How to Travel during COVID in 2021
With COVID squashing our plans to travel internationally, we had to get creative and look at exploring U.S. cities around us. But it wasn’t just a matter of changing location. How to travel during COVID has been an ongoing lesson where we’ve uncovered challenges before, during and after our trips. Even with vaccines on the horizon, travel has changed for the foreseeable future. Who knows how long events will be cancelled or attractions will have limited capacity. But that’s no reason to stop traveling! It’s all about adapting your mindset, but still embracing travel – even if it’s a different kind of travel.
Driving
“Less risk”: Because it’s just you and your co-pilot(s) vs being surrounded by crowds of people.
More flexibility: With things so up in the air with COVID, it’s often hard to tell what will be open or what the vibe of a city will be. Driving allows you to bounce from point to point as you take in a new place.
Access to remote/unique destinations: Airports are usually in populated cities, meaning more crowds. Driving allows you to go to a location that’s more open and nature focused, which can help reduce any health or safety concerns.
Less time: Driving is a great way to get out of town for a weekend, but does take time away from exploring your destination. A 6 hour car ride can quickly turn into nearly 10 hours by the time you’ve made stops for gas, food, bathroom breaks and traffic. This means that a 3 ½ day trip is really just 2 days in your destination.
Flying
Less stress: Since less people are flying, getting through airport security is easy breezy. Even during peak travel season (Thanksgiving), it took about 20 minutes total to get through the Indianapolis airport and to the gate.
More options: Having the ability to get farther faster is a much needed refresh after being trapped within our homes for so many months. Flying to a different state or region can provide you with some much needed distance to recharge.
Cleanliness: It was pretty impressive to see all of the measures airlines are taking to make people feel safe in an enclosed space. The plane has a lot of air circulation, is cleaned meticulously after every flight and has one empty seat in each row.
Crowding is possible: Even with the empty seats throughout the flight, it’s a little unnerving to see how many people are still put on the flight. Be aware that social distancing isn’t very possible.
*Please note that this information is based on our experience flying with Delta and experiences may be different on other airlines.
Lessons Learned when Traveling during COVID
Gatlinburg, TN 
Smoky Mountains 
Savannah, GA
Lesson #1
One thing we’ve realized this year is that we’re not much for making reservations. Since many people weren’t traveling during COVID and our road trip didn’t take place over a holiday, we thought Gatlinburg, TN would be empty. Turns out that was not the case. On Friday night, we were weaving through huge crowds of people to find someplace to eat, but everything was booked. We couldn’t get into the Ole Smoky Mountain moonshine tour either because we hadn’t booked beforehand and didn’t think about the limited capacity rules.
*Tip: Never make assumptions and ALWAYS do your research. A little research and a few advanced reservations would have allowed us to spend our time doing what we wanted. Instead, we ended up constantly trying to reconfigure our plans.
Lesson #2
When traveling to Savannah, Georgia over Thanksgiving, it never dawned on us how other regions and states would react to COVID. In the Midwest, states are definitely taking a more cautious stand with restrictions and mask mandates. That’s why it was a bit of a culture shock when our tour guides were so chill about not wearing masks in big groups. We felt a little uncomfortable as we learned on the fly what “rules” we’d been living by for months did and did not apply.
Tip: When choosing a city, be mindful of what region it’s in and if the city itself has different restrictions. What we’ve seen to be a common pattern is that the South is more relaxed and the North is pretty shut down. Do extra research and ask extra questions when booking tours/attractions so you feel confident wherever you are.
Lesson #3
When traveling in Lexington, we didn’t realize how different restrictions would be from Indianapolis. While Indy is at reduced indoor capacity, Kentucky allows outdoor dining only. Luckily, the weather was nice, but it kept us on our toes when making plans. Without a home base in Lexington, it didn’t really work to carry out dinner. Because we didn’t know about these restrictions ahead of time, we ended up going out of the downtown area to find a place we could eat outside.
Tip: Do a quick Google search to figure out your destination’s COVID regulations and protocols. This can help you make plans prior to your trip and avoid a lot of wasted time and disappointment.
When 2020 basically started, travel wasn’t an option at all. As 2021 begins, traveling during COVID-19 is possible – it just takes extra time and effort to set your trip up for success.
