if you don’t have a washing machine.
8. Gargle with warm water.
9. Sip a warm drink like a herbal tea.

We follow this. And then unpack our luggage the next day. And wash all the cloths & linen in a deep clean cycle. Post this we sun dry all the cloths before they move back to our cupboards and linen closets.

In Conclusion

Travel safety precautions are important. Not just because of the current situation. But in general to ensure good health. Now that we have been forced by our fears to take these precautions, I wonder why We didn’t do so before. If only we always wore a mask in public when infected with cough, cold or flu, we can save so many fellow men and women from these infections. When we go to hotel rooms, we should remember these have been used by several people before us. And the common contact surfaces can have loads of bacteria and virus. Which we never cared for. I guess this is one of the reasons we often catch cough, cold, stomach flu etc. while traveling. And then blame the change of weather, or our immunity for it. While the real culprit is our lack of hygiene and travel safety precaution with respect to our health!

I am sure following these tips that I wrote about is not going to eliminate the risk. But then we can only minimise it. And trust our stars to take care of the rest. But one thing that I am sure of is no matter what, I am going to follow these precautions in all my future travel!

Happy traveling! Stay safe!

 

PS: Some of our links are affiliated, this means we will earn a commission when you buy a service or product by clicking those links. However, this will have no extra cost for you.